Following last year’s Humble Pie’s “Official Bootleg CollectionVolume 1” double LP comes the “Official Bootleg Collection Volume 2”, collating rare and previously (officially) unreleased live shows that were illicitly recorded between 1971 and 1981.
Originally emerging from the remnants The Small Faces, Humble Pie formed in 1969 when guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott joined forces with Peter Frampton, drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley, and began their assent to conquering the theatres and then arenas of North America, culminating in 1972’s double live “Performance: Rockin’ The Filmore”. Frampton left in 1971 for a highly successful solo career, replaced by Colosseum’s Clem Clempson, and it was this line-up that was captured in New York in 1971 at one of Clem’s first shows with the Pie.
The extemporisations of “Performance: Rockin’ The Filmore” became the basis for much of Humble Pie’s live repertoire for the remainder of the 1970s, but this 1971 New York show does include their unique take of Eddie Cochran’s ‘C’mon Everybody’ and ‘I Wonder’ from the soon to be released “Smokin’” LP. Side Two find The Pie backed up by the soulful backing vocals of The Blackberries; Venetta Fields, Clydie King & Billie Barnum, who appear on ‘Oh La-De-Da’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’ and ‘30 Days In The Hole’ Humble Pie split in 1975 following their Street Rats LP, but not before Side Three’s Philadelphia show on March 15, 1975, featuring ‘Four Day Creep’ and ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’.
The Pie would eventually reform for 1980’s “On To Victory” comeback record, this time with a line-up featuring Bobby Tench from the Jeff Beck Group on guitar and vocals and bassist Anthony “Sooty” Jones. Side Four from Privates Club, N.Y.C. on March 25, 1981 features the epic 23 minute take of ‘30 Days in the Hole’ / ‘I Walk on Gilded Splinters’.
Housed in a gatefold sleeve, as well as plenty of rare memorabilia, the booklet features an essay from based on new interviews with Pie drummer, Jerry Shirley.
Whilst every effort has been made to produce the best possible audio, limitations in the material drawn from various, non-standard, and un-official sources means that the quality may not be up to the standard usually expected. All tracks have been included for their historical importance, and to present an anthology of Humble Pie live on stage from 1971- 1981.
The Official Bootleg Collection Volume 2 is a raw testament to what this band did best; playing bluesy, gutsy, soulful hard rock, live on stage.
Drawn from a variety of mainly audience recordings that have previously only been available as “under the counter” pirate releases, this is an honest, often unforgiving, tribute to a classic and much missed ’70s supergroup. Housed in a gatefold sleeve, the artwork features two essays, one of which is based on new interviews with Humble Pie drummer, Jerry Shirley.
Released this day May 24th, 1968: TheSmall Faces third and final studio album “Ogden’s Nutgone Flake!” Watch this one time only Small Faces theatrical performance of this amazing concept album on the BBC’s Colour Me Pop . Songs featured: “Song of a Baker”, “Happiness Stan”, “Rollin’ Over”, “The Hungry Intruder”, “The Journey”, “Mad John” and “Happydaystoytown”, narrated by ringmaster Stanley Unwin!.
Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake is the third (and final) studio album and the first concept album by English rock band Small Faces their Ogdens’LP peaked at number one on the UK Album Charts on June 29th, where it remained for a total of six weeks. Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake only reached No. 159 in the US.
Widely regarded as a classic album, and featured an innovative round cover, the first of its kind, designed to resemble an antique tobacco tin. The title and the design of the distinctive packaging was a parody of Ogden’s Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco that was produced in Liverpool from 1899 on wards by Thomas Ogden.
The two-act concept album consisted of six original songs on side one and a whimsical psychedelic fairy tale on side two relating the adventures of “Happiness Stan” and his need to find out where the moon went when it waned. It was narrated by Stanley Unwin, after original plans to have Spike Milligan narrate the album went awry when he turned them down.
Critics were enthusiastic, and the album sold well, but the band were confronted by the practical problem that they had created a studio masterpiece which was virtually impossible to recreate on the road.
Because of the album’s complexities, it was never performed live. It was performed as a whole once on the BBC’s television programme “Colour Me Pop” on Friday 21st June 1968.
Although the band mimed to the studio recordings, their microphones were left on to capture ad libs.
The Small Faces on the UK TV Program ‘Colour Me Pop’ in 1968.
Set List: 01. Song Of A Baker 02. Happiness Stan 03. Rollin’ Over 04. The Hungry Intruder 05. The Journey 06. Mad John 07. Happydaystoytown From 1968.
The Small Faces set is a mix of live performance, studio material and video. The centrepiece is the performance of songs from Ogden’s Nutgone Flake, complete with appearance from Stanley Unwin.
Today is a poignant landmark for admirers of one of the UK’s most charismatic and distinctive rock frontman, as it’s exactly 25 years since we lost Steve Marriott. The former leader of the Small Faces and Humble Pie died in a house fire on 20th April, 1991, at the cruelly young age of 44.
Thankfully, Steve’s achievements as a true figurehead of pop and rock music, especially in the 1960s and ’70s, are now widely acknowledged. His talents are currently being celebrated at London’s Vaults Theatre, in the highly recommended musical All Or Nothing The Mod Musical, which brings the Small Faces‘ story vividly to life.
Marriott, was from Manor Park in east London, was a born performer, starting his first band at the age of 12 and starring on the West End stage in Lionel Bart’s hit production of Oliver! at just 13 years old. Further stage roles followed, but as All Or Nothing documents, his heart was always in music.
His dreams came true when the Small Faces, formed in 1965, made it big and enjoyed several years of hit singles and increasingly influential and experimental albums. Marriott’s wanderlust and disillusionment with the business of music led him to leave the band and form Humble Pie.
There, he developed a creative partnership with a new group of like-minded players, including Peter Frampton. “It was the best band you could ever be in as far as I was concerned,” said Frampton, “because you’ve got my idol there. Steve would open his mouth and gold came out.”
Marriott fronted Humble Pie from 1969 to 1975, and briefly in a reunited version in the early 1980s. He also made some notable albums in his own name, including the 1976 solo debut Marriott. 1990’s Marriott & Band included versions of his treasured Small Faces songs ‘All Or Nothing’ and ‘What’cha Gonna Do About It.’
Shortly before the end of his life, Marriott was interviewed by Paul Sexton, and reflected with quiet satisfaction on his career. “I was seduced at 18,” he said, “and it was quite good but it paled very quickly. I realised it had nothing to do with music and everything to do with the shape of your bum…what’s been has gone, and I’m very proud of it.
“I’ve got what I wanted, which is just enough money to live on, in no great style but a nice way, and to have some respect from other musicians and play the pubs and clubs, where the music’s still real.”
Humble Pie’s “Up Our Sleeve: Official Bootleg Box Set Vol 3” is latest recorded testament to what this band did best; playing bluesy, gutsy, soulful hard rock, live on stage. Drawn from a variety of audience recordings that have previously only been available as “under the counter” pirate releases, this is an honest and raw tribute to a classic and much missed super-group on the 1970s, released in conjunction with Pie founder member and drummer, Jerry Shirley.
Originally emerging from the remnants of 1960s beat heroes The Small Faces, Humble Pie formed in 1969 when mercurial guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott joined forces with The Herd’s Peter Frampton, joined by drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley. After two albums for Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate label, Humble Pie switched to A&M records, and began their ascent to conquering the theatres and then arenas of North America, culminating in 1972’s double live “Performance: Rockin’ The Filmore”.
Peter Frampton left shortly after to pursue a successful solo career, replaced by Clem Clempson. It was this line-up that is captured across these 5 discs. .Spread across CDs 1 & 2, The Pie were promoting their latest studio record “Smokin'” when they hit Gaelic Park, in Riverdale, NY on 22nd August 1972, from which ‘Hot ‘N’ Nasty’, ‘I Wonder’ and their cover of Eddie Cochran’s ‘C’mon Everybody’ were taken.
Also featured are ‘Hallelujah (I Love Her So)’, ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’, ‘Four Day Creep’ and ‘Rollin’ Stone’ from the previous year’s “Performance: Rockin’ The Filmore”. .Recorded three days later, CD 3 features a similar set, as well as their take on the Stones ‘Honky Tonk Women’ plus ‘Up Our Sleeve’, both of which would feature on 1973’s “Eat It”. .By the time they hit Boston’s Music Hall on 10th April 1973 featured on CD 4, Humble Pie had been joined by the Blackberries, Venetta Fields, Clydie King & Billie Barnum. Promoting the new double LP “Eat It”, the set includes band original ‘Up Our Sleeve’.
One of the UK’s most charismatic and distinctive frontmen was taken from us when Steve Marriott, of the Small Faces and Humble Pie, died in a house fire on 20th April 1991. He was a cruelly young 44 years of age.
Thankfully, Steve’s achievements as a true figurehead of pop and rock music, especially in the 1960s and ’70s, are now widely acknowledged. His talents have been celebrated of late in the highly recommended musical All Or Nothing — The Mod Musical, which brings the Small Faces’ story vividly to life and continues to play to massive response.
Marriott, from Manor Park in the East of London, was a born performer. He started his first band at the age of 12 and starred on the West End stage in Lionel Bart’s hit production of Oliver! at just 13.
His dreams came true when the Small Faces, formed in 1965, made it big and enjoyed several years of hit singles and increasingly influential and experimental albums. Marriott’s wanderlust and disillusionment with the business of music led him to leave the band and form Humble Pie. There, he developed a creative partnership with a new group of like-minded players, including Peter Frampton. “It was the best band you could ever be in as far as I was concerned,” said Frampton, “because you’ve got my idol there.
Formed by Steve Marriott in 1969 after the break-up of Small Faces, Humble Pie epitomised the British rock supergroups emerging at the turn of the decade. With the charismatic Marriott taking on frontman duties, he enlisted Peter Frampton (then of The Herd) on guitar, Spooky Tooth’s Greg Ridley on bass and a teenage Jerry Shirley on drums. The group released two beloved albums on Small Faces’ former label, Immediate, before making a switch to A&M in 1970 and working up a harder, blues-rock sound that would earn acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.
The group’s self-titled effort, released in summer 1970, solidified their new direction and set Humble Pie up for a run of albums that would make an indelible mark on the blues-rock scene, among them Rock On, Smokin’ and the classic live double-album, Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore, recorded at New York’s iconic Fillmore East, before the group temporarily disbanded in 1975. Steve Marriott fronted Humble Pie from 1969 to 1975, and briefly in a reunited version in the early 1980s. He also made some notable albums in his own name, including the 1976 solo debut Marriott. 1990’s Marriott & Band included versions of his treasured Small Faces songs ‘All Or Nothing’ and ‘What’cha Gonna Do About It.’
Shortly before the end of his life, Marriott was interviewed and he reflected with quiet satisfaction on his career. “I was seduced at 18,” he said, “and it was quite good but it paled very quickly. I realised it had nothing to do with music and everything to do with the shape of your bum…what’s been has gone, and I’m very proud of it.
“I’ve got what I wanted, which is just enough money to live on, in no great style but a nice way, and to have some respect from other musicians and play the pubs and clubs, where the music’s still real.
Steve Marriott and Greg Ridley are with us no more, but with the full input of both Frampton and Shirley, The A&M Vinyl Box Set 1970-1975 commemorates their great work. Collecting all seven of the group’s A&M albums across nine slabs of 180g vinyl, it presents this part of the group’s legacy in better-than-ever audio
“Eat It, in particular, had sound problems originally,” says Jerry Shirley, who adds that they have “now been eradicated once and for all, so that our fans, old and new, can hear it as was it was intended to be”. Much love and care has been put into assembling the package too, with the albums coming in a hardback slipcase and replica artwork – including the die-cut sleeve that originally housed Thunderbox.
“Jerry and I worked together with A&M for some time to get this released,” Peter Frampton notes, adding, “We pay tribute to our two lost brothers, Steve and Greg, and hope you enjoy this as much as we did putting it all together.
Formed by Steve Marriott in 1969 Humble Pie were one of the first super group rock bands to form, the original band line-up featured lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Marriott from the Small Faces, vocalist and guitarist Peter Frampton from The Herd, former Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and a seventeen-year-old drummer, Jerry Shirley. Signed to Andrew Loog Oldhams Immediate label. After two albums for Immediate, Humble Pie switched to A&M Records, and began their ascent to conquering the theatres, then arenas of North America, culminating in 1972s double live Performance: Rockin The Filmore. Frampton would leave to pursue a highly successful solo career, to be replaced by Clem Clempson, and it was this line-up that was captured at the Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago on 22nd September 1972, whilst touring to promote that years Smokin opus, from which Hot ‘n’ Nasty and C’mon Everybody were taken.
This selection of never legally released bootleg live versions of the 1970′ s supergroup concerts in Chicago 1972, Tokyo 1973 and Charlton Athletic Football Ground in 1974, housed in a gatefold sleeve. This is the first time that they even been officially and legitimately released with much improved audio, and with the input and consent from Humble Pie’ s Jerry Shirley.
Some of the tracks taken from one of these gigs, the Charlton FC one from May 1974 when the Humble Pie, who were third on the bill that day,stole the honours from headliners The Who,and now 44 years later all who attended can relive that day again.
Humble Pies Official Bootleg Box Set Volume 1 is a raw testament to what this band did best; playing bluesy, gutsy, soulful and often hard rock, live on stage to an adoring audience. Drawn from a variety of mainly audience recordings that have previously only been available as under the counter pirate releases, this is an honest, and often unforgiving, tribute to a classic and much missed 70s supergroup.
First and foremost, to have this album on vinyl – is incredible! because as you’ll clearly hear – this baby rocks! HumblePie had to rock because they followed a blazing performance by Slade. From a concert on May 6th, 1973 at San Francisco’s Winterland Theatre. Opening this show was a little known band then named Steely Dan. Marriott is on fire from the fist note to the last.
there is more material from this show, maybe so. Most gigs from this time period, however, did not run too much over an hour’s worth of material, especially, when three or more bands shared the bill. My only gripe with this package is the packaging, itself! Open the gate fold & do we get a concert photo of the band at Winterland? No! A generic photo, instead. Winterland has some historic significance that should have been highlighted with some photos of that gig or at least the marquee.
And, why is the included poster that of a gig in Europe? Why not a replica of the hand bill that Bill Graham had reproduced of the gig at Winterland? Cleopatra Records gets an A+ for releasing this on vinyl. The sound is fantastic! Cleopatra Records gets a D for liner notes. Do your homework, guys. This is historical stuff and deserves the full package and better information.
This live recording of Humble Pie was made at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in May of 1973, during what many consider to be the band’s creative peak. This Winterland show being only the fifth show recorded for the then brand-newly syndicated King Biscuit Flower Hour radio concert series, features a blistering set of material. From “I Don’t Need No Doctor” to the infectious Top 10 hit “Hot ‘N Nasty” this recording features all the essential music from the Humble Pie catalogue. And since the band built their reputation on legendary live shows, is arguably better than anything the band ever did in the recording studio.
Humble Pie first came together on New Year’s Eve, 1968/69. Marriott had just played a disastrous gig with The Small Faces, whose opening act, oddly enough, was Ridley’s Spooky Tooth. Frampton had already left The Herd and was forming a new band with Shirley, a child prodigy drummer, who was only 16 at the time. Marriott called Shirley after the show and asked if he and Ridley could join the new band he and Frampton were assembling. According to Shirley, he couldn’t believe a singer as acclaimed as Steve Marriott was even interested, and was “thrilled” at the prospect of what the new band could achieve.
The band made its debut in April of 1969, but almost collapsed at the onset. Despite the media hoopla surrounding their supergroup status and a slew of critical raves, Humble Pie’s early albums (As Safe as Yesterday Is and Town and Country – both on Oldham’s Immediate label) were not commercial hits. Marriott and Frampton couldn’t decide if the band should move in an acoustic or electric direction, a dilemma that made the initial records hard to market. The band also had to hit the road before they really had time to work out their live show, and early tours were mostly lackluster as a result. Then, in 1970, the tides began to turn.
The band hired Dee Anthony as its manager, who promptly signed them to A&M Records. The band recorded Humble Pie and Rock On in 1970 and ’71, respectively. Both albums forged the band into a solid – and very electric – blues/rock machine. The critics got behind the band en masse, and records began selling in large numbers. By the time the band had recorded and released Rockin’ The Fillmore in 1971, the word had spread: Humble Pie was one of the hottest live band since the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Just then, Frampton decided he didn’t feel comfortable in the band’s hard rockin’ blues direction and left to pursue a solo career. While the most memorable material from Rockin’ The Fillmore (“I Don’t Need No Doctor,” “4 Day Creep” and the soulful remake of Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So”) also appear on this LP, but the versions differ dramatically, as Frampton had since been replaced by Dave “Clem” Clempson.
Though some in the rock press predicted the band’s demise upon Frampton’s departure, the opposite seemed to happen. Clempson revitalized the band, and helped take it in an even harder direction. When the band returned in 1972 with Smokin’, they had become a well-oiled rock ‘n’ roll dynamo. Five of the album’s tracks – “Hot ‘N Nasty,” “30 Days In The Hole,” “Road Runner,” “You’re So Good For Me” and Eddie Cochran’s classic “C’mon Everybody” – soon became radio staples. Smokin’ became a multi-platinum Top 10 smash, and remains the best selling album of the band’s career.
This concert was recorded while the band was promoting Eat It!, a double LP that featured three sides of studio songs and one side of live material. Though Eat It! went to the Top 15, and Humble Pie had firmly established themselves as a powerful live act, the band’s powers (and their popularity) seemed to gradually decline following this tour. The band returned in 1974 with Thunderbox, but the constant focus by the media and the fans on Steve Marriott began taking its toll within the group. In 1975, Humble Pie reunited in the studio with ex-manager Andrew Oldham, and recordedStreet Rats, a quirky collection of tracks, including three Beatles covers. The band embarked on a “Farewell” tour, and called it a day.
Though Humble Pie never quite reached the commercial status of Led Zeppelin or Eric Clapton, they did leave an indelible mark on the contemporary rock music. The passion of Marriott’s blue-eyed soul, the powerful blast of the band’s clever rhythm section, compounded by the skillful guitar work of Frampton (and later, Clem Clempson), will forever keep Humble Pie near the head of the blues/rock class of legends.
There’s nothing like making the grand entrance to impress people, but few do it in such style as Humble Pie’s JerryShirley and I managed when we drove to Steve Marriott’s country home on Friday. As the brakes of Jerry’s mini failed in the entrance to the drive we gracefully smashed into and through the newly-repaired gate and glided to a regal halt half on the lawn!
A barefooted Steve came hurtling through a gateway from the rear garden and pulled up in his tracks when he saw what had happened. Jerry was attempting to halt the car which had started rolling again in the direction of Steve’s car while I clambered through the dead gate.
“I thought it was a scooter crash, we’re always getting them out here. We keep having to rush out with cups of tea to revive people,” Steve gasped. “Are you okay? Right, one new gate needed and two shots of liquid refreshment for medicinal purposes.” on that practical note we filed into one of Steve’s two cottages to find his wife, Jenny, making tea amid four dogs, three kittens, and two geese. This, it seems, was only part of the Marriott menagerie.
Steve Marriott had been living in the country for almost three years now and Jerry thinks it has made a new man of the one-time looner. “He’s much calmer now, different,” Jerry said on the way down. “He’s changed, but not that much… he’s more himself. He doesn’t get moods, he’s just back into being the real Steve.” He has virtually finished with drink and accessories, preferring cups of tea and the fresh air. Uppermost in Steve’s mind that day is the group’s first album with A&M. Titled simply Humble Pie, it is an important first and a lot of hard work has gone into it.
‘Live With Me’ on side one, called This Side, is the type of thing you might expect to hear during a jazz festival when the sun is high and the atmosphere is peaceful. Pete Frampton’s organ begins and is joined by Jerry on drums and then the guitars of Steve and Greg Ridley. Pete controls the organ fluctuation very well, taking the crescendos down to a soft melody very neatly. It’s a relaxing number with little bursts of energy.
Steve: “That’s a stage number. All those things we kept them like we do on stage.”
‘Only A Roach’ could well be a modern country-and-western number in its approach. The vocal harmonies are used to repeat lines at the end of verses and then sing along together. Not the sort of thing I would have expected from Humble Pie, ‘One-Eyed Trouse-Snake Rumba‘. If you don’t know what the creature in the title is, write to me for the answer in a plain, sealed envelope! A fair old bit of rock and roll with two voices taking alternate parts.
‘Earth and Water Song’ has quiet vocals and thoughtful lyrics with an uncomplicated backing. The acoustic guitar, tapping cymbals, light drumming and flowing organ create a pleasing effect. “I am the earth and she is my water” goes one line, then there’s a short piece of louder instrumental work which becomes more prominent during the number, though it’s never obtrusive. The other side is called That Side; it is generally much louder ‘I’m Ready’ is all very heavy and has Pete yelling over a frenzied riff. A lot of bass drum and cymbals and a fine contrasting lead guitar with lots of guts going into the whole thing. ‘Theme From Skint’ is almost a folk song. It’s like a cross between Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones being folksy. It gets more pounding after a time and this is because it leads straight into…Rock On. ‘See You Later Liquidator’ which is no doubt a reference to a certain period in the Pie’s recent career. It is musically violent and takes over as the second part of an idea that began during the preceding track. It builds and builds to a walloping crash of thunder at the end after holding the same course but progressing in volume. ‘Red Light Mamma, Red Hot!’ Much heaviness and pounderama abounds here. Stomp, stomp go the drums, the guitars crack away and Pete belts the lyrics out in fine fashion. A nice guitar passage is combined with fierce drumming and a forceful bass line.
‘Sucking On The Sweet Vine’ is the final track. “A love song” is not quite the right description, though it is basically just that. It is in some ways similar to ‘Only A Roach’ though not so involved. The theme is sadness and desolation, and the music is complimentary though very much of today. Steve: “Greg wrote it and sung it. He needed a band where he could come out of himself.”
The Album over, we talked about its chances, which I rate highly, and Steve commented: “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever been involved in. What I’m knocked out about is the clarity, that’s down to Glyn Johns, the engineer.
“It’s not just a thin sound to get the clarity, he gets a nice loud sound at the same time. I’ll stand up for this album to anyone any day of the week. an album should be like a stage show.” From the “Life and Times of Steve Marriott”
We rejoined Jerry and Jenny and the dogs who were playing football (honestly) on the lawn. The group had a gig that evening at Southampton Top Rank and getting there was proving a bit of a problem because of Jerry’s crash, the fact that Steve oughtn’t to drive at night (says Jenny) and they had to pick up Pete at his home in Hampstead en route. So a mini cab was called.
The journey back to London from deepest Essex was spent by Steve, Jerry and myself awarding points out of ten to young ladies in the street. It’s a popular Humble Pie pastime it seems.
Released in June 1967 the same month as the Beatles’ ‘Sgt Pepper’, ‘Small Faces’ is the band’s first album for Immediate Records, recorded at IBC and Olympic Studios. With lead vocals shared between three band members it has been described as their first “grown-up” record and a “neglected gem” which saw them develop a more fully-formed sound.
The Small Faces were Mod to the core, but could also play instruments. The band members were lead singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, bassist Ronnie (“Plonk”) Lane, drummer Kenney Jones, and organist Ian McLagan (who replaced Jimmy Winston early on). All four stood under 5 feet 5 inches tall (Eric Clapton, upon meeting them for the first time, said they all looked like little “haw-bits”). Their short stature, mischievousness, and stylish Carnaby Street threads made them the most eye-catching band in England for a time,
Two extraordinary Small Faces release from Immediate Records albums were requested by Sainsburys as exclusive coloured vinyl editions. Released 1st June and limited to 2,500 and in every UK Sainsbury’s that stocks vinyl. Ogdens‘ is stereo, Small Faces mono. The last five years have seen a massive programme of tape recovery and upgrading with the full co-operation and endorsement of both surviving band members. Kenney Jones has given access to his personal tape archive and many of the band’s original master tapes and session multi-tracks, previously lost for over forty years, have been discovered and re-mastered. It is thus now possible to present the Small Faces’ recordings sounding better than at any time since the 1960s. The Re-Masters series also presents a host of newly discovered tracks and alternative versions, alongside original artwork, photos, rare publicity material and memorabilia with comprehensive new sleeve-notes based around band interviews.
One of Britain’s most influential bands of the Sixties and a major influence on the new wave of Britpop bands, the Small Faces hit their creative and commercial highpoint with their psychedelic concept album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. Released in May ‘68. Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flakeis considered a classic by “those in the know,” but often overlooked when classic rock albums are bandied.
Ogdens’ was the first record released in a round sleeve, designed to resemble an old tobacco tin, and the name parodies an 1899 brand of tobacco. The sleeve unfolds to four circles with moody black-and-white pics of the band members by famous photographer Gered Mankowitz . Musically, Ogdens’ is equally mind-blasting. After the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Ogdens’ was the first “concept album,” preceding both S.F. Sorrow by the Pretty Things and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by several months. The second side is a Ronnie Lane-inspired musical fairy tale about “Happiness Stan,” who goes on a quest, assisted by a friendly fly, to find the other half of the “dangly” moon. Linking various musical snips is daft narration by English comic Stanley Unwin, who combined the Small’s cockney slang with his own nonsensical “Unwinese” speak
A bona fide classic of the late Sixties, Ogdens’ was released on the famous Immediate label in the summer of 1968 and went straight to the number one spot in the UK album chart, remaining there for six weeks. A heady blend of cockney music-hall humour, tough rock numbers, blues and psychedelia, it spawned two of the group’s biggest hit singles in Afterglow (Of Your Love) and Lazy Sunday.
The six tracks which made up side two of the original LP are introduced by Stanley Unwin, one of Britain’s most popular comedians of the day, renowned for his inventive use of English.
The fourteen bonus tracks are highlights from the group’s time with Immediate Records from 1967 to 1969.
As well as hit singles such as Itchycoo Park, Here Come The Nice and The Universal, these include live recordings of Tin Soldier and their 1966 Decca number one single All Or Nothing, plus their memorable duet with label mate P.P. Arnold.
The Small Faces : Steve Marriott on Vocals and Guitar, Ronnie Lane on Bass, Kenney Jones on Drums and Ian McLagan on Wurlitzer Piano and Hammond Organ were rogues and rounders,
You won’t find this special compilation LP by one of the UK’s most iconic bands in any store on 21st April. Except one. Humble Pie ‘On 79th Street’ will only be available from Pie & Vinyl. Obvious? Or are we bucking the trend of Record Store Day in the manner that Andrew Loog Oldham, legendary founder of Immediate Records and Rolling Stones manager might have done?
Or does this one-off LP celebrate the spirit of RSD more than any other release? Inspired by the beautiful pied-piperess Katherine who led us all to Pie & Vinyl and discoveries that linked her vibrant, musical town of Portsmouth & Southsea, an amazing record store and the timeless sounds of Humble Pie to dramatic events in Southsea over 40 years ago that culminated in a truly local effort to press the LP in Portsmouth and have it on sale in Southsea for Saturday 21 April. Says Immediate Records reissue producer Rob Caiger: “Wouldn’t it be great if by doing all of this, a new fan on Record Store Day discovers Humble Pie – in Pie & Vinyl – and feels the same excitement hearing ‘Natural Born Bugie’ as I did in my own local record shop Downtown Records many years ago. There’s no better place to hear new sounds (however old…) then in a record shop – and that’s just one reason why we should celebrate Record Store Day.”
One of the first supergroups, Humble Pie formed in 1969 and soon became one of the best-loved, hardest-rocking live acts of the 1970s. In Steve Marriott, the one-time Small Faces frontman, Pie had the best showman and biggest voice in the business. Peter Frampton, ‘Face Of ‘68’ with The Herd, had a new role – guitar hero. And with hard-hitting drummer Jerry Shirley and ex-Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley, Humble Pie quickly developed into a sophisticated studio unit where tough riffs, rustic rock and bursts of blissed-out late psychedelia earned the band instant chart success and critical acclaim.
Supervised by Peter Frampton & Jerry Shirley, all songs have been newly remastered by Nick Robbins at Soundmastering and cut halfspeed by Matt Colton at Alchemy Studios. ‘79th Street Blues’ (take 7) was recorded at Olympic Studios on 3rd January 1970 and mixed by Rob Keyloch at Church Walk Studios exclusively for this LP and will not appear anywhere else.
Pressing the ‘secret’ Record Store Day 2018 release at Vinyl Presents Humble Pie – “On 79th Street”
The Fat Angel Sings 