![]() He exited in ’71 to pursue a solo career and the progressive pop/rock songs and layered electric/acoustic timbres he favored. This was Frampton’s last studio album with the band. Cole (pedal steel), Bobby Keys (saxophone), the Soul Sisters singing group, and vocalist Alexis Korner. The appropriately titled Rock On achieved greater success and underscored the blues-rock-metal direction that became Pie’s calling card, augmented by guests B.J. “Theme From Skint” was Marriott’s country-rock novelty ditty lampooning Immediate’s bankruptcy, and “Sucking on the Sweet Vine” was a Ridley composition that evoked Jethro Tull’s prog-rock/folk amalgam. Frampton’s acoustic-dominated folk-pop tune “Earth and Water Song” was flanked by two of the record’s heaviest tracks, the metallic boogie “One-Eyed Trouser-Snake Rumba” and “I’m Ready,” a hard-rock reinterpretation of Willie Dixon’s blues song. “Only a Roach” was a country-tinged hippie number with pedal-steel colors and a rare lead vocal from composer Shirley. ![]() Their major-label debut, Humble Pie, marked a transition back to progressive hard rock and featured greater group interaction and sonic contrasts. Humble Pie returned to England to find Immediate in financial ruin and soon signed with A&M. It is phrased in a climactic rush of notes to a high F that receives the singing vibrato treatment. The concluding thought is a more technical modal run laced with chromaticism. Bars 3 and 4 change gears to funkier phrasing and contain allusions to classic rock string bends and double stops. It gives way to a winding modal line in measure 2. This phrase vividly captures the progressive side of Frampton’s rock style check out his aggressive, rhythmically charged opening section with its accented repeated notes. With these musical treasures, the group began touring the U.S.įrampton’s solo in “Strange Days” ( Rock On) purveys the kind of guitar excitement that demanded repeated needle dropping. Only “Down Home Again” and “Silver Tongue” approached the hard-rock intensity of their first album. By contrast, the rush-release follow-up Town and Country, issued only two months later, was largely acoustic and reflected Frampton and Marriott’s love of country, folk, ballads, and blues while exploiting ambitious mixed timbres including sitar, keyboards, and various atypical percussion instruments. It flaunted a wealth of Frampton guitar moments and solid songwriting in diverse pieces like “Desperation,” “Growing Closer,” “Alabama ’69” and the title track. The first, As Safe As Yesterday Is, purveyed hard rock, British blues, folk, country and post-hippie psychedelia, and was one of the first albums to receive the then-unflattering “heavy metal” appellation. hit single and preceded two albums for Immediate. Humble Pie initially gravitated to eclectic folk-rock-roots sounds reminiscent of The Band, which had taken the world by storm in ’68. Accordingly, the band chose its self-effacing moniker in a gesture to downplay the expectations and publicity foisted upon them. With this auspicious merging of talent and experience, the quartet was accorded supergroup status, largely by a ready-to-hype music press that relished the story of a promise foretold. Ridley was a founding member of Spooky Tooth and 17-year-old Shirley was a veteran of The Apostolic Intervention, a group mentored by Marriott while Small Faces were with Immediate Records. ![]() Completing the lineup were bassist Greg Ridley and drummer Jerry Shirley. This sparked the development of a side project at Marriott’s insistence, Frampton served as studio player when Small Faces backed French singer Johnny Hallyday during December ’68 sessions that foreshadowed Marriott’s official departure that New Years’ Eve, and the birth of Humble Pie, a band he started for Frampton then wound up joining. Marriott campaigned to recruit Frampton into Small Faces, even added him as guest performer in concert, but met with opposition from the group. Marriott rocked audiences as vocalist of Small Faces, which scored hit singles with “Itchycoo Park,” “All or Nothing,” “Tin Soldier” and “Lazy Sunday.” Frampton was the 16-year-old guitar prodigy in The Herd, which hit with “From the Underworld,” “Paradise Lost” and “I Don’t Want Our Loving To Die.” Moreover, he was a teen idol awarded “The Face of ’68” accolade by Rave magazine. ![]() Formed with two formidable front men in Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton, Humble Pie was one of the earliest “supergroups” to emerge from the British Invasion and embody aspirations beyond pop. Peter Frampton with Humble Pie, circa 1969. ![]()
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