Humble Pie - Thunderbox [Japan Edition] (1974)

At the start of 1969 and soon after leaving Small Faces, Steve Marriott joined the newly established trio that he had helped to form: Humble Pie.
The band consisted of former Herd frontman Peter Frampton on guitar, bassist Greg Ridley who was previously in Spooky Tooth and the young Jerry Shirley on drums. Marriott and Frampton were both regarded as “teen idols” at that time, so the union of the two resulted in Humble Pie being labelled with another common term of the time – “Super Group”.
The formation of Humble Pie brought massive expectations from public and press alike, so under a veil of secrecy, the four left London and secluded themselves in the adjacent county of Essex to begin the creative process. A lot of the writing took place at Steve’s Beehive Cottage in Moreton, and the Village Hall in nearby Magdalen Laver was booked for rehearsals.
It was a fruitful time for the newly formed Pie, as a couple of albums worth of material came from the process. Contractual snags briefly postponed their release, nevertheless “As Safe As Yesterday Is” was released, swiftly followed by “Town and Country”, both on Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate label.“As Safe As Yesterday Is” included the hit single “Natural Born Bugie” and the group commenced appearances to promote their newly released albums.
Whilst Marriott, Ridley, and Frampton shared frontman duties, concerts were musical marathons presented around two distinct parts The first was acoustic and mellow, frequently performed by the four members of Humble Pie sitting on the stage floor barefooted, and the second half of the concerts was plugged-in, louder and much more rhythm & blues-influenced.
When Immediate Records folded due to financial disarray, Humble Pie spent a period of time in limbo until eventually a deal was signed with A&M. At the same time, Dee Anthony was introduced as the band’s manager to bring a change in the business side of the group’s affairs. This proved to be a pivotal moment in the Pie’s career since the musical focus of the band shifted into a more rock and blues repertoire, which is certainly evident in their subsequent LP release in 1970, the self-titled “Humble Pie”.
With Anthony in charge of the group’s affairs, Humble Pie’s focus was on the United States, which had been in the midst of the so-called “British Invasion”. American music fans were eager for as much British new music as they could consume, and a slice of Humble Pie was a welcome addition to the musical menu, and so the quartet embarked on several tours across “the Pond”. Their live set was now a mix of boogie and blues with Marriott coming to the fore as the primary front man and focus of the band. This prompted co-leader Peter Frampton to move on again to what would become an occasionally legendary solo career.
(stevemarriott.co.uk/humble-pie/humble-pie/)