Humble Pie | Artist
Humble Pie was an English rock band formed 1969 in Essex, UK, by Steve Marriott (vocals, guitar), Jerry Shirley (drums), Greg Ridley (bass) and Peter Frampton (guitar). They are known as one of the late '60s' first supergroups and found success on both sides of the Atlantic with full-tilt rockers such as "Black Coffee", "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Natural Born Bugie". The band formed when Steve Marriott, who had just left the Small Faces, brought together Peter Frampton from The Herd, Greg Ridley from Spooky Tooth, and Jerry Shirley from Apostolic Intervention, to form a much heavier platform for Marriott's soulful vocals. Earlier, while the Small Faces were still together, Marriott had wanted Frampton to join that band as a second guitarist in order to expand their musical horizons, but the proposal met with resistance from his Small Faces bandmates Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan. Humble Pie signed with Marriott's former label, Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records, and soon released their debut album As Safe As Yesterday Is (1969), along with the single "Natural Born Bugie" which reached #4 in the UK Charts. It was one of the first albums to be described by the term "heavy metal" in a 1970 review in Rolling Stone magazine, although today it would be described as simply "heavy boogie-rock". Teenage pinup and ace guitarist Frampton left the band in 1971, after completing 'Pie's fourth album Rock On. Frampton of course went on to fame and fortune on the back of his 1976 mega-hit album Frampton Comes Alive! He was replaced on guitar by ex Bakerloo and Colosseum guitarist Clem Clempson, and later by Bobby Tench who was formerly with The Jeff Back Group, and Streetwalkers. Humble Pie pursued a tumultuous stop-start 20 year career, even carrying on after the untimely death of the mighty Steve Marriott in 1991. The band released 11 uneven studio albums plus several excellent live albums, reflecting their stature as a superb performing outfit. Standout albums include As Safe as Yesterday Is (1969), Town and Country (1969), Humble Pie (1970), Rock On (1971), Smokin' (1972), and the superb 1971 live album Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore. As the band disintegrated in its latter stages, founding member Jerry Shirley joined future Motörhead guitarist Fast Eddie Clark, in the band Fastway, Peter Frampton enjoyed a successful solo career, and Greg Ridley quit music to restore antique furniture. An interesting side note about Humble Pie concerns a bizarre and short-lived project called "Grunt Futtock" involving Marriott, Frampton, Roy Wood (Move, ELO, Wizard), and Andy Bown (T2, Herd, Status Quo). This unlikely grouping got together in the studio in 1970 and recorded just one single entitled "Rock 'n' Roll Christian."
Artist Website: wikipedia/Humble_Pie_(band)
Featured Albums: Humble Pie
Related Artists: Steve Marriott, Small Faces, Peter Frampton
