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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Steve Marriott Lives!, January 24, 2002
By A Customer
I finally got my copy of The Life and Times of Steve Marriott and it's everything I hoped it would be and more. It is just so nice to finally have something out there to help us remember this great artist by. Up until now there has been nothing but the music and my memories, and I hope lots of people see this and become fans like me. The music is great, of course, and I think overall the tracks selected are a good mix of Steve's vast catalogue of material. It was such a treat to see that great old B&W Small Faces stuff. I was just 12 years old when all that British Mod stuff was happening, but I remember it well. There are a couple of virtually un-interrupted Small Faces performances, as well as a nervous young Steve meeting a fan. Watch as he puts his pick in his mouth to shake her hand and then takes it out to talk! There are a couple of complete songs performed from the early Humble Pie days which was an unexpected treat. You can really see the boys stretching their creative wings with all the acoustic stuff. Steve was more in the background at this time as he wanted to have everyone in the band share the spotlight, but it's hard not to watch him, and that voice...ahh that voice! His harp playing is fabulous. We quickly move on to the "Rockin' the Fillmore" period (no mention of Rock On album at all) and virtually no concert footage from this period until we get to a very nice surprise, a live version of "I Don't Need No Doctor" with Clem Clemson that just smokes! Despite the poor sound quality, it captures the live energy this band had which was unequaled. This is how I will always remember Steve and the Pie. From there the story jumps right along to Smokin' and Eat It, with very little concert footage (sadly) except a snippit of Steve and the band with the Blackberries singing a version of "Black Coffee" that is different from the record. I wanted more! Then we zip along to the breakup of the band. No mention of Thunderbox or Street Rats (not that the latter is really worth mentioning, but still...) and then on to the 2nd version of Small Faces and Humble Pie. Again, not really note-worthy stuff, but very little of Steve's later work in the '90s, and I'm sure there is some video of that period. Oh well. To sum up, you get a lot of great early stuff, both with Small Faces and Humble Pie, some gems from the heyday of Humble Pie, and not much at all of the later years. It seemed like it all ended too quickly! The interviews and comments by those folks lucky enough to know Steve were great. Jerry Shirley was a kick, and Peter Frampton and the rest were fun to listen to. I wish there was just a single interview with Steve, to hear him talk would have been nice. I also remember seeing Humble Pie on TV back in the '70s on shows like "In Concert" and "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" (remember those?) and it would have been cool to have some of that footage as well. All in all, a great video/DVD to have for your library about one of rock music's all time great perfomers, and leaves you wanting more.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Life and Times worth the wait, December 9, 2000
Overall, this DVD is nicely done, with lots of concert footage. Now, of course, I'll go through and mention all the little things I didn't like. The production is a bit amateurish, with cheesy 80s video effects demarking the chapter separations. The worst thing is that there is a huge gap between Eat It and the first break-up of the band. No mention of Thunderbox or Street Rats at all. Suddenly they're showing pictures of the hideous Bob Tench, who is somehow more unpleasant to look at than to listen to. Peter Frampton's interviews are very enlightening, and he's quite open about everything, from him quitting the band to the project he and Steve were working on when Steve died. A wide range of rock and roll characters make appearances too. Greg Ridley was conspicuous in his absence, however. The special features are nice, although the menu system makes it a little difficult to get to them. You have to actually go to the last chapter of the disc, instead of just hitting 'menu,' which simply restarts the DVD from the beginning. My favorite feature is the 'audio only' tracks. Here you can listen to all the live performances given in the documentary, but without the interviews talking over them. Unfortunately, they didn't use the unedited performance footage, so you still have cuts to people talking during the songs, you just don't hear them. The 'media room' is nicely done as well, with all of the people interviewed listed along with 9 questions. You can choose who you want to answer which question, and there's a lot of information here that doesn't appear in the documentary. Bottom line: despite a few flaws, well worth the price for any Pie, Steve, or Small Faces fan.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Too little, too late?!, July 13, 2001
At last - something for the fans of probably the most dynamic live act and artist of the 70's. There never has been and most likely never will be, anyone quite like Mr Marriott, who's untimely death left an enormous void in the rock world. This dvd focusses on the earlier days of Humble Pie. There is a badly cut version of I Don't Need No Doctor - taken, I believe, from an Old Grey Whistle Test. It proves that somewhere out there in Archiveland there exists more footage of the band. Bring it on - there is a huge market for Humble Pie fans (just check the number of bootlegs doing the rounds!) Peter Frampton, Jerry Shirley (whom I met with Steve at a Packet of Three gig in Leicester many years ago) Clem Clempson all make pertinent and valuable contributions - but nothing from Greg Ridley, which is sad because he was/is (?) probably the best bassist around at the time. Where is Greg?!! Track listing is good and worthy of the band. This offering could have done with more anecdotes, and of course, more live footage - what about the famous Charlton gig with the Who and Maggie Bell? That was filmed - I have some of it on vhs! If you only ever buy one dvd from the 70's - buy this one. If you buy loads - buy this one anyway. If you don't have a dvd player - buy this one because one day you will glad that you did.
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