My friend Boris Shnitzer from Israel has been a lifelong Uriah Heep fan. What is most interesting about Boris’ huge Heep collection is his focus on collecting variants of his favorite Heep album – Salisbury (the band’s second album, from 1971). It’s Boris’ Salisbury collection that got me wondering how one gets in to such an extreme collection of one album. Heck, I know many Heep fans have multiples of various favorites, and I people who know think I’m ridiculous having about 20+ copies of Demons And Wizards, but clearly I am small-time! Boris discusses his Heep and specifically, his Salisbury collection below. And in his latest emails, Boris has since gained 2 more unique vinyl copies of Salisbury!

How and why did you start collecting Salisbury variants? 

I had this idea to frame the Live 73 inserts to put on a wall. So, I bought a few copies of the album, and I basically figured out that there are different releases. Before that I had all Heep albums, but one copy was good enough for me😉 So I started to buy some other copies of Heep albums, and got infected by the collecting virus. For several years I bought all things Heep, vinyls, various compilations, CDs, cassettes, posters, whatever. At some point I saw I don’t have too many copies of Salisbury, and since it is my favorite album, I decided to concentrate on it. The idea was not to have as many as possible copies, but as many as possible different releases, noy only vinyl, but also CDs, cassettes, 8-tracks,7-in. I would ask sellers to provide info on the albums, so I can figure out if it’s something I don’t have already.

Why (presumably) is this your favorite Heep album? and is it the only one you collect to this extreme? 

Salisbury is my favorite Heep album because it was the first Heep album I bought when I was 16, and it made me a Heep fan. Something on that album hooked me on the first listen. I even started to learn English more seriously because I wanted to understand the lyrics.

It is the only one I collect to this extreme, thou I do have 20-25 copies of some other Heep albums, practically at least several copies of each album.

How many copies do you have (LP, CD, cassette, 8-track, reel to reel?)? 

148 different copies on LPs (various countries, various years, various labels, etc.). 25 copies on CD, 24 cassettes, 6 8-tracks, 18 7in singles.

As far as I know Salisbury was not released on reel to reel. I think only Live 73 and Sweet Freedom were released on RtR. I have the Live 73 one, but never came across the SF.

Can you pick a favorite copy of the album from your collection (either for $ value or for personal reason) ? 

I don’t really look at it from a favorite point of view. I would say the favorite copy is the first one I bought, an Israeli pressing from 1973, which made me a Heep fan.

What is the rarest copy of Salisbury you have? 

I don’t know. Not sure what might be considered as a rarest one. Maybe the Vertigo mono pressing from Colombia. Probably the rarest are the ones I don’t have😉

Is there many more variants (in all formats you’re still looking for)? and is there a ‘holy grail’ copy of Salisbury that you still would like to find?

I wish I knew for sure. I suspect there are some more, like Yugoslavian or Turkish, other Heep albums were released in those countries, but I never encountered a Salisbury. Maybe more from South America.

A holy grail? I don’t look at collecting so zealously😉 Maybe the 17inch metal master, I saw it once, but wasn’t able to buy it. I guess it’s a lost cause😉

* Thanks to Boris for his replies, photos, And the Heep LPs from Israel I received a few months back, great additions to my collection.