Viva Humble Pie

[bfd]

Yes, its a mixed bag and rather uneven output but the talent was undeniable- great clip of an apparently coked out Steve Marriott and Clem Clempson back in the day. A live staple in the 70's.

[moecurlythanu]

I used to have a live concert that I recorded off the radio. They were on fire. Marriott was incredible. I especially recall extended versions of "I Don't Need No Doctor," and "Thirty Days In The Hole" which blew the roof off.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I love the Pie! My favorite is Smokin'. The two guitar interplay on that one is shweet!

[Scrotum Scissor]

I have to say that their 1970 s/t third album is the only one I've kept - 'though I still tend to reach for it on occasion.

[JJ88]

I don't know, they are just okay to me. I much prefer what Marriott's former bandmates did with Rod Stewart in The Faces. But the first couple of Immediate albums are a bit more varied, I guess. This one sort of picks up from where the later Small Faces left off with things like 'The Autumn Stone'.

[Jerjo]

Ferocious live act but rather unfocused on record. Smokin' and Rock On were the two best studio albums but they didn't make the upper tier bands nervous. Still, I play 'em loud.

[JJ88]

but they didn't make the upper tier bands nervous.

I don't think the songs are there, really.

[bfd]

Yup- all the comments are spot on. Lots of unfulfilled potential. This B-side pre-dates their post Frampton shift to boogie. The Black Crowes wish they could sound like this-

[Garden Dreamer]

My favorite non-prog band growing up. Heard "Hot n' Nasty" on the radio and became an instant fan, and "Smokin'" was one of the first 3 albums I bought and it's still a desert island disc for me. I will agree about uneven output and unfulfilled potential, a lot of it due to drugs mixed with Marriott's unpredictable temperament. "Eat It" was way too much of a left turn after Smokin' and the production was terrible. In Jerry Shirley's book he tells how they were driving somewhere and heard one of the songs on the radio for the first time and thought there was something wrong with the radio.

In the book, there was also supposed to be a film crew to capture an entire Eat It show in Japan but they didn't show up, and the Pie entourage were all too drugged to care or to get another film crew. It's a shame how little live footage there is of the Pie compared to other bands of the era. There's another clip that goes with that acoustic Steve/Clem video of the band covering "Honky Tonk Woman" and its awful caterwauling, just like on the live side 4 of Eat It.

I mentioned this in the "What Book are You Reading" thread, that Peter Frampton's book mentions nothing about the 2001 Steve Marriott tribute concert in which he's reunited with Jerry and Greg Ridley for the first time since 1970, and onstage with Clem for the first time. You can see the clips on Youtube, they're great and it looks like they're enjoying themselves. It's odd that they didn't do some shows with this lineup or even record some new music, in fact a forgettable "Humble Pie" album came out the same year with Greg, Jerry and two guys who were in the ill-conceived "Jerry Shirley's Humble Pie" band in the 90's. In the book, Peter thanks "my good friend Jerry Shirley" but doesn't mention Greg or Clem in the acknowledgements. So who knows what went on behind the scenes but I think a tour with those four would have been well-received...

[bfd]

First track of their 1969 debut- Music From Big Pink meets Steppenwolf- amazing when you consider Peter Frampton and Jerry Shirley were teenagers...

[pb2015]

"Eat It" was way too much of a left turn after Smokin' and the production was terrible. In Jerry Shirley's book he tells how they were driving somewhere and heard one of the songs on the radio for the first time and thought there was something wrong with the radio.

I remember Shirley said the issue was that they did the album at Marriott's home studio, and his gear wasn't good enough.

[rapidfirerob]

I saw them live somewhere in New York post Frampton. I imagine Clem Clempson was with them at the time. I remember loving it, but never owned an album of theirs at the time.
I'm seeing Frampton August 15 in San Francisco. I saw his last tour. Looking forward to it. Saw Greg Howe, Stu Hamm and Joel Taylor at Yoshi's last night. My my!!

[JJ88]

They were definitely bigger in the US than here in their UK homeland. I gather they managed a few US rock radio staples- 'I Don't Need No Doctor', 'Hot N Nasty', '30 Days In The Hole' etc. Whereas here, their first Immediate single 'Natural Born Bugie' was a big hit but that was a peak. The Small Faces have retained a strong UK following though.

Yup- all the comments are spot on. Lots of unfulfilled potential. This B-side pre-dates their post Frampton shift to boogie. The Black Crowes wish they could sound like this-

They had a big influence on later bands like that, for sure.

Smokin' was the last album I've heard by them. The 'Black Coffee' cover is a good track but I don't know the Eat It album it's from. The consensus seems to be that was where they started to fall away.

[Lopez]

I saw them live somewhere in New York post Frampton. I imagine Clem Clempson was with them at the time.

I saw them in 1971 at the Philly Spectrum after the Live at the Fillmore album came out. Clem had replaced Frampton by then. Killer show. The openers were King Crimson and the J. Geils Band. Best triple bill I've ever seen.

[headcrash]

Jerry Shirley's autobio is very good. Great title too: "Best Seat In The House"