Humble Pie (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the phrase "eat humble pie" and its origin, see humble pie.
Humble Pie was an English rock music band, best known for their hard-rocking recordings and concert performances.
The band initially consisted of Steve Marriott (formerly of The Small Faces; lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Peter Frampton (from Herd; lead guitar), Greg Ridley (from Spooky Tooth; bass) and Jerry Shirley (from Valkyrie). Because the members had all previously played in high profile bands, many viewed Humble Pie as a “supergroup”. They started secretly rehearsing at Marriott's cottage in Moreton, Essex. The objective was to hone the act away from media and public scrutiny. After signing with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records, they released their debut single "Natural Born Boogie" in 1969. It was a UK number five hit and was quickly followed by the album As Safe As Yesterday Is. Most listeners praised it as a progressive album in the vein of The Small Faces. Their second album Town and Country was also released in 1969 and featured a more acoustic sound. Humble Pie concerts at this time featured an acoustic set followed by an electric set, an approach that would become popular decades later.
1970 saw the financial collapse of Immediate, a switch to A&M Records, and a change in band management. The albums Humble Pie and Rock On, both released that year, alternated between progressive rock and boogie rock excess. A concert at the Fillmore East was captured on Perfomance Rockin' The Fillmore (1971); it is considered one of the best live rock albums of its era, with Marriott, Frampton, and the rest of the group in fine form. The loud-quiet-loud epic "I Don't Need No Doctor" was an FM radio hit in the United States, propelling the album to the group's biggest commercial success yet.
Unfortunately, Frampton would leave the band by the the time the album was released. He would go on to enjoy massive poplarity as a solo artist. With Dave "Clem" Clempson replacing Frampton, Humble Pie moved towards an even harder sound emphasizing Marriott's blues and soul roots. Smokin' (1972) had a minor hit in "Thirty Days in the Hole" and was reasonably successful commercially based on the group's constant touring. Nevertheless the band was still unable to break into the mainstream. Eat It (1974) was three sides of mostly R&B covers and one side live, and did nothing to expand the group's audience. The group staged the Goodbye Pie Tour in 1975 and broke up.
In 1980 Marriott revived Humble Pie with Shirley, adding Bob Tench (from Jeff Beck Group) on guitar and Anthony "Sooty" Jones on bass. Two albums were released but the effort soon fell apart. In 1991 Marriott and Frampton began collaborating again, with another Humble Pie rebirth possibly in the offing, but a house fire took Marriott's life before anything could materialize.
In October 2004 Get Down To It appeared on the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional classic rock station K-DST.
[edit] Albums
- As Safe As Yesterday Is (1969)
- Town and Country (1969)
- Humble Pie (1970)
- Rock On (1970)
- Perfomance Rockin' The Fillmore (1971)
- Smokin' (1972)
- Eat It (1974)
- Thunderbox (1974)
- Street Rats (1975)
- On to Victory (1980)
- Go for the Throat (1981)
- King Biscuit (live 1973) (1995)
- The Atlanta Years (2005) — never before released studio album from 1980 and live performance from 1983
- Definitive Collection (Best Of) (2006)
