Guide to British Music of the 1960s
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Guitar/vocals- Steve Marriott, guitar/vocals- Peter Frampton, bass/vocals- Greg Ridley, drums- Jerry Shirley
Humble Pie was formed in early 1969 following Steve Marriott's departure from the Small Faces. He teamed up with Peter Frampton from The Herd as well as Greg Ridley from Spooky Tooth and drummer Jerry Shirley who had played with Apostolic Intervention and Loose Women. Marriott has become increasingly frustrated in the Small Faces where they were faced with screaming fans and could hardly hear themselves play. Marriott had suggested that Frampton joined the band as a second guitarist. Although he never joined the band, he did join them on stage on a few occasions and worked with them on sessions for French singer Johnny Halliday. Frampton was in a similar position to Marriott looking to be accepted as a serious musician and not a teen idol. Marriott had also co-produced the b-side of the 1968 Herd single Sunshine Cottage. The band gradually came together with even Ian McLagan attending some rehearsals.
The band always had far more recognition in the US than at home in the UK and partly explains the later phenomenal success of Frampton's solo album Frampton Comes Alive.
The band's first single, Natural Born Bugie, was released on Andrew Loog-Oldham's Immediate Records in August 1969. This was a major hit reaching number 4 in the UK and it showed the evolution of the band from its individual members' former careers. The first two albums, As Safe as Yesterday Is and Town and Country, were both released in 1969 on Immediate Records. The success continued into the 1970s and included one of the definitive live albums Performance- Rockin' the Filmore. Peter Frampton decided he had had enough as it was difficult being in a band with two front-men and he was replaced by Dave "Clem" Clempson who had previously been with Bakerloo and Colosseum.
However, the group was losing focus and even the addition of female vocal group The Blackberries failed to bring back the early success.
Steve Marriott continued to tour extensively with band's including the Packet of Three and Steve Marriott's All Stars although largely confined to the pub circuit until his untimely death in a house fire in 1991. Humble Pie later reformed with original members Shirley and Ridley with Bobby Tench on vocals and Dave Colwell on guitar. This line-up released the Back on Track album in 2002. Peter Frampton also rejoined Shirley and Ridley along with Clem Clempson for the Steve Marriott Memorial Concert in April 2001 and featured on the CD of the event.
Towards the end of 2003 Greg Ridley had started gigging again. However, he died in hospital in Spain on 19 November the same year.