Biography

The Gods are probably better known for including a few famous British rock stars as members -- before those musicians went on to international recognition -- than they are for the two albums they actually released. Two future Uriah Heep stalwarts, keyboardist/singer Ken Hensley and drummer Lee Kerslake, both played on those albums, and prior to the first Gods band album, both Mick Taylor and Greg Lake had passed through the lineup. The two Gods albums were undistinguished, keyboard-based rock that were midway between late-'60s British pop-psychedelia and early-'70s heavy progressive rock. They were less histrionic than Uriah Heep by a long shot, but nor were they very distinguished, settling into the second or third class of late-'60s British rock music. The Gods started in Hatfield, England, in 1965 as a blues-based band including Hensley and future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Taylor left in 1967 to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and the Gods disbanded for a few months before re-forming, with only Hensley left from the first version. Greg Lake played in this lineup for a while, but he quit before the Gods' debut album, Genesis, was recorded in 1968; soon, of course, Lake would resurface in King Crimson and then Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Genesis didn't make much of an impact, nor did some non-LP singles, including a 1969 cover of "Hey Bulldog," quite possibly the only attempt at making that obscure Beatles' song into a hit. The Gods disbanded in early 1969, though a second album, To Samuel a Son, was posthumously released in 1970. Both Gods' albums have been reissued on CD by Repertoire, with the non-LP 45's added as bonus tracks. Drummer Lee Kerslake died on September 19, 2020, at the age of 73. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi