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Uriah Heep, Live 1973 Fully Signed Booklet, Authentic or Not?

Hi everyone, 

I recently bought this on eBay from a reputable seller. I have no issues with the seller. He told me that the booklet was given to him by a friend. No other history or information was available, besides that it is signed by the entire band. 

I believe that they are authentic, as I have many other Heep autographs in my collection. There were a few people on Heep social media that seem to disagree. 

I believe the booklet was autographed between 1973/1974  

I guess that is why I am here. 

My reasons for believing the signatures are real:

These signatures are very large, oversized. It is common to put more emphasis on your signature when you enlarge it. 

Compared to other signatures from around the same time period, they are very close. In my opinion. 

Anyway, feel free to inspect the HDR photos I have included. 

And so the debate begins. 

Tags: Heep, Uriah

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Stewart on April 11, 2018 at 12:41pm

Attachments: No photo uploads here
Permalink Reply by Jeremy Stewart on April 11, 2018 at 12:47pm

Sorry, forgot to add band members. 

Upper left: “Love ???” David Byron. 

Middle left: Ken Hensley. 

Lower middlle: Gary Thain. 

Lower right: Lee Kerslake. 

Upper right: Mick Box. 

Permalink Reply by goodcat on April 11, 2018 at 1:18pm

I'm not seeing authentic '70's sigs here

But I like your taste in music as I've been a fan for about 30 years

Permalink Reply by Juha Kakkuri on April 11, 2018 at 2:23pm

Authentic 70´s set

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Stewart on April 11, 2018 at 3:16pm

Very nice. 

I have a hard time believing mine is not authentic. 

In fact, I have never seen any Uriah Heep forgeries. 

Thanks for sharing your photo!!!

Permalink Reply by goodcat on April 11, 2018 at 3:32pm

I feel very confident in saying your sigs posted are 100% spurious

here's another '70's example

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Stewart on April 11, 2018 at 3:53pm

Thanks. 

I still believe them to be perfectly authentic. 

Ive now viewed close to one hundred other signatures and each and every one is different. 

The big question is, why. I have a difficult time believing that someone would take the time to forge Heep autographs. Albeit they are rare to find in the wild, they are not that rare. After all my own scrupulous close up and personal research, these are real. 

Being the hardcore collector that I am, I would have seen other forgeries before this, and believe me, there aren’t any. 

Mine look like they are signed by 5 different people. 

The lines and curves are consistent all except Ken Hensley’s where he hit the crease in the middle of the booklet. 

I have a photo of The Magicians Birthday signed around the same time. I have included it here. This is  the one that confirmed it for me. Too many very close similarities. David’s huge “B” and dotted “I”,  Mick’s “double bubble” signature was only used up until the mid 70’s, and Lee has his middle initial, which he stopped using in the mid 70’s as well. I’ve seen numerous signatures by Gary Thain  Most are really sloppy and scribbled, but others I’ve seen he took his time on and did a good job spelling out each letter, 

To each his own opinion I guess. 

Permalink Reply by goodcat on April 11, 2018 at 3:50pm

you've seen fake ones now sorry to say

genuine sigs look nothing like the ones you posted

and so the debating ends

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Stewart on April 11, 2018 at 4:24pm

Fine. But who are you to make the final decisions.  This isn’t a very good authentication site from what I’ve seen. Especially after only one person on the planet seems to think he is the almighty end all be all, end of discussion man. Lol. 

I wholeheartedly disagree with you, and I have other sources that will confirm it. 

Permalink Reply by goodcat on April 11, 2018 at 4:34pm

Jeremy

Here's some friendly advice

You are comparing forgeries to forgeries and will end up with a collection of forgeries

Take the time to readjust and start looking at authentic signatures before it's too late

People forge anyone these days to make an easy buck and Heep is not off the list

Here's an easy clue for your fake example's.... why does both your Lee Kerslake look like TT or JJ Kerslake? Look at our 2 examples posted and see the obvious differences.... he clearly signs Lee  in the 70's

You can take this advice or leave it. It's only meant to help you.

here's another 70's example

Permalink Reply by J. Mikael on April 11, 2018 at 8:36pm

Yes, sadly it's been heavily retouched (by Uncle Eric) clearly.

Permalink Reply by just some dude on April 11, 2018 at 5:01pm

If I may chime in, Jeremy. Dont be sore at Goodcat - he’s a good dude (albeit a Packer fan - grrr!) trying to give you some good advice along with his opinion (which you publicly asked for). So you cant be mad when his opinion runs contrary to your own. 

In addition, you said earlier “why would anyone forge Heep?” Well, why would anyone listen to Heep? I say that not to offend, but to show how silly that is. If a person/band/artist/model/sports figure/etc. had fans, then there IS a market in selling their autographs - and a very lucrative one in selling to the unskilled collector! (and Im not sayig thats what you are - just merely stating facts.)

Finally, when it comes to most autographs, there really is no middle ground - its either real or it aint. And when long time members post opinions and examples, as in this thread, you can really learn alot IF youre willing to listen and study and be objective. But if you only care to defend your sigs as real despite visual evidence, then I dont know what to say. 

Cheers!

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