Customer Reviews

Humble Pie

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the First Record by Humble Pie that I listened to in Early 1971 and WOW I was Knocked back by this Band. I Loved the Small Faces, But that was the Sixties, and Humble Pie was the Seventies, Loud, In Your Face, and they could PLAY !!!

To Me this Record is the Bridge Between "Safe As Yesterday" & "Smokin". it has the Keybords and Acoustic Guitars of the First Two Records with the Loud Brash Guitars of Later Pie in their Headlining Heydaze.

It all begins with that Wonderful Organ of "Live With Me" and when Pete's Guitar Kick's in you know you are in for Quite a Ride, it's Classic Pie, and Features vocals from Steve, Greg and Peter... Fantastic Track.
A rare song from Jerry; "Only A Roach" is heap's good fun and "Trouser Snake" ROCKS. Peter's BIG Number: "Earth & Water Song" is another Highlight on a Record full of Highlight's, great Tune.

Side Two Opens with "I'm Ready" which became a regular in the Live Show for many years, This one was KILLER in Concert. I really like "Theme from Skint", it is a Country Sounding Number and it works well, it shows that Humble Pie could tackle any Music Form and pull-off a great tune. Things come to a close with "Red Light Mama" & "Sweet Vine", "Mama" is a taste of the Heavy Guitar Rock that shows the Future of this Band & "Sweet Vine" is the Coda of this Great Record, This Band was Right On Top of their Game with the Release of "Humble Pie" ... The Seventies were here... HUMBLE PIE ROCKS, NUFF SAID !

I just received a set of the 2007 Humble Pie Japanese mini-sleeves today.

The remastered audio on all of the new Japanese CD's easily exceed the horrid-sounding, 35+ year-old, LP-EQ'd masters of the entire domestic Pie A&M CD catalog.

However, upon an A/B comparison, the new Japanese CD did not stand up to this UK Repertoire remaster.

In the Repertoire, there is definitely more clarity to the entire recording, especially in the percussion.

If you already own the Repertoire disc, don't feel panicked to get the Japanese edition, although, the Japanese sleeve, which replicates the gatefold and woven-textured finish of the original HP LP-album cover, is decidely very cool.

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.

It's great to see this album back in circulation. "Humble Pie" is the point where most American kids started with this group. When H.P. joined the A&M line-up, they received much better distribution.

"Humble Pie" introduces the trademark heavy, hard rock that was the group's bread and butter. "As Safe as Yesterday" and "Town and Country", the predecessors, were more eccentric and more acoustic. The Pie continued their signature style of trading vocals--on this one, Marriott, Frampton, and Ridley were even joined by drummer Shirley, who sings the hilarious "Only A Roach."

This album opens with "Live With Me"( not the Rolling Stones tune--- this is a loose jam about the same tempo as Neil Young's "Down By the River"). There are a couple hard rockers ("Red Light Mama Red Hot" and "One-Eyed Trouser Snake Rhumba") that rumble along pretty well, especially "Red Light" with Greg Ridley's 'Peter Gunn' style bass line.

Humble Pie sounds extremely fresh on this album (who did the production?? The liner notes don't say). A big plus is that neither Marriott or Frampton dominates the sound, or gets out of control. A lot of bands featured a 'hard rock' writer, and a softer, 'sweet' writer--in the mode of Lennon and McCartney. With Humble Pie, the writers were usually Marriott (hard stuff) and Frampton (more melodic and gushy). "Earth and Water Song", Frampton's contribution here, is his quintessential song. It's kind of the template for everything of his that came after.

This was the best Pie album done in the studio. Some might argue for "Rock On", but that album had some embarrassing moments--remember "Big George"? This one is good all the way through.

As a 17 year old kid in December of 1970, I had just seen the night before Humble Pie come close to upstaging Grand Funk Railroad in Madison Square Garden. Top priority on this day was to head ASAP the the local record shop and find the latest Humble Pie disc. "Town & Country" and "Safe As Yesterday" had not been released in the states yet and this self-titled gem was their first, and certainly one of their best available here in the US.

If you have even the slightest interest in this great band, this disc is a must-listen. 31 years later it still finds its way to my CD player on a regular basis. It is truly amazing how the talents in this band could superbly perform everything from blistering, down and dirty rock (i.e. "Red Light Mama Red Hot" and "I'm Ready") to beautiful, memorable ballads like "Earth and Water Song" or the steel guitar laden country gem "Theme From Skint." Marriott, Frampton, Shirley and Ridley were really hitting their stride at this point which continued to peak on their next release, "Rock On."

The Pie was a genuine classic and these great tunes bring back some great memories.

This recording represents one of those mile stones between 1969 and 1972. On the verge and in the FM mix of that time a stand out. During those few years it seemed if there was something good it got even better with the next album. The competition between bands to do their own thing and establish a sound is what drew alot of attention to new record releases. This record put these guys on the map and the next album Rock On is a DID. Nice if the liner notes had explained why it took so long but I can honestly say it was worth the wait as it sounds like this was recorded yesterday. Fantastic job who ever mastered it (not a single name listed on the insert). Steve Marriot, Peter Frampton Gerg Ridley and Jerry Shirley are in the room as I type. Also a note to Chris Welch, thanks for your bit of insight about these guys in the liner notes but there is a correction about Peter Frampton leaving the band-twas after Rock On and Performance Rocking the Fillmore(see Peters face pictured on the insert and hear his voice on Hallelujah and most of all that signature flowing guitar......

This was the first U.S. release for the Pie on the A&M label. They were beginning to embrace a more "electric" sound, although Frampton's acoustic "Earth & Water Song" is a strong track. Steve Marriott had a way of finding blues gems, re-working them, and making them his own. Check out the studio version of "I'm Ready", which is a standout track on the Best Live Album EVER!!! - "Performance - Rockin'The Fillmore". Two other terrific cuts are "One-Eyed Trouser Snake Rhumba" and "Live With Me" with some tasty Hammond B-3 keyboard work by Marriott. You'll notice a sometimes hollow sound on the drum tracks, and the guitars can sound a bit thin. Both of these were remedied on subsequent efforts:"Rock On" and their best studio effort- "Smokin'". The vocals are top notch, but there are some less than memorable numbers that make the previously mentioned titles stand out. All in all, if you like your rock & roll with a nice bluesy edge to it, and appreciate Marriott's voice like I do - this is a MUST HAVE for your collection. Rock ON!

This album is the cream of the pie. With deep down, hard driving songs, that deserve maximum volume. With steve,peter and greg, alternating lead vocals, this original line-up defined humble pies place in rock history. Just listen to songs "one eyed snake trouser rumba", Im ready,and Live with me, and you will see what true rock and roll is all about.

I will never,ever forget the first time I heard "I'm Ready".I simply could not get enough of this band, or this "album". I was fortunate enough to see two different shows at the Fillmore East with this lineup.They opened the show with "Money" by The Beatles. I still haven't recovered from that. Hard rock just doesn't get any better than what these guys gave us. I learned the most about rock music from Humble Pie.

This is probably one of the best releases from Humble Pie, first American release prior to Rock On. It was on A&M like Rock On, why is it and the only one out of print? If they decide to re-release this I'll be one of the first to get it, not while it's $100. This is a favorite as well as Town and Country, Safe as Yesterday... Can't beat Steve and Petey weaving with those plexi tones... oh and oranges too. Wait til it's reasonably priced...

Years ago I had this album and listened to it over and over again. It was like I stepped into a time machine when I heard this again after 30 odd years. This thing has been remastered beautifully! My band is often compared to Humble Pie and I consider that a huge compliment.