Classic Rock Bottom

Artist: Humble Pie

Genre: Rock

Nationality: British

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: Smokin'

Producer: Steve Marriott

Release Date: March 1972

Running Time: 43:30

RIAA Certification: Gold

Peak Billboard Chart Position: #6 (Billboard)

Singles: Hot 'n' Nasty (#52 Billboard)/30 Days In The Hole (Did not chart)

 

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it). 

Our trip through the early seventies moves into 1972 this week.  The Album of the Week is Smokin' by Humble Pie.  Humble Pie was a British rock group that was founded in 1969. The band started out as one of the first supergroups and featured Steve Marriott (The Small Faces), Peter Frampton (The Herd) and Greg Ridley (Spooky Tooth).  The band also included drummer Jerry Shirley.

Smokin' is the fifth album by Humble Pie.  It's also the first album not to feature Peter Frampton.  It is the band's biggest selling album and it charted in the U.S. at number six. 30 Days In The Hole is probably the band's most recognizable song, though it did not manage to chart.  I have to say that it's really the only Humble Pie song that I hear on classic rock radio from time to time.  Here is an album profile taken from Wikipedia:

Smokin' includes dramatically slowed down versions of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody", Junior Walker's "Road Runner", and the wah-wah laden slow blues "I Wonder". "You're So Good for Me", which begins as a delicate acoustic number, ultimately mutates into a full-bore gospel music rave-up, an element that would later influence bands like The Black Crowes.

Alexis Korner guests on the track "Old Time Feelin'", Marriott's vocals take a back seat as the main vocals are provided by Greg Ridley and Korner who also plays a Martin Tipple, mandolin-type guitar. Its sound is reminiscent of the song "Alabama '69" on their first album.

Stephen Stills guests on "Road Runner 'G' Jam" (the title is a nod to the band's habit of developing songs out of jam sessions), playing Hammond organ, and his backing vocals were over-dubbed on "Hot 'n' Nasty" a slow-burning and then dynamic R&B song, after he strolled in after recording his own sessions next door.

Marriott insisted on producing the album himself for the challenge of creating a compact R&B sound with a high-tech 24-track mixing board. Marriott collapsed with exhaustion in February. New Musical Express (NME) reported at the time: "Following intense recording sessions with Humble Pie, Steve Marriott collapsed with nervous exhaustion and doctors told him to rest".

With this album the group were seen as leaders of the boogie movement in the early 1970s.

Side One:

1. Hot 'n' Nasty

2. The Fixer

3. You're So Good For Me

4. C'mon Everybody

5. Old Time Feelin'

Side Two:

6. 30 Days In The Hole

7. (I'm A) Roadrunner

8. I Wonder

9. Sweet Peace And Time

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Great album! This one got a lot of play on my old turntable.

I have a couple of "with Frampton" albums in my Amazon wish list so this bands shows up in my recommendations, but I've never pulled the trigger.  So this is a cool post for many reasons.

Hot N Nasty:  Cool funk vibe, kind of a Sly and the Family Stone feel, just a little more rocked up!  Great tune!

The Fixer:  More Bluesy Funk.  Marriot's voice is very Plant like at times. I find nothing to criticize at this point. The geetar work is perfect - great tone, great technical execution, and simply a cool jam!

Your So Good For Me:  Not sure why, but I'm getting a Guess Who vibe, maybe because they're still fresh in my mind from your earlier post, or maybe because it is what it is!  I love music that has easily discernible passion and drive, there is feeling in these songs!  Something that's so missing today...

C'mon Everybody:  Nice bluesy riff and upbeat tempo!  Why isn't this familiar to me?  Best tune so far!

Old Time Feelin': Feels like one of Van Halens acoustic fun tunes without the rockin' ending.  Ice Cream Man, Stay Frosty ...  The influence of this band is becoming clear.

30 Days In The Hole: Love the drum sound!  Love that crisp hard hit snare.  Does it get any better?  Fun tune...

Road Runner G Jam: (Theres a discrepancy with your posted track listing and what PodSnack is showing) ... Some build up to this one in your comments...  Love jam sessions and that Hammond is right on point!

I Wonder:  And here we are at the Joplin-esque tune.  Expected some great geetarmanship and I got it in droves!!!

Sweet Peace and Time:  Im floored...  this is going in the shopping cart

Best AOTW so far!!

I had this on vinyl way back when, but have no memories attached to it like with, say, "The Wall". Never picked it up on CD though, don't know why. I do have a Humble Pie greatest hits disc just so I can have at least one album from every group, ever. Hey, I now remember that I picked up "Go For The Throat" in the early 80's because it was in a cutout bin and the cover was pretty cool. I don't think I liked it though. Definitely a far cry from this, I believe I can say.

Listening to this now, except for a couple songs, I remember absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. What I can say is that this would be a nice party album, it rocks, it boogies. Nice for a barbecue!

The whole album is killer grooviness, but the last track is especially killer grooviness of the utmost order. 

Peter Frampton also did a cover of "(I'm A) Roadrunner". So did Fleetwood Mac. Isn't that interesting?

Nice post, I guess.    

It is very interesting!

Is there a remastered edition?

Not that I'm aware of, unless there's a remastered import out there. I know this album always shows up on the $5 or less list from Amazon.

Again one of those bands, I'm not really aqquainted with.

As far, as I know, Steve Marriott came from The Small Faces, which were a VERY english band. The first song doesn't sound english at all, or maybe it does? They sound a bit like Bad Company, but to me, they've always sounded a bit american.

The second song sound more like Zeppelin, and is actually a very good track. Nice riff, and a great guitar. Man, this doesn't sound like 1972, more like 74-75.

Third song is also sounding good. Even though, I compared this music to Bad company, I like this better. I REALLY like this stuff!!

(Fourth song) Nice cover of this song, but I'm not really a "cover-guy". But nice rocking version.

"Old Time Feelin'" is a bit boring. Weakest track so far.

"30 days" - This sounds like Free!! A little too much, perhaps. Not that it's a bad thing, but I like the originals. Also a bit of Stones in this one. Good fun rock'n'roll. also kind of like Rod Stewart/The Faces.

Track 7 annoys me from the start. i hate all of those songs, that contains some sort of laughter. Who wants to listen to the same laughter over and over again? Not me. This sounds like Bad company again. It's a bit boring. Maybe the weakest track so far.

Track 8 - starts with nice guitar...and good singing...but sounds like a deadringer for one of the slow blues-songs from Led Zeppelin 1 or 3. If it doesn't speed up, this will be long, long 8½ minutes. Okay, there's some very nice guitar on this one, and it DOES speed a bit up in the end, but it's too much like something, you've heard before many, many times. By Zeppelin!!

Song 9 has a GREAT start. Good drums. Nice guitar, and nice riff. Good ending to a good album. That's how it's done. a weak track in the end, doesn't really makes you want to listen again, but this track does.

Overall this was a very nice listening experience. Yet another one of those albums, that I haven't heard before, and again one of those, that surprised me in a possitive way.

Good job, Jeff. I will probably check out Humble Pie some more.

Almost forgot to comment on this (I'm gonna try and start posting my personal thoughts in the comments section, not in the original post).  

This was the first Humble Pie I've ever heard, other than 30 Days In The Hole.  I can't say I love Marriott's voice, but most folks think he was amazing, so that's good enough for me.  As far as the album goes, it is pretty good.

This seems to be a good exercise for me.  I'm picking up some 70's albums that I've never heard before.  And it's mostly artists that I've wanted to explore a bit.  

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