Customer Reviews

Rockin the Fillmore

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you ever really liked hard rock, I mean REALLY LIKED it, you have to get this LP.
Twin guitars, pounding bass, thundering drums, great, up-tempo songs, fantastic singing and showmanship....yep. I like all that, too.

A couple of the songs filled up a whole side on the double LP this originally resided on. "Rolling Stone" is not the Bob Dylan song, but a rambling, story telling epic about a boy, his girlfriend, and her young at heart mother. The last 3 minutes, however, explode into a hell-for-leather speeded up adrenaline rush of musical intensity. I would listen to the first 13 minutes or so, just anticipating the take-off. Not playing air-guitar on the last part is impossible.

"Hallelujah I Love Her So" is a great cover, all the band members sing verses on it. "I Don't Need No Doctor" is the gem on this album, however. Great riff, great finish.

Steve Mariott was one of the greatest natural showmen in Rock history. I saw the band, minus Peter Frampton plus Clem Clempson, in Little Rock in the 70's. Steve had completely taken over front-man duites. He never spoke a word, he sang everything to us instead. Played the poo out of that guitar as well.

A great live band at the top of their powers. Get it.

"Are you ready? Even you people behind the glass pane at the back of the hall! Are you ready?"

Early today I wrote a review about the Stones Get Yer Ya Ya's Out and mentioned this Humble Pie set. Later today my neighbor was annoying me with what must be 50' subwoofers playing Earth Wind and Fire "Bah-de-ah Bah-de-ah-de-ah-da". I got in the car to escape that sugary racket. I drove over to the Fry's electronics mega-store in Tempe AZ and picked this sucker up. It is blazin' away as I type this. I'll bet I haven't heard this in 30 years. It is SSSSSSSSSMOKIN'!!!

I'm betting that when Steve Marriott was a kid his mother fed him large doses of Ritalin each day to keep him from burning the house down (no disrespect intended, Marriott actually died when his house burned down). There's enough energy here to shut down the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, plug in and power the entire valley (Phoenix metropolis) with this live session of Pie!

When a 17 year old boy listens to this recording (I'm being autobiographical here folks), he just doesn't have a real appreciation for what a consumate entertainer Steve Marriott really was. What a shame he's gone. I'm listening to this with a more mature set of ears tonight and it really is superb. Marriott and the audience are having a heck of a great time together. He's like a guitar-totin' blues-powered Evangelist calling the audience out to convert! They're all out there singing "I'm a Rollin' Stone" along with Marriott. Now I can see why Mick Jagger said "absolutely no Marriott!" to Keith Richards when Marriott auditioned to take Mick Taylor's place in the Rolling Stones. This CD really makes me wish I could go back in a time machine and witness this performance because a CD or an LP or a cassette tape really can't capture this kind of excitement and energy. I believe Frampton should push A&M to remaster this classic and release an anniversary edition sometime soon. Until then, we'll just have to make do with this AAD remaster. It's ok sound-wise and don't let the short track list fool you, there is almost a 73 minute helping of pure Pie goodness here. What are you waiting for? Click your cart button already!

...And I am definitely ordering the Humble Pie King Biscuit Concert where The Pie sounds as good or even better (if that's really possible)!

Now, where was I? Oh yeah,
"TAKE THAT NEIGHBOR!!! TAKE THAT!!!!!
A-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaah! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!!!!"

Humble Pie was an underrated band and this Live Album is one of the best live albums of the 70s if not ever. This is a must have for any serious 70s hard rock fan. Its worth twice the price alone just to have I don't need No Doctor Live. Steve Marriot was a hell of a good Rock and Blues Singer, Peter Frampton added so much to the vocal Harmonies and with his Guitar. The whole band is fantastic. Get this CD you won't be sorry.

I was fortunate to see the Pie in concert approximately 7 or 8 times between 1970 and 1973. The first time was as the back-up band to Grand Funk at Madison Square Garden in 1970. The absolute frenetic energy this band would expend during a show could send a rocketship to Mars!! "Rockin' The Fillmore" captures this energy at the band's peak.

Their traditional opener "4 Day Creep" gets things up to top speed right out of the gate. Marriott's gospel-like vocal intro to "I'm Ready" is classic Steve and when Shirley's drums kick it all in, it smokes! As an old rock & roll boomer I still love the extended jams and "Gilded Splinters" is to me one of the all-time classics. Great interplay between Pete and Steve on guitar. Overall, however, Frampton's play on his Les Paul steals the show. Man could that kid play at 17 years old! I must admit, "Rolling Stone" absolutely sucks! Check it out on their disc "Rock On" for a great version where they do the tune some justice. Marriott's vocal rambling on this tune is just too much even for this hard-core Pie fan. Of course their show closer, "I Don't Need No Doctor" is trademark Humble Pie. The song is their true essence.

I would love to see this concert on video. What a treat it would be to watch Marriott and Frampton jamming together once again. For a short time this band was truly magical!

If you only have one Humble Pie album, make sure it's this one! If you only have room for two Pie albums, get this one and Rock On. Live at the Whiskey gets third, primarily on the strength of their amazing "For Your Love" cover. On the Fillmore East, Marriott sometimes sounds like he swallowed the harmonica, and Frampton does things to his guitar that are illegal in most states! Definitely one of the top-10 live rock albums of all time, this is a great introduction to a band that could've, and should've, been much bigger than the way things worked out. 23 min. of Gilded Splinters alone is worth the price! If you like Zepp, if you like Floyd, Tull or the Allmans, give this a spin -- you won't be sorry!

Glad to see that at least 15 other people understand how great this record is. Simply put, this is one of the great underappreated bands in rock and as stated previously, maybe the best live rock record ever.
The only other live rock music recordings that are as good in both sound and musicianship are only Hendrix at Monterey, the stuff from Cream on Live Cream and Wheels of Fire and the Allman Brothers Fillmore stuff-and I mean nothing else. Name some other album and it will suffer either in sound quality or level of performance.
Practically a supergroup as the definition was applied in those days, what other band had three really good lead singers and two great guitarists? (by comparison, the Allmans had only one singer, Cream only one guitarist and Blind Faith only had two lead singers...)
Some people don't get it-"Rolling Stone" doesnt (...); anybody ever heard of toungue in cheek??? This piece literally oozes the kind of sexual macho strut blues artists have always employed in their performances and that maybe Robert Plant didn't mimic as well as Steve Marriott! Look at the photos on the cover and listen again and check out what a great crowd interaction piece Rolling Stone was. These guys were a ball to see and funny!
The heavy metal reference is true-nothing like the roar of a Melody Maker or an SG through a Marshall- but check out Greg Ridley's tango(!) rhyhthm in the bass line in "I'm Ready".
Peter Frampton was not 17 when this was made-he was born in May 1950. Still awesome for only having turned 21!
This record is so good that the one classic rock radio piece they always play, "I Don't Need No Doctor", is the worst thing on the record.
The prefacing of this record by the studio material they'd already made shows what they could have been if this lineup had stayed together and hadn't devolved into a simple blues 'n' boogie band after Clempson joined, but then again, you wouldn't have had "Frampton Comes Alive" (ha ha ha!).
The tragedy is that Marriott's death prevented any chance of a rematch...

Next time you come across a bunch of hot young punks who think they invented music, sit 'em down and school 'em with this record.

I'm listening to this album (that's what we used to call 'em, albums)and reading these reviews warmed by memory. Back in the day, every time we listened to this mainstay of a record, my friend Joe would have to remind us that his buddy was at the Fillmore that night, one of those "people behind the glass plate at the back of the hall." If you asked 100 people on the street today if they ever heard of Humble Pie, 98 would be clueless and the 2 that had would be over 45 years old. Nevertheless kids, every review that calls this one of the "greatest live rock albums of all time" (which appears to be every review) is 110% on the money. It's right there with "Live at Leeds" or anything you else you care to drag up. I've never been a huge fan of Humble Pie's studio records, probably because I became most familiar with "Live" first. The studio stuff's OK, but if you're a rock fan this MUST be in your collection. You don't need to know the band or the songs, if you're 18 or 80 and you love 70's era rock music, you will love this record. It's loud, long, raw and absolutely relentless. Folks, spend your hard earned money wisely. Don't buy junk. Buy this.

Back in high school when we loved this kind of real heavy blues rock, Humble Pie, Allman Bros., Cream, I sort of took them for granted. I thought, there will probably always be this kind of great music on the radio. Of course, I was dead wrong. In the next 35 years . . . has it really been that long? . . . a few have surfaced with this kind of emotional intensity -- Stevie Ray Vaughan -- but they have been rare. Steve Marriott was, is, one of the 3 or 4 greatest rock singers. This is the real stuff. Four stars only because the sound could be better.

...And Marshall Plexis' turned up to "eleven". This is a great live album done in a style that is long gone. I make it a point to play this album for my kids and their friends (being working-class white people, we ALL play electric guitar)to expose them to a sound and vibe that they missed out on. If for no other reason, this album is important. It also ROCKS in a major-ly way!!! Played back to back with "Frampton comes alive!" it shows itself to be the blueprint for the biggest live album of the 70's... Peter Frampton is the master of the hard-rock turnaround, and every other guitar cliche'. He has inspired more kids to pick up an electric guitar than anyone else including Hendrix. Steve Marriot is the proto-typical white-boy blues rocker and Jerry Shirley/Greg Ridley were the BEST rhythm section in any band at the time. This is an album that should be enshrined in the Smithsonian and shot into space on those probes going to other galaxies... Other life forms are fortunate if they have musicians this inspired, and concerts this great. PLAY IT LOUD...

Look....what can I say about HUMBLE PIE that really hasn't been said before???? They are a primo band....Peter Frampton at his finest....Steve Marriot in his prime.....these 2 guitarists were explosive together...is a real shame they had such a power struggle to see who would control the band....because the pie never achieved the power they had when Peter was on board.

This album captures all the raw power and creative drive this band was famous for....long extended versions of songs that never gets boring or redundant..if you wanted a testament of this bands crowning achievement....THIS IS IT...

BUY THIS ALBUM...