The hard-rocking British supergroup was fronted by Steve Marriott, possessor of what is generally regarded as one of the finest ever rock and blue-eyed soul voices. They achieved global success in the early 1970s and earned themselves a reputation as one of the best live bands of the era. However, this enormous success was to be short-lived and the group initially disbanded in 1975. There were to be subsequent reformations and reunions, but the heady days of the early 1970s were not to be repeated. Ultimately, in rock music appraisals, the band are often overshadowed by their contemporaries - the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Faces, Free and Bad Company - but Humble Pie's influence on the rock and metal bands that followed in their wake cannot be denied.This book examines all of Humble Pie's recorded output in detail, covering every chapter of the band's musical story, from the early carefree and democratic days of genre experimentation through to their halcyon period of hard-rocking R&B. The various subsequent reformations and reunions are also covered in detail, bringing the band's story into the 21st century and offering fans, old and new alike, a fully comprehensive look at the band's musical legacy.
Robert Day-Webb graduated from the University of Birmingham and subsequently worked in the publishing industry for sixteen years, undertaking a wide variety of editorial and writing roles. A self-confessed music, movie and TV buff, Robert has also had several personal reflection essays published in a number of music and TV-related anthology books and, more recently, saw his first solo book published: Badfinger On Track (Sonicbond, 2022). He currently lives in Gloucester, UK, with his wife, Marie, and their two children, Joshua and Lauren.
Steve Marriott was born in London’s East End on 30 January 1947 and, even as a young boy, exhibited an innate and precocious talent for entertaining people. He fell in love with music from an early age, enjoying the likes of Lonnie Donegan, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, although his favourite artist was probably Buddy Holly during his pre- and early-teen years. Steve was around ten years of age when he began to play the ukulele and about a year later, he started playing the guitar. Shortly afterwards, he put his first band together. However, it was on the stage that young Marriott would first make his mark, appearing in Lionel Bart’s acclaimed musicalOliver! at the tender age of just 13. Steve was part of theOliver! cast for about a year and he even appeared on the accompanying official soundtrack album (released in 1960), singing three songs.
Having been well and truly bitten by the showbiz bug, young Marriott subsequently enrolled at the famous Italia Conti drama school and enjoyed a budding career as a child actor in the early 1960s, appearing onstage, on the radio, and in numerous TV shows and films, before deciding that an actor’s life was too unfulfilling and that a career in popular music was what he truly desired. The talented Eastender soon realised his ambitions when he managed to release his first solo single (via Decca Records) during the summer of 1963. Sadly, it wasn’t a hit for the young superstar- in-waiting. However, undeterred by this minor setback, the young Marriott subsequently enrolled in bands such as The Moonlights (sometimes Moonlites), The Frantiks (sometimes Frantics) and The Moments, whereupon Steve gained valuable performance experience via regular live work. The Moments even got to cut a single, although, as with Steve’s previous solo single, it wasn’t a hit.
During the early 1960s, Steve developed a passion for American R&B music including the likes of Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown and Bobby Bland. It was no surprise then that the type of material being performed by Steve’s aforementioned bands included a fair bit of R&B mixed in with more standard rock ‘n’ roll. By the beginning of 1965, though, things had stalled somewhat and Steve ultimately found himself without a band and a solo career seemingly going nowhere. However, as fate would have it, it was at this juncture that Steve now encountered three guys with whom he would go on to form the Small Faces – Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston (although Jimmy would go on to be replaced by Ian McLagan by the end of 1965). The Small Faces proved to be pretty much an instant success, starting off as a raw-sounding R&B/Mod pop unit before transforming into a fully- fledged psych-pop hit band, enjoying a wonderful run of hit singles and albums from 1965 through to 1968.
However, during the course of 1968, despite the Small Faces enjoying a hugely successful summertime number-one UK album (Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake), Steve found himself getting increasingly frustrated and unhappy within the confines of the band. He was fed up with the band being viewed as a teenybopper group and with his own status as a teen pin-up. He was also becoming unconvinced of the live performance capability of the band (especially after a disastrous Australasian tour in early 1968 where they were blown offstage by touring partners, The Who). Added to this, there were also increasing internal band tensions and troublesome financial issues to contend with too. Steve’s musical interests were also changing – he was becoming less interested in psych-pop and more stimulated by the earthier sounds of American blues, soul and roots mus
