Humble Pie (band)

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Humble Pie
Background information
Origin	Essex, England
Genre(s)	Rock, Hard rock, R&B, Blues-rock
Years active	1969 – 1975
Label(s)	Immediate, A&M
Website	www.humble-pie-net
Former members
Steve Marriott Peter Frampton Clem Clempson Greg Ridley Jerry Shirley

Humble Pie were a rock, rhythm and blues band from England and were one of the first supergroups of the 1970s.

The original band line-up featured Steve Marriott (former lead singer, songwriter and lead guitarist of Small Faces), Peter Frampton (former lead singer and guitarist of The Herd), Greg Ridley (former bass guitarist of Spooky Tooth) and seventeen-year-old drummer Jerry Shirley.

Although successful in America, as a band, they remained much loved in Britain. They are best remembered for their dynamic live concert performances in the early 1970s and songs such as "30 Days in the Hole" and "I Don't Need No Doctor".

[edit] History

The band initially consisted of Steve Marriott (formerly of Small Faces: lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist), Peter Frampton (from Herd: lead guitarist, lead singer), Greg Ridley (from Spooky Tooth: bassist and vocalist) and Jerry Shirley (from Valkyrie: drummer).

In late 1968, Frampton was eager to escape The Herd, as well as his teeny-bopper image. The young guitar prodigy played on a Small Faces recording session in France that year and had become close friends with Marriott, who himself was becoming frustrated with creative restrictions. The Small Faces' frontman suggested a drummer for Frampton — Shirley, whom he'd known for several years, most notably through his work with the mod band Apostolic Intervention.

Nothing really came of the project, though, until New Year's Eve 1968. Marriott walked offstage during a disastrous Small Faces gig, rang Frampton at his home later that night and asked if he and Ridley could join his new band. Humble Pie was born.

[edit] "Natural Born Bugie"

Because the members had all previously played in high-profile groups, many viewed Humble Pie as a "supergroup," although the band loathed the term and the expectations that came with it. They started secretly rehearsing at Marriott's home in Moreton, Essex (Beehive Cottage), in early 1969. The objective was to hone the act away from media and public scrutiny. After signing with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records, the band had planned to launch its first single and album in the spring, but were delayed after an injunction was filed by The Herd's management.

Eventually, Humble Pie released their debut single, "Natural Born Bugie", in July 1969. It was a No. 4 hit in the UK Singles Chart, and was quickly followed by the album As Safe As Yesterday Is, which peaked at No. 16 on the UK album charts. In the 2006 documentary Heavy: The Story of Metal, As Safe As Yesterday Is was recalled as the first album to have been described by the term "heavy metal". The mention occurred in a Rolling Stone magazine review written by journalist Mike Saunders.

Their second album, Town and Country, was hastily released in the UK in November 1969 while the band was away on its first US tour. A collective effort that featured a more acoustic sound and songs written by all four members, it did not sell as well as As Safe As Yesterday Is, and financially-strapped Immediate sank deeper into debt.

Recent tape archives show the band recorded around 30 songs in its first nine months of existence, many of which remained unreleased for decades — including a cover of Ray Charles' classic "Drown In My Own Tears." Humble Pie concerts at this time featured an acoustic set — with a radical re-working of Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love" as its centerpiece — followed by an electric set.

[edit] A&M Records

The winter of 1970 saw the collapse of Immediate, a switch to A&M Records, and a change in band management. Humble Pie now focused on the United States market. American Dee Anthony, the band's new manager, had the band scrap its 'unplugged' set and crank the volume up. He also pushed Marriott to take more of the on-stage spotlight, something Marriott had, up until then, been sharing with Frampton and Ridley.

While these moves would improve the band's commercial standing in the States, they were blows to Frampton, who had been building up confidence and material as a songwriter.

The group's first album for A&M, Humble Pie, released later that year, was heavier than the previous two, alternating between progressive rock and boogie rock excess. An attendant single, the funky, Stax-flavored "Big Black Dog," failed to chart, but Anthony's strategy was starting to work. The band became known for putting on one of the most popular live rock shows in the U.S.

[edit] Performance Rockin' the Fillmore

Humble Pie released its most successful record to date, Rock On, in early 1971. A concert supporting that record at the Fillmore East was captured on Performance Rockin' the Fillmore in 1971. The live album reached number 21 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and both Rock On and Performance were certified gold by the RIAA. The loud-quiet-loud epic "I Don't Need No Doctor" was an FM radio hit in the United States (peaking at No. 73 in Billboard), propelling the album up the charts.

Frampton left the band by the time the album was released and went on to enjoy massive popularity as a solo artist.

[edit] Clem Clempson

With Dave "Clem" Clempson replacing Frampton, Humble Pie moved towards an even harder sound emphasizing Marriott's blues and soul roots. Their first record with Clempson was Smokin' (1972), which featured minor hits in the songs "Hot 'n' Nasty" (No. 52 Billboard) and "30 Days in the Hole." It was the band's most commercially successful record and reached No. 6 on the US charts, helped by a busy touring schedule. After the success of Smokin', the band's record label, A&M, released Humble Pie's first two Immediate albums in one album, as Lost and Found. The marketing ploy was a success, and the album charted at No. 37 on the Billboard 200.

[edit] The Blackberries

Looking for a more authentic R&B sound, Marriott hired three female backing singers, The Blackberries. The trio consisted of Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Sherlie Matthews (who was later replaced by Billie Barnum). They had performed with Tina Turner as the The Ikettes and with Ray Charles as The Raelettes.^[1] While the direction confused some of the Pie's hard-rock audience, it was a gambit that, like their 1969 acoustic sets, would prove popular with other rock bands many years down the road.

This newly augmented lineup would record Eat It, a double album released in 1973. Side 1 was made up of Marriott originals; Side 2 consisted of classic R&B covers; Side 3 was a collection of acoustic Marriott songs; Side 4 featured Humble Pie live in concert at Glasgow. While it just missed charting in the U.S. top 10 (it peaked at No. 13), the record did little to expand the group's audience. Instead of showcasing the band's range, it signaled the beginning of the end.

[edit] Final albums and goodbye tour

After the leaner, more focused Thunderbox (1974), and Street Rats (1975) — a patchwork of studio recordings that were, by and large, intended for a Marriott solo album — the group found themselves running out of steam creatively and bickering internally. The Pie staged the 'Goodbye Pie Tour' in 1975 and broke up.

[edit] Other Humble Pie lineups

In 1980 Steve Marriott revived Humble Pie with Jerry Shirley, adding Bob Tench (from Jeff Beck Group) on guitar and Anthony "Sooty" Jones on bass. The band released two albums, On to Victory and Go for the Throat, but the effort soon fell apart.

In 1991 Marriott and Peter Frampton began collaborating again, with another Humble Pie rebirth possibly in the offing, but on Saturday, April 20^[2], a house fire took Marriott's life before anything could materialise.^[3] Two recorded songs from this collaboration, "The Bigger They Come" and "I Won't Let You Down", with Steve Marriott on vocals, appear on Peter Frampton's album Shine On: A Collection.

[edit] Humble Pie Featuring Jerry Shirley

Before the collaboration between Frampton and Marriott, drummer Shirley reformed the group with a different assortment of musicians. This project was called Humble Pie Featuring Jerry Shirley, as he was now the group's leader and the only original performing member. He had contacted his former bandmates about reuniting, but Marriott had been disappointed with earlier reunions and refused to be a part of any such effort. The band began performing live in 1989 and were featured at the Woodstock Festival 20th Anniversary Celebration, which was broadcast live on television in the United States and several other countries.

The group was based in Cleveland, Ohio for most of its approximately ten year career, where Shirley worked part-time as a DJ at a classic rock radio station. The band included vocalist Charlie Huhn, who also played lead and rhythm guitar. Huhn had previously worked with Ted Nugent and Victory, and his singing style closely matched original Humble Pie vocalist Steve Marriott in many ways. While Huhn and Shirley were the only permanent members of the group, several other musicians rotated in and out of the band from 1989 to 1999, including Wally Stocker, formerly of the Babys and Rod Stewart's band, and noted Cleveland guitarist Alan Greene.

Humble Pie Featuring Jerry Shirley developed a solid reputation as a live act, but never released any official studio recordings. They were featured on several live radio broadcasts.

Shirley agreed to disband his version of the group in 1991 when it appeared that a reunion featuring Frampton and Marriott would happen, but after Marriott's death, he carried on with his performances. The group came to an end in 1999 when Shirley returned home to England.

[edit] Reunions and The Marriott Tribute Concert

Jerry Shirley has participated in a few reunions with original Humble Pie members in the last few years, including an appearance at the Steve Marriott Tribute Concert in London in 2001 — commemorating the 10th anniversary of Marriott's death — which featured a lineup of Peter Frampton, Clem Clempson, Greg Ridley and Shirley. This performance was later released on DVD.

[edit] Also

In October 2004, the song "Get Down To It," the opening track from Eat It, appeared on the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional classic rock station K-DST. The song Cocaine will be featured in the upcoming GTA IV.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

• "Natural Born Bugie" / "Wrist Job", #4 UK (1969)
• "The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake" / "Cold Lady" (not released in the UK)
• "Big Black Dog" / "Strange Days"
• "Big Black Dog" / "Only A Roach" (not released in the UK)
• "Shine On" / "Mister Ring"
• "I Don't Need No Doctor" / "A Song For Jenny", #73 US
• "Hot 'n' Nasty" / "You're So Good For Me", #52 US
• "30 Days in the Hole" / "C'mon Everybody" / "Road Runner"
• "Get Down To It" / "Honky Tonk Women"
• "Shut Up and Don't Interrupt Me" / "Black Coffee" (1973)
• "Black Coffee" / "Say No More"
• "Oh la de Da" / "The Outcrowd"
• "Ninety-Nine Pounds" / "Rally With Ali"
• "Rock 'n' Roll Music"/ "Scored Out"
• "Fool for A Pretty Face"/ "You Soppy Prat", #52 US
• "Tin Soldier", #58 US Mainstream Rock

[edit] Albums

• As Safe As Yesterday Is (1969) Immediate, #16 UK
• Town and Country (1969) Immediate
• Humble Pie (1970) A&M
• Rock On (1971) A&M, #118 US
• Performance Rockin' the Fillmore (1971) A&M, #21 US, #32 UK
• Smokin' (1972) A&M, #6 US, #21 UK
• Lost and Found (1973) A&M, #37 US
• Eat It (1973) A&M, #13 US, #34 UK
• Thunderbox (1974) A&M, #52 US
• Street Rats (1975) A&M, #100 US
• Back Home Again (1976) Immediate, UK
• On to Victory (1980) ATCO, #60 US
• Go for the Throat (1981) ATCO, #154 US
• Best of Humble Pie (1982) A&M
• Classics Volume 14 (1987) A&M
• Early Years (1994) Griffin
• Hot n' Nasty: The Anthology (1994) A&M
• King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: In Concert Humble Pie live 1973 (1995)
• The Scrubbers Sessions (1997) Archive / Paradigm
• The Immediate Years: Natural Born Boogie (1999) Recall/(UK)
• Running With The Pack (1999) Pilot
• Natural Born Boogie: The BBC Sessions (2000) Fuel
• Extended Versions (2000) BMG
• Twentieth Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2000) A&M
• Live At The Whiskey A-Go-Go '69 (2002) Sanctuary
• Back On Track (2002) Sanctuary
• The Atlanta Years (2005) — never before released studio album from 1980 and live performance from 1983
• Definitive Collection (Best Of) (2006)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Band history
• Official Steve Marriott website
• Greg Ridley site's band history
• Pete Frampton official website