Humble Pie: The A&M CD Box Set (1970 – 1975) – Boxset Review

You know this Bands – the ones everyone loves (or claims to love) but never quite got out of the park commercially. They had a few hits, FM played their deeper tracks. Things changed, some members moved on, others died, half-hearted reunions come and go, the catalog moves from one label to the next, and you hear about it every now and then. For the most part they are relegated to the memory bank. That was Humble Pie, one of the first “supergroups” to emerge in the early ’70s with seven albums on the popular A&M label. Now you can get these on CD with an eighth CD of extras The A&M CD Box Set (1970-1975).

The original Humble Pie featured guitarist/vocalist Peter Frampton, formerly of The Herd, along with a young drummer named Jerry Shirley. Guitarist/vocalist Steve Marriott of The Small Faces, who helped Frampton form the original group before joining himself, and bassist/vocalist Greg Ridley of Spooky Tooth rounded out the line-up. Dipping their collective toes in the drink with a couple of UK albums – As safe as yesterday and Urban and countryside – which successfully captured the players’ individual talents without defining a core group sound. Landing a deal with A&M, they hired supermanager Dee Anthony, who immediately encouraged the group to ditch acoustics and all progressive and psychedelic tendencies, and infuse their sound with Marriott’s distinctive high-pitched howl that way.

For their self-titled debut for A&M, it’s obvious the group is heading in the right direction. “One-Eyed Trouser Snake Rumba,” “I’m Ready,” and “Red Light Mamma, Red Hot!” feature Marriott’s spirited vocal changes featuring Frampton and Ridley, along with a swinging guitar crunch and a soulful, throbbing rhythm that’ll have your tail wagging. As they evolved, so did this basic plan of keeping it hot and heavy, though the group often veered into other styles, twists and salty detours. And as evidenced by Frampton’s pastoral “Earth and Water Song,” Marriott’s country-smooth “Theme From Skint,” and Ridley’s blissful “Sucking On The Sweet Vine,” the acoustics were still very much at play.

Shine on, the second release from A&M, showcases the group’s tremendous growth on all fronts. Both “Shine On”, which later became a mega-seller Frampton comes alive, and “The Light” underscore Frampton’s rise as a songwriter, prompting some speculation as to why this would become the guitarist’s final studio album with Humble Pie. Rumor has it that the heavier direction the group had taken didn’t sit well with Frampton. Of course, that didn’t stop him from playing a polite solo on “Stone Cold Fever,” a bluesy-heavy group composition that pretty much defines the pride, soul, and sound most would associate with Humble Pie. Ironically the rest Shine on is a mixed bag of blues “Rollin’ Stone”), scratch-and-sniff rockers (“Sour Grain”, “Big George”, “Strange Days”), catchy love songs (“A Song For Jenny”) and infectious throwaways (“Redneck Leap”).

The sheer strength of Humble Pie is evident on the group’s third A&M release, The Classic Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore. By this time, live albums were becoming a major touchstone in many groups’ catalogues. In the case of Humble Pie, it was a turning point that gave them their first gold record and spawned a real FM staple from “I Don’t Need No Doctor”, itself a cover of an Ashford & Simpson R&B number once recorded by RayCharles. Extended field trips like “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” and “Rollin’ Stone” were right at home at the Fillmore and its intoxicating patrons. As well as Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore pressed and mailed to an unsuspecting public, Frampton announced his departure. That shouldn’t stop the group from continuing with their most successful album to date.

Call her follow-up studio release Smoking built a set of expectations. With Frampton’s replacement, former Colosseum guitarist Clem Clempson in abundance, and Marriott firmly entrenched in the frontman role, Humble Pie were poised to hit the mainstream. Aside from the exquisite ballad “You’re So Good For Me” and acoustically driven blues number “Old Time Feelin'”, Smoking does everything to live up to its name. The opening track “Hot ‘N’ Nasty” is a hip-shaking prankster who can’t help but draw you in. Thrilling covers of Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” and Junior Walker’s “Road Runner” (with Stephen Stills) do wonders for the group’s ability to dance with a take-no-prisoners attitude. And then there’s “30 Days In The Hole,” Marriott’s hard-hitting, soulful ode to the banality of illegal drug laws. It somehow remains one of Humble Pie’s most memorable and popular songs.

Released as a double album EAT it fills out the fifth CD in the set. One of Marriott’s defining traits was his penchant for including female singers in the mix, hoping to add a bit of flair and funk to the music. This goes back to his time with Small Faces on songs like “Tin Soldier” with PP Arnold. The Soul Sisters (Arnold, Doris Troy and Claudia Lennear) performed at Rock On, and Troy and Madeline Bell sang backing vocals Smoking. To the EAT it, the band hired The Blackberries (Billie Barnum, Clydie King and Venetta Fields) to add their vocals to much of the songs, which were largely written by Marriott and whose lead vocals dominate the album. While the singer’s instincts were usually on the right track, the band’s heaviness is a bit off until you get to the live recordings, which are all slightly off-script, unless they’re bloated covers of “Honky Tonk Women” and “Road Runner” (not quite with the version on junk Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore) are your thing. While some numbers like “Is It For Love”, “Drugstore Cowboy”, “Say No More” and “Beckton Dumps” shine through, EAT it would have been better suited as a single release if some of the foamier numbers had stayed on the cutting room floor.

The blackberries also appear thunder box, the sixth CD in the set. Released in 1974, the album is something of a return to the group’s hard rock sensibilities. The title track does much to recapture that edgy spirit, though the record quickly veers in other directions with a slew of covers – “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” “Anna (Go To Him)” and Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away.” “. ‘ with Ridley as sole lead vocalist. At this point in their career, Humble Pie were a very different band from 1969.

street rats, the last Humble Pie album to be released on A&M, wasn’t quite the farewell party it should have been. Even the covers, a half-hearted version of Chuck Berry’s “Rock & Roll Music” and three Beatles songs, couldn’t save the album’s incoherent production and unevenness. By this time, Marriott and Ridley were already pursuing other avenues, although much of this material was ending street rats to sign their record deal. One listen and you get a good sense that the band’s time has come to an end.

The eighth disc of the set consists of bonus tracks (B-sides and rarities) that cover the arc of the group’s A&M dominance. “Big Black Dog,” their hard-rocking first single for A&M, has everything an early ’70s Humble Pie fan loves about the band. Equally impressive is “Mister Ring”, a B-side of a German single. The edited version of the live album I Don’t Need No Doctor is a novel addition, but it barely lives up to its original, expanded form. The Pie act more or less as a backup band for The Blackberries on “Chopper”, “You’ve Been In Love Too Soon”, “Twist And Shout” and “Don’t Change On Me”. Much of the rest of the bonus tracks don’t really do much to bring out Humble Pie’s true heart, although the quirky cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me” shows they never lost their adventurous spirit. When you throw in a hardcover book full of liner notes, rare photos, and other memorabilia, it’s hard to turn your back The A&M CD Box Set (1970-1975).

~ Shawn Perry