The Humblebums

The Humblebums were a Scottish folk band, based in Glasgow. Its members included Billy Connolly, who later became a renowned stand-up comedic actor, guitarist Tam Harvey and the singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The band was active from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s.

Career

Connolly co-founded the band with Harvey in 1965 and played in the pubs and clubs around the city, most notably the Old Scotia Bar. Connolly sang, played banjo and guitar, and entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs. Harvey was an accomplished Bluegrass guitarist.

Rafferty joined later and for a short time they performed as a trio. However, the nature of the act had changed and Harvey departed shortly afterwards. The remaining duo broke up in the early 1970s after recording two albums of material: The New Humblebums and Open Up the Door, the former graced by a cover by John "Patrick" Byrne, marking the beginning of a long working relationship between Byrne and Rafferty. Connolly embarked on a solo career while Rafferty recorded a low impact solo album, Can I Have My Money Back?, then formed Stealers Wheel with Joe Egan before eventually emerging as a major recording act with "Baker Street".

A number of songs performed by Connolly on his early comedy albums originated with the Humblebums, and actual Humblebums recordings also frequently turn up on Connolly compilations. A number of Humblebums recordings were reissued following Connolly's rise to international stardom. The Rafferty tracks from this period have been released in a variety of formats, some with just Humblebums material, others adding some or all of Can I Have My Money Back?

Discography

Albums

• First Collection of Merry Melodies (Transatlantic TRA186, February 1969)

Billy Connolly (vocals, guitar, banjo), Tam Harvey (guitar, mandolin) with Ronnie Rae (bass)

• The New Humblebums (Transatlantic TRA201, September 1969)

Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty

• Open up the Door (Transatlantic TRA218, June 1970)

Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty

Singles

• "Saturday Round About Sunday" (BIG122, 1969)
• "Shoeshine Boy" (1970 written by Rafferty) / "My Apartment" (written by Connolly)

Compilation albums

• The Complete Humblebums (3 LPs, Transatlantic TRA288, 1974)
• The Humblebums (MTRA2008, 1979)
• The Best of the Humblebums (Pulse PDSCD542, 1996) 2-CD set
• The Humblebums (ESMCD498, 1997) single disc containing all of the second and third albums
• Please Sing a Song for Us (Castle CMDDD1211, 2005) 2-CD set with previously unreleased material

See also

• Billy Connolly: Transatlantic Years (Compilation)

External links

• nigelgatherer.com Humblebums biography
• The Humblebums discography at Discogs