July Morning

“July Morning” was, according to Ken Hensley, a symbol of the direction in which the group began to develop at that moment. Although later he said that he wrote this song a year before the release of the album:

I wrote this song in the 70th year. That is, it was during the tour, in the middle of the tour of England, sitting on the bus, waiting for the rest - they ran around everywhere, and I spent a very long time waiting on the bus. What was left to do? He took the guitar, began to play, and gradually the song came. And it really was a July morning, moreover, it was 3 o’clock in the morning ... ^[3]

Lyrics

Despite the fact that many consider the lyrics to be purely lyrical, not conducive to confusion (“its theme is the search for love and the inability to find it” ^[1] ), this seemingly simple storyline does not immediately reveal a subtle connotation. The hero of the song is really busy “searching for love”, cannot find it outside and comes to the decision: “I will look for you ... in my heart, in my mind, in my soul” ( Eng. With the day came the resolution: I'll be looking for you ... In my heart, in my mind, in my soul ). This “narcissistic” sub-theme is consonant with the idea of ​​the album’s first title song, “ Look at Yourself ”, and thus can be considered an implicit (not found in other songs of reflection) concept of the whole album.

As Allmusic notes, despite the fact that other Uriah Heep albums “have their own masterpieces and their own classics,” not a single song can be compared to this ten-minute epic track. ^[1] Rock critic Dave Thompson noted the grandiose arrangement and performance, primarily vocal: it was after the July Morning that David Byron was mentioned among the leading rock vocalists in the world, calling his vocal style “close to opera”. ^[4] Byron's outstanding vocal performance (according to rock critic D. Garisco) has become "a model for new generation vocalists, in particular Rob Halford" ^[4] .

An important role in arranging the arrangement was played by Manfred Mann, who became a true “caliph for an hour” ^[1] : his synthesizer part (according to Thompson) revealed “such a playful mixture of pomposity and ceremoniality that one can suspect that all this performance was conceived as satirical” ^{[ 5]} .

Using a mug synthesizer, Uriah Heep (according to D. Thompson) paid tribute to the fashion trend in the prog-rock, but, unlike all his contemporaries, this detail was given almost decisive significance: “they discarded all restraint and revealed such a pearl of excessiveness, that the extreme grandeur of the adventure itself suppresses any desire to resist it ” ^{[1] [6]}

Manfred Mann's Party

Manager Jerry Bron believed that Manfred Mann not only played an important part in the composition, but also played a decisive role in its development.

Before this song existed for a very long time and did not develop. I suggested inviting Manfred Mann to play the mug: it was something new at that time. He came to the studio, listened to music and said: “There is one chord: I can’t do anything with it!” - I told him: “No, Manfred, you can!” He leaves, he goes down the stairs soon. “No, it won’t work,” he says. I told him: “Manfred, what you played is fantastic!” He: “Really? Do you really think so? ”-“ Of course! Amazing! ”He:“ Well, these are nonsense: I can do much better. ” He leaves, returns: “Well, what do you say?” - “Very good, but the first solo was better.” - "Better? Well, so I can do something that is better than the two! ”Returns:“ Well? ”... Finally, I tell him:“ You just played five stunning solos. We use a piece of each - and the record will be ready! ” ^[7]

Bron believed that Ken Hensley was offended by him for inviting Manfred Mann to play in July Morning. The situation was aggravated by the fact that during an American concert there was an episode when the audience well received Mann, who performed in the first section, and then booed Uriah Heep. Since then, mutual hostility has long been established between Hensley and Mann. ^[7]

• David Byron - vocals
• Ken Hensley - keyboards , guitar , backing vocals
• Mick Boxing - Guitar
• Paul Newton - Bass
• Ian Clark - Drums
• Manfred Mann - Synthesizer

• In 1975, the song was performed (in English) by VIA “Iveria” on its album of the same name (in the same years, “Iveria” also recorded versions of Sunrise and Devil's Daughter songs) ^[8] .