Humble Pie - Town and Country 1969

Anyone who thinks of Humble Pie solely in terms of their latter-day boogie rock will be greatly surprised by this, the band's second release, for it is almost entirely acoustic. There is a gently rocking cover of Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat," and a couple of electrified Steve Marriott numbers, but the overall feel is definitely more of the country than the town or city. "The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake" is a typical Marriott country ditty, similar to those he would include almost as a token on each of the subsequent studio albums, and "Every Mother's Son" is structured as a folk tale. On "The Light of Love," Marriott even plays sitar. Peter Frampton's contributions here foreshadow the acoustic-based music he would make as a solo artist a few years later. As a whole, this is a crisp, cleanly recorded, attractive-sounding album, totally atypical of the Humble Pie catalog, but well worth a listen. AMG.

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Humble Pie - Smokin' 1972

After a couple of years of relentless touring, Humble Pie capitalized on their loyal U.S. following to capture the market with this, their fifth studio album. Although lead guitarist Peter Frampton was replaced by Clem Clemson -- an excellent player -- the band remained essentially the same. Led by singer/guitarist Steve Marriott's soulful wail, the group enjoyed a huge hit from this record, "30 Days in the Hole" -- the track which defined the Pie's not-so-subtle appeal. The rest of the record is equally funky and intriguing. Stephen Stills guests on "Road Runner 'G' Jam," playing some nasty Hammond organ fills. In the end, though, the group defined themselves as the undisputed leaders of the boogie movement in the early 1970s, as a band. AMG.

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Humble Pie - Performance, Rockin the Fillmore 1971

Recorded while Peter Frampton was still in the band, Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore captures an early performance by Humble Pie where Steve Marriot's lyricism and ideas where balanced by Frampton's searing lead guitar. This is hardly as engaging as As Safe Yesterday Is, which had studiocraft along with songcraft, but as a document of a band at a pivotal point in their existence, this is valuable and at times insightful. AMG.

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