Humble Pie: Hallelujah – 1973-1983 5CD Box Set – Rare Tracks and Live Recordings
In its latest Humble Pie reissue, Cherry Red Records has gathered the band’s two early 1980s albums issued originally on Atco Records in the US and Jet Records in the UK, adding a disc of unreleased 1982 studio recordings by guitarist/vocalist Steve Marriott, a 1983 gig Marriott played aided by local musicians at a club in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a concert by Humble Pie’s second iteration at Winterland in San Francisco, recorded in May of 1973 for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program.
The Winterland recordings are, according to drummer Jerry Shirley, the Clem Clempson era Humble Pie’s equivalent of their 1971 double LP ‘Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore’, which documented the group’s original lineup with guitarist/vocalist Peter Frampton, long recognized as one of the best live releases of the rock era.
Disc one contains Humble Pie’s first album in five years, the 1980 reunion release ‘On To Victory’, with the band consisting of Steve Marriott (guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Bob Tench (guitar, vocals), Anthony Jones (bass, vocals), and Jerry Shirley (drums). Marriott wrote or co-wrote seven of the ten tracks, including album opener ‘Fool For A Pretty Face’, an R&B stomper, on the strength of which the group was offered a recording contract from Atco Records. The long player mixes straight-ahead rockers (‘Infatuation’, ‘Get It In The End’, and ‘Further Down The Road’) with slow burn rockers (‘Take It From Here’), the band’s signature R&B-tinged rock (‘You Soppy Pratt’ and ‘Savin’ It’), soulful R&B (‘Baby Don’t You Do It’ and ‘My Lover’s Prayer’, Holland/Dozier/Holland and Otis Redding covers respectively), and the snappy, jazz-tinged Allen Toussaint cover and album closer ‘Over You’. Of special note is the previously mentioned album opener, with Marriott’s vocals evidence that, in Shirley’s words, ‘It was all great again for a while. Steve was taking care of himself, kind of.’ Tench’s lead line and guitar solo shine on ‘Take It From Me’. Marriott’s plaintive vocals and organ are joined by Tench’s six-string work, making the Otis Redding cover a soulful slice of blazing rock, while Marriott brings out his harmonica to complement Tench’s guitar and the insistent groove of Jones and Shirley, giving the uptempo rocker ‘Further Down The Road’ a gritty, bluesy feel.
Disc two showcases the 1981 follow-up LP ‘Go For The Throat’. This would prove to be the eleventh and final Humble Pie album with Marriott, who wrote or co-wrote six of the long player’s tunes. The album opens with a smoking cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘All Shook Up’, Marriott’s screaming vocals and piano accents joined by two outstanding Tench solos. Marriott contributes soulful vocals as well as piano and organ on ‘Teenage Anxiety’, with Tench soloing mid-tune and on the outro, with Jones and Shirley supplying the driving beat. At Shirley’s suggestion, the band delivers a fine take on the Small Faces classic ‘Tin Soldier’, with Shirley and Ridley pushing the tempo, matched by Tench’s lead line, Marriott’s vocals, and organ remaining true to the original. ‘Keep It On The Island’ is an uptempo R&B-tinged guitar rocker with Tench supplying two soaring solos complemented by Marriott’s piano and organ accents. ‘Driver’ brings ZZ Top to mind, Tench’s snarling wah-wah-aided guitar aided by hints of slide, while Marriott’s harmonica and the heavy groove of Jones and Shirley give the song its blues rock feel. ‘Restless Blood’ returns the group to its R&B roots, Marriott’s vocals to the fore with his organ and cowbell from Shirley adding flavor. The album’s title track is a guitar- and organ-driven blues rocker featuring tempo changes, showcasing Tench’s extended solo swirling over the insistent groove of Jones and Shirley, with Marriott adding organ to the mix. ‘Lottie And The Charcoal Queen’ is an R&B stomper, Marriott screaming vocals over his organ and Jones and Shirley’s heavy beat, Tench delivering a roaring lead line and soaring solo. The album ends with another R&B stomper, ‘Chip Away (The Stone)’. The tune’s driving beat gives way to a mid-tune keyboard interlude before the rhythm section returns joined by swirling guitar and Marriott’s insistent scream of ‘chip away, chip away the stone’ as Tench solos the song out.
Disc three is titled ‘The Atlanta Years’ but consists of nine studio recordings by Marriott aided by local musicians at Pyramid Eye Studio in Chattanooga, TN during 1982. These demos are included mainly for historical value. ‘Ain’t You Glad (New York Can’t Talk)’, written with the help of Fat Mattress bassist Jim Leverton, gives insight into Marriott’s lifestyle and has a lounge jazz feel with the singer’s organ joined by horns, the song highlighted by a saxophone solo. ‘Sweet Nuthins’ is a stripped-down roots rocker which closes with a snarling guitar solo. ‘Trouble You Can’t Fool Me’ and ‘Poor Man’s Rich Man’ are introspective tunes, the latter delivered by the vocalist using a cockney accent. The moody, introspective, autobiographical ‘Middle Age Anxiety’ features an intimate performance on piano and organ, with Marriott proclaiming ‘it’s cold out there’ as well as repeating ‘I believe I’ve had enough out there’. Shirley cites this as the highlight of the sessions. Even more introspective tunes follow, with ‘Lonely No More’ and ‘I Need Love’ expressing the raw emotions filling the artist’s mind. The disc closes with the humorous ‘Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl’.
Disc four delves further into the Atlanta years with a performance recorded at Annie’s Club in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983. Marriott is joined by local musicians Phil ‘Duck’ Dix on guitar, Keith Christopher on bass, and Fallon Williams III on drums. The recordings once again are included mostly for historical purposes. The material opens with a take on the early Small Faces classic ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’, on which Marriott’s voice sounds healthy and the band rocks hard. ‘Fool For A Pretty Face’ takes the vocalist to the tune that served as the genesis of Humble Pie’s return in 1980. Likewise, Marriott and the band shine on a cover of Ray Charles’ ‘Hallelujah (I Love Her So)’, introduced as ‘something we used to do in New York at the Fillmore’. The remainder of the gig is filled by extended takes, none less than ten minutes in length, mixing familiar Humble Pie favorites ‘30 Days In The Hole’ and ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’ with covers of Eddie Boyd’s blues standard ‘Five Long Years’ and Rufus Thomas’ ‘Walking The Dog’, the latter played in a medley with Marriott’s ‘Big Train Stops In Memphis’. The band obviously enjoys the opportunity of playing with a bona fide rock star and knows the material well, while the jam format shows the lack of preparation and gives a sense that Marriott was in many ways filling the time with as little effort as possible, a rather sad commentary on his plight following his glory days with Small Faces as well as the Frampton and Clempson-led Humble Pie periods.
Disc five is the real gem of the set, consisting of a performance at Winterland in San Francisco, recorded on May 6, 1973, for the famous King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show, although it would go unreleased until 1996. The show opener ‘Up Our Sleeve’ has Clempson’s guitar on full display. ‘Four Day Creep’ is a return to the Frampton period, with the new lineup’s take standing up nicely. ‘C’mon Everybody’ is another nod to the earlier period as the band turns up the heat, with Clempson’s outro solo shining brightly. Marriott sings an introduction to the band’s Rolling Stones tribute, an inspired take on ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, with Ridley and Shirley locking in the bottom end, Clempson delivering a soaring solo to complement his tasty lead line. Clempson gives Frampton’s ‘Stone Cold Fever’ a quick, just-over-one-minute run-through leading to a roaring cover of Ray Charles’ ‘I Believe To My Soul’, with gorgeous backing vocals by The Blackberries, a trio of black female vocalists (Vanetta Fields, Billie Barnum, and Clydie King) who accompanied the band on tour at Marriott’s insistence. The band quotes Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Higher’ before breaking into a white-hot take on their ode to sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll ‘30 Days In The Hole’, an FM radio staple and fan favorite, although the tune failed to chart when issued as a single in 1972. The band stretches out on a twelve-minute-plus run-through of ‘Road Runner’, a staple of Humble Pie’s live repertoire during which Marriott delivers a bit of social and racial commentary, declaring ‘we gotta all live together’ while directing remarks toward President Nixon and Vice President Agnew, involving The Blackberries throughout to drive the point home. The tune is given a bluesy delivery with Marriott breaking out his harmonica. Clempson’s guitar comes front and center again as the band gives a spirited performance of Ray Charles’ ‘Hallelujah (I Love Her So)’. The band returns to the Frampton and ‘Performance’ era with an all-out blues attack, stretched to thirteen minutes, of Ashford and Simpson’s ‘I Don’t Need No Doctor’, with Clempson’s guitar prominent and the crowd joining in singing the chorus. The band returns for an encore of ‘Hot ‘N’ Nasty’, like ‘30 Days In The Hole’ an FM radio staple and also taken from the 1972 LP ‘Smokin’’. ‘Hot ‘N’ Nasty’ reached #52 on the charts when issued as a single, was another staple of Humble Pie’s live set list and a huge fan favorite. The group is at their best, Marriott adding organ to his vocals, Clempson delivering a hot lead line and solo, with Ridley and Shirley absolutely locked in, and The Blackberries joining Marriott’s repeated chants of ‘hot and nasty’. After a false stop, Humble Pie rocks the song and show to a close with Marriott’s organ and Clempson’s wah-wah-aided guitar steering the tune home.
‘Hallelujah: 1973–1983’ comes in a clamshell box, each of its five discs housed in mini-LP sleeves. The box set comes with a lavishly illustrated full-color twenty-page booklet, with band photos and album artwork, full track annotations, and sleeve notes by Rich Davenport with help from Jerry Shirley. The set’s sound quality is excellent. This reissue will appeal to Humble Pie fans, 1970s and classic rock fans, and rock music fans in general, and is highly recommended.
Kevin Rathert
Humble Pie ‘Hallelujah: 1973-1983’ (Cherry Red Records, 2025)
