Having originally formed The Gods in mid-1960s London with future Stones and Mayall guitarist Mick Taylor, The Gods recorded two LPs for Columbia. Ken Hensley made brief appearances with Toe Fat and Head Machine in 1969 before joining London's Spice in time for the band's first album, "Very 'Eavy... Very 'Umble", and a swift name change to Uriah Heep. Although no Hensley originals appeared on Heep's debut, all 6 tracks on their second album "Salisbury" were written or co-written by Ken. In fact, even after five albums with Uriah Heep, where Ken was becoming the principal songwriter, he still had enough material to write and record his first solo album in 1973.
Released by Bronze Records, "Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf" featured Heep's Gary Thain on bass and drummer Lee Kerslake. The resulting album was equal to anything recorded by Uriah Heep at their peak, and features wonderful material such as 'Cold Autumn Sunday', 'Black Hearted Lady' and 'Go Down', along with an alternative version of 'Rain' (also recorded by Uriah Heep). Bonus tracks are 'From Time To Time (Edited Single)', 'From Time To Time (Mono)' and 'When Evening Comes (Edited Single)'
01 When Evening Comes 02 From Time To Time 03 King Without A Throne 04 Rain 05 Proud Words 06 Fortune 07 Black-hearted Lady 08 Go Down 09 Cold Autumn Sunday 10 The Last Time 11 Bonus Tracks 12 From Time To Time (edited Single)
13 From Time To Time (mono) 14 When Evening Comes (edited Single)
Disc 2
01 Eager To Please 02 Stargazer 03 Secret 04 Through The Eyes Of A Child 05 Part Three 06 The House On The Hill 07 Winter Or Summer 08 Take And Take 09 Longer Shadows 10 In The Morning 11 How Shall I Know 12 Bonus Track 13 Who Will Sing For You (single)
Disc 3
01 Inside The Mystery 02 New York 03 The System 04 When 05 No More 06 Brown Eyed Boy 07 Do You Feel Alright 08 Telephone 09 Woman 10 New Routine 11 Bonus Track 12 Inspiration (b-side)
Disc 4
01 Ken Hensley Discusses Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf (22:20) 02 Ken Hensley Discusses Eager To Please (18:31) 03 Ken Hensley Discusses Free Spirit (21:30)