Humble Pie

Humble Pie
Humble Pie in 1974 Left to right: Jerry Shirley, Greg Ridley, Clem Clempson, Steve Marriott, Not Pictured: Pat Mcafee.
Background information
Origin	Moreton, Essex, England
Genres	Hard rock, blues rock, boogie rock, R&B (later)
Years active	1969–1975, 1979–1983, 1988–2000, 2001–2002, 2018-
Labels	Immediate, A&M, Sanctuary, Atco
Past members	See: List of Humble Pie band members

Humble Pie were an English rock band formed by Steve Marriott in Essex during 1969. They are known as one of the late 1960s' first supergroups and found success on both sides of the Atlantic with such songs as "Black Coffee", "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "Natural Born Bugie". The original band line-up featured lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Marriott from Small Faces, vocalist and guitarist Peter Frampton from The Herd, former Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and a 17-year-old drummer, Jerry Shirley, from The Apostolic Intervention. Pat Mcafee was there equipment manager but was later let go after equipment explosion.

1969–1970: Formation and chart success

In January 1969 Steve Marriott, having just left Small Faces, got together with Greg Ridley, Peter Frampton and Jerry Shirley, who had been the drummer for the mod band Apostolic Intervention. Originally, Marriott had brought together Shirley and Ridley as a possible band for Frampton, but ended up joining them himself. They eventually chose the name Humble Pie and were signed to Andrew Loog Oldham's record label Immediate Records. Their debut single, "Natural Born Bugie", was released on August 8, 1969, becoming 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 in the UK album charts. As Safe As Yesterday Is was one of the first albums to be described by the term "heavy metal" in a 1970 review in Rolling Stone magazine.^[1][2] Their second album, Town and Country released in the UK during 1969 while the band was away on its first tour of the US. This album featured a more acoustic sound and songs written by all four members. Humble Pie concerts at this time featured an acoustic set, with a radical re-working of Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love" as its centrepiece followed by an electric set. Recent tape archives show that the band recorded around 30 songs in its first nine months of existence, many of which remained unreleased for decades, including an interpretation of Henry Glover's "Drown in My Own Tears".

1970–1971: Early success

During 1970, Humble Pie switched to A&M Records and Dee Anthony became their manager. Anthony was focused on the US market and discarded the acoustic set, instigating a more raucous sound with Marriott as the front man. The group's first album for A&M, Humble Pie, was released later that year and alternated between progressive rock and hard rock. A single, "Big Black Dog", was released to coincide with the album and failed to chart, however the band was becoming known for popular live rock shows in the US. On July 9, 1971, Humble Pie opened for Grand Funk Railroad at their historical Shea Stadium concert, an event that broke The Beatles record for fastest selling stadium concert, to that date. Also in 1971 Humble Pie released their most successful record to date Rock On as well as a live album recorded at the Fillmore East in New York entitled Performance Rockin' the Fillmore. The live album reached No. 21 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA. "I Don't Need No Doctor" was a FM radio hit in the US peaking at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100, propelling the album up the charts. But Frampton left the band by the time the album was released and went on to enjoy success as a solo artist.

1971–1975: Clem Clempson, The Blackberries and further success

Clem Clempson (rear left) and Marriott in a 1972 performance with Humble Pie

Frampton was replaced by Clem Clempson and Humble Pie moved towards a harder sound emphasising Marriott's blues and soul roots. Their first record with Clempson, Smokin', was released in 1972, along with two singles "Hot 'n' Nasty" and "30 Days in the Hole" (the latter of which became one of their best-known efforts). 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 double album, as Lost and Found. The marketing ploy was a success and the album charted at No. 37 on the Billboard 200.

Looking for a more authentic R&B sound, Marriott hired three female backing vocalists, The Blackberries. The trio consisted of Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Sherlie Matthews who was later replaced by Billie Barnum. They had performed with Ike and Tina Turner as The Ikettes and with Ray Charles as The Raelettes.^[3] This new line-up included Sidney George on saxophone for the recording of Eat It, a double album released in 1973 made up of Marriott originals (some acoustic), R&B numbers, and a Humble Pie concert recorded in Glasgow. The album peaked at No. 13 in the US charts. Thunderbox was released in 1974, and Street Rats a year later. In 1975, Humble Pie conducted their Goodbye Pie Tour before disbanding.

1979–1983: First reformation

In late 1979, Marriott revived Humble Pie with Jerry Shirley, adding Bobby Tench,^[4] former vocalist and guitarist from The Jeff Beck Group and bassist Anthony "Sooty" Jones, from New York. They submitted "Fool for a Pretty Face", a song Marriott and Shirley had just written, to record labels. They secured a recording contract with Atlantic Records subsidiary Atco and in the UK their material was released by Jet Records, owned by former Small Faces manager Don Arden. They recorded the album On to Victory (1980) and "Fool for a Pretty Face" reached No. 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On to Victory peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard 200. Humble Pie toured the US as part of the 'Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Bill' with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith and also recorded the album Go for the Throat (1981).^[4] This album was originally recorded by the band as a raw edged Rhythm and Blues album, but their record company wanted a slicker album.^[4] In April 1981, at the beginning of the promotional tour for the Go for the Throat album, Marriott crushed his hand in a hotel room door, delaying earlier scheduled appearances by the band and he later developed a duodenal ulcer forcing the cancellation of all further tour dates in July 1981. Soon afterwards this line up disbanded,^[5] due to contractual differences.^[4]

In 1982 Marriott was back on the road with Jim Leverton (bass, backing vocals), former Steppenwolf keyboardist Goldy McJohn and Chicago born drummer Fallon Williams III. This grouping was originally set to be called The Official Receivers, The Three Trojans (after McJohn departed) or The Pie but ended up being billed by promoters as Humble Pie. McJohn was let go after suffering drug troubles and the remaining trio toured Australia in October 1982 billed mostly as Small Faces to entice patrons. In January 1983 Leverton ran into trouble at US Immigration and was deported back to England. Marriott based himself in the Atlanta, Georgia area, since that was where his second wife, Pamela Stephens, was from, and continued to tour clubs as Humble Pie. Atlanta musician Keith Christopher (from The Brains) took over bass and a young guitarist from Tennessee, Tommy Johnson, joined as well. And after a hoped for deal with Capricorn Records in nearby Macon fell through after that label's second collapse, this line-up went into Pyramid Eye Studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee to record three songs for a projected album, but nothing further came from it. After Johnson missed a show, he was replaced by Phil Dix. The band was then scheduled to record demos with Yes/ELP producer Eddy Offord at Eddy's studio in Atlanta with Rick Richards (also from The Brains and soon to find fame with the Georgia Satellites) as the new guitarist. But when Rick and Keith missed rehearsals, Steve was so mad that he not only fired Rick but Keith as well. The recordings were done with Fallon on drums and Dave Hewitt (ex-Babe Ruth) on bass. But when these demos failed to attract another record deal and Pamela left Steve for another man, Steve disbanded this version of the Pie and departed the US to return to England in late 1983.^[6]

1988–2000: New Humble Pie

Jerry Shirley obtained the rights to the name Humble Pie in 1988 and reformed the group with different musicians. This project was called New Humble Pie or Humble Pie featuring Jerry Shirley, where Shirley was the only original member. The band began performing concerts and was based in Cleveland, Ohio, where Shirley was working as an on-air radio personality at Cleveland's WNCX. The line-up included vocalist Charlie Huhn, who also played lead and rhythm guitar. While Huhn and Shirley were the only permanent members of the group, several other musicians appeared, including Wally Stocker and a returning Anthony "Sooty" Jones on bass. Jones was quickly replaced by Sean Beavan (who was engineering their 1989 independent single release "Still Rockin'"). In August 1989 they appeared in the line-up at the Woodstock Festival's 20th Anniversary Celebration. By 1990, Scott Allen had replaced Beavan on bass and a little later that year, Cleveland guitarist Alan Greene had joined in place of Stocker. Bassist Sam Nemon played with this version of the band from 1992 to 1996. Brad Johnson took over from 1996 on. In December 1996 Shirley was let go from WNCX after money from a charity event went missing. It was later recovered and Shirley sued the station for wrongful termination. In August 1999 he was seriously injured in an auto accident and after his recovery, he returned to England to reunite with his wife and children.

2000–2003: Final breakup

In 2000 Charlie Huhn continued on as Humble Pie without Shirley to fulfill dates already booked. Rick Craig (former guitarist with Halloween), alternating bassists Ean Evans (ex-Outlaws, soon to join Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Kent "Bubba" Gascoyne, also drummer Jamie Darnell joined for this short lived version of Humble Pie. Michigan guitarist Patrick Thomas took Craig's place later that year. After the dates were completed, this grouping disbanded as Huhn went on to join Foghat.

Frampton and Marriott started collaborating again in 1990. Two songs from this collaboration, "The Bigger They Come" and "I Won't Let You Down", with Steve Marriott's vocals, appeared on Frampton's album Shine On: A Collection. On 20 April 1991, Marriott died in a house fire.^[7]

Back in the UK, Shirley re-formed Humble Pie again in 2001 with a line-up including the original bassist Greg Ridley, former Humble Pie vocalist and guitarist Bobby Tench and new rhythm guitarist Dave Colwell (ex-Bad Company). They recorded Humble Pie's thirteenth studio album, Back on Track (2002), which comprised new songs and was released by Sanctuary Records.^[8] Keyboard players Zoot Money and Victor Martin were brought in for recording sessions. A brief tour of UK and Germany with Company of Snakes followed with new keyboardist Dean Rees. But Ridley fell ill late in 2002 and the band split up.

Shirley appeared at the Steve Marriott Tribute Concert held at the London Astoria in 2001 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Marriott's death. The concert featured a grouping of early Humble Pie members Frampton, Clempson, Ridley and Shirley.^[9] Former guitarist Bobby Tench also appeared as the frontman for the house band, which included Zak Starkey from The Who and Oasis, keyboard player Rabbit Bundrick of The Who and bassist Rick Wills from Foreigner. This concert was released as a DVD by Chrome Dreams in 2005 entitled The Steve Marriott Astoria Memorial Concert 2001,^[10] and as an album with the title One More for the Ol' Tosser (2006).^[11]

Ridley died on 19 November 2003 in Alicante, Spain of pneumonia and resulting complications. He was 56.^[12]

2018: A New Lineup

In 2018 Jerry Shirley, who still owned the Humble Pie name, decided to cobble together a new lineup that he would oversee and direct (but not tour with). He declared: “We all have a great sense of love and pride for Humble Pie, the members, their families and what we were able to achieve. And it goes without saying that no one will ever replace Steve, Peter or any member of the band. My goal is keep the legacy of Humble Pie intact as one of the greatest live acts in rock, while satiating the need for generations of our beloved fans to again enjoy our music performed live by world-class musicians”. Shirley appointed Dave "Bucket" Colwell, who played and recorded with him on the last Humble Pie album, Back on Track, and had also played for years with Bad Company, to lead the band live on tour as co-front man and lead guitarist alongside former Savoy Brown and Cactus singer Jimmy Kunes. The new group was rounded out by second guitarist James "Roto" Rotondi, bassist David C. Gross and drummer Bobby Marks.^[13]

The band, with the aforementioned line-up, started a 15 show tour of the US on August 31, 2018 in Riverhead, NY.

Personnel

Original members:

• Steve Marriott – guitar, vocals, keyboards, harmonica (1969–1975, 1979–1983; died 1991)
• Jerry Shirley – drums, keyboards (1969–1975, 1979–1981, 1988–1999, 2001–2002)
• Greg Ridley – bass, vocals, guitar (1969–1975, 2001–2002; died 2003)
• Peter Frampton – guitar, vocals, keyboards (1969–1971)
• Clem Clempson – guitar, vocals, keyboards (1971–1975)

Discography

Studio albums:

Live albums:

• Performance Rockin' the Fillmore (1971) #21 US (US:Gold^[16])
• In Concert (1996)
• Extended Versions (2000)
• Natural Born Boogie: The BBC Sessions (2000)
• Live At The Whisky A Go-Go '69 (2002)
• Live '73 (2012) (Reissue of the 1996 King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents 'In Concert')
• Live '81 (2013)
• Performance Rockin' the Fillmore: The Complete Recordings Box set (4-cd), (2013)
• Official Bootleg Vol. 1 Box set (3-cd), (May/2017)
• Official Bootleg Vol. 2 Box Set (5-cd), (April/2018)

Compilations:

• Lost and Found (1973) US Cash - 41
• Back Home Again (1976)
• Greatest Hits (1977)
• Best of Humble Pie (1982)
• Classics Volume 14 (1987)
• Early Years (1994)
• Hot n' Nasty: The Anthology (1994)
• The Scrubbers Sessions (1997)
• The Immediate Years: Natural Born Boogie (1999)
• Running with the Pack (1999)
• Twentieth Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2000)
• The Atlanta Years (2005)
• The Definitive Collection (2006)
• One More for the Old Tosser (2006)

Video games and DVDs

• "Cocaine" – Grand Theft Auto IV – on the fictitious radio station Liberty Rock Radio (Credited to Steve Marriott) (2008) Rockstar North/Rockstar Toronto
• "Get Down to It" – on the fictitious radio station K-DST in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) Rockstar North/Rockstar Games
• "30 Days in the Hole" – on the fictitious Los Santos Rock Radio in Grand Theft Auto V (2013, Xbox One/PS4/PC versions only) Rockstar North/Rockstar Games
• The Steve Marriott Astoria Memorial Concert 2001 (2005) Chrome Dreams

References

Sources:

• Hewitt, Paulo and Hellier, John. Steve Marriott - All Too Beautiful... Helter Skelter (2005). ISBN 1-900924-44-7
• Best Seat in the House: Drumming in the '70s with Marriott, Frampton and Humble Pie by Jerry Shirley (Paperback – 1 June 2011)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Humble Pie.

• Official website