hypersongs

Humble Pie

A boogie and blues-rock band formed in Essex in 1969 by Steve Marriott of the Small Faces and Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley and Jerry Shirley, whose Smokin' (1972) holds "30 Days in the Hole".

A supergroup from Immediate

Humble Pie formed in 1969 in Moreton, Essex. Steve Marriott, born Stephen Peter Marriott in East Ham on January 30, 1947, walked out of a Small Faces show at Alexandra Palace on December 31, 1968; the Small Faces' split was announced in March 1969 and Humble Pie unveiled, with Peter Frampton, formerly of the Herd, Greg Ridley, formerly of Spooky Tooth, and Jerry Shirley. The press called them one of the first late-1960s supergroups. Their debut, As Safe as Yesterday Is, came out on Immediate in August 1969 and reached number 32 in the UK, and Town and Country was rush-released in November during Immediate's financial crisis, on their first US tour; "Natural Born Bugie" reached number four in the UK.

Immediate collapsed in 1970 and the band signed to A&M, with Dee Anthony as manager, and made Humble Pie (1970) and Rock On (1971). They played a free concert in Hyde Park on July 3, 1971, and opened for Grand Funk Railroad at Shea Stadium on July 9. Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore (1971) reached number 21 in the US and went gold; Frampton left before its release and was replaced by Clem Clempson.

Smokin' and the end

Smokin' (March 1972) was the first album with Clempson, recorded in February 1972 at Olympic Studios in London, and reached number six in the US; Eat It (1973), Thunderbox (1974) and Street Rats (1975) followed, with the backing vocal group the Blackberries from about 1972. They disbanded in 1975 after a Goodbye Pie tour, citing musical differences. Marriott and Shirley revived the band in late 1979 with Bobby Tench and Anthony Jones, making On to Victory (April 1980, Atco) and Go for the Throat (June 1981), and the line-up disbanded after losing the Atlantic contract. Marriott's last official Humble Pie performance was at the Electric Cowboy Festival in Columbia, Tennessee on September 4, 1983, and he later led Packet of Three and the Majik Mijits with Ronnie Lane.

Shirley obtained the name rights in 1988 and ran a version of the band with Charlie Huhn and others; Marriott died on April 20, 1991, aged 44. A Steve Marriott Tribute Concert at the London Astoria in 2001 reunited Frampton, Clempson, Ridley and Shirley. Shirley, Ridley, Bobby Tench and Dave Colwell made Back on Track (2002, Sanctuary), and Ridley died on November 19, 2003, aged 62. A new line-up toured the US from August 31, 2018. Reissues include the Official Bootleg Box Sets (2017 to 2019), including Tourin' with live versions from 1974, 1980 and 1981, and Hallelujah: 1973-1983 (2025). Simon Spence wrote All or Nothing: The Authorised Story of Steve Marriott (Omnibus, 2023).

Albums

  • Smokin' 1972 · A&M

    Their first with Clem Clempson: nine songs recorded in February 1972, self-produced, number six in the US.

Songs

  • 30 Days in the Hole Smokin' · 1972

    Steve Marriott's song of being arrested, a September 1972 single that did not chart and became a classic rock radio staple.

Sources

  1. Humble Pie (band), Wikipedia
  2. Steve Marriott, Wikipedia
  3. Humble Pie, setlist.fm
  4. Humble Pie, MusicBrainz