Hot 'N' Nasty: The Anthology

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Humble Pie

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I was waiting a long time for a good compilation of Humble Pie to be released. This 2 cd set is an impressive overview of an influential band. My only quibble is the lack of a fews cuts such as "The Light", "Up Our Sleeve", "The Roadrunner" and "I Can't Stand The Rain" in favor of material from the weaker "Street Rats" album. This band was something of a supergroup when it was formed. Mighty mite Steve Marriott bolted the Small Faces and recruited bassist Greg Ridley from Spooky Tooth. They convinced teenage guitarist Peter Frampton to leave the Herd and got the relatively obscure Jerry Shirley to join on drums. When Peter Frampton left for a lucrative solo career after the successful "Performance-Rockin' The Fillmore" album in 1972, he was replaced by Dave "Clem" Clempson from the jazz/blues/rock fusion group Colosseum. The music was a mixture of Marriott's blues and soul influenced boogie songs mixed with Frampton's quieter acoustic numbers. The guitarists differing styles provided an interesting contrast. Marriot's playing was more brash while both Frampton's and Clempson's playing was slightly more jazz influenced. Some of my favorite numbers include "I Don't Need No Doctor", "Four Day Creep", "30 Days In The Hole" & Frampton's "Shine On". A welcome inclusion is "Big Black Dog" a rocking non-lp single released 1970. The band alternated the vocals between Marriott, Frampton and bassist Greg Ridley, sometimes all in the same song. The various members filled in on piano and organ as necessary. The music somewhat resembles that of the Faces, the band Marriott quit (originally called the Small Faces) before relative giants Ron Wood and Rod Stewart joined to replace Marriott. This music was an influence on currents bands such as the Black Crowes and Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds. If you like blues/soul influenced rock & boogie, you find much to enjoy in this 2 cd set.