The Humble Pie Album by Album thread

Some final additional observations-

Golden Goose-The vocals have a fantastic improvised sound and feel.

Underhand-Lot's of Hank Marvin influences. Peter is a big Hank fan.

I Wanna Go To The Sun-Amazing double stops in the outro solo.


Up next-

 

I got a used LP copy of Street Rats a long time ago, from a collector friend, when it was no longer available. I've played it a number of times, and still don't feel it's top HP material. It has its moments- - 'Let me Be Your Lovemaker' is one, but it's not very well produced and the material is inconsistent. IMO, of course.

 

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/humble-pie-songs/

This is a pretty good article in Classic Rock....top ten HP songs.

 

Where the hell is the Street Rats review?

I just listened to some of it last night at 4AM cranking with a smokin' jazz joint.

 

Street Rats

Released Feb 1975
Produced by Steve and Andrew Loog Oldham

Street Rat(Marriott)
Rockin heavy tune in D. Great single string riff in the intro and outro. Bluesy to the max. Steve kills on this one and the guys provide good backup vocals. Understated guitar fills from Clem. Kingdom Come riff in Get It On sounds real familiar to the riff in this song.

Rock and Roll Music(Berry)
Greg sings this one. Slowed down to Pie speed. Piano is not too bad but nothing great. Steve sings backup. Clem provides some stabbing double stops on his Les Paul. Great party tune. Neat false type ending with some great Clem outro soloing.

We Can Work It Out(Lennon/McCartney)
The Beatles tune done Pie style morphed into a C blues. Clem plays Strat on this one and sounds "waxy". Cool stuff with some great Steve organ and testifying.

Scored Out(Clempson/Marriott)
Some great guitar riffs on this A Major bluesy tune. Sounds jangly....very unlike The Pie. Great song. Good piano and guitar solo in the outro. Steve harps it up.

Road Hog(Marriott)
Awesome Steve vocal in a relaxed almost spoken style starts it off. Clem lays down slide. Steve's rant of the crappy part of being on the road.

Rain(Lennon/McCartney)
Pretty good cover of The Beatles song. Done boogie style. Steve does a great job on the vocals and trades off with Greg.

There 'Tis(Marriott/Clempson)
A boogie blues. Neat riff that floats over A and D. Nice horns from Mel Collins. Steve gets down on this one. Great lyrics on this one.

Let Me Be Your Lovemaker(Reid/Clarke/Wright)
Greg sings this one. Heavy take on this blues tune done in D with the open string a shakin. Trademark Pie riffage. Sounds kinda like Kiss a little. Clem burns on this one.

Countryman Stomp(Ridley/Clempson)
Bluesy slide inflected riffs abound in this one. Greg sings on this one. Short but sweet and heavy.

Drive My Car(You know who)
The Beatles tune done by the boys. Starts out with gospel like piano and some nasty slide. Slowed down to a burning smoldering blues. Greg takes the lead on this one too.

Queen and Nuns(The Pie)
C boogie with Steve at the helm. Pretty straghtforward tune but still sounds great. Typical Steve lyrics that make you smile.

This album could have been a lot better. It was rushed out by the record company and was rumored to have been "confiscated" from session tapes from Steve's home studio. The band was never happy with the sound and the performances. Some of the songs could have been great with more work. Andrew Loog Oldham did the mixes and Steve hated them thinking they lacked any power and presence. I like the album and listen to it now and then.

 

The musical arrangement in this version of "Rain" is simply amazing. I like the sound of this album better than Thunderbox. In fact other than two tracks on Thunderbox "No Money Down" and "Oh La De Da" I like this album better overall. The mix here fixes the boxy sound of the mid-range on the last album. Better sound quality here, it brings back some of that liquid low end of the classic Smokin' period, but it's not a soupy murk. In fact it's a good mix that I don't think has a rushed feel to it.

I remember when this album came out, and I could not afford it. I had to get so many new albums, Kiss - Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill (as I had just seen KISS like that summer of '75. Toys in the Attic was the hot new album (low charting at the time, but it was a cool one you had to get). The list went on and on. But I'd really wanted to hear it. And funny thing is, the album is said to have charted at number 100 on the Billboard charts. Yet (after), I never saw it in the cutout bins for $2.99 or I would have gotten it right then and there. A&M must have been watching their pressing plant numbers, and scaled this back in pressing production very quickly as they saw the chart placement. Thus keeping their costs down on a relative "stiff" this album quickly became. So it's not a cheap album that can be found in every thrift store dust bin.

I never saw a used copy in good condition in my used bin searches. So I only finally got to hear this around 2002 for the first time. I did a needle drop right away off of a nice WLP copy which is what I listen to now on my music server. It has no inner groove distortion - thankfully.

This is great rock music, one of those albums that does not hit the "A list" but plays beautifully today with plenty of things to discover after all these years.

I'd give this an 8.5/10, as the Pie are such a well oiled machine at this point, band chemistry counts for something, and they got it here.

 

Wow. Someone other than my self that really likes Street Rats. From the previous hints, I thought most folks were not happy with this album. I was starting to think that no one was coming back to this thread. Thanks for the review.
Up next................

 

Like I said, there is a King Biscuit Flower Hour from the 1975 tour. 20 min. long is all I know of it being broadcast. Philly, PA. Nobody here has ever heard it but me??? Anyway, it shows the band was running on pure aviation fuel, and gas tank is not on empty at all.

It's just that a young Aerosmith (feat. S. Tyler wearing thick eyeliner) would be storming across America with a (new?) Brit Rock blues based sound (same as Pie really) and new soon to be hit album, and enough coke and booze to make even Steve Marriott consider slowing down a tad. Kiss were also were rocking their way up to large arena status. A new era was coming now, and by Jan. '76 you really knew it was here. Lots 'o Corporate Rock, mellow Dad Rock, and major labels raking it in.

Ten Years After, Humble Pie, and dozens of other acts were exiting stage left.

But Street Rats endures with CDs not available cheaply. I hear musical chemistry on the album. I hope others revisit and like something here.

 

I feel that Street Rats is a mediocre lp. The tracks on it that I like are Street Rats, Road Hog and Let Me Be Your Lovemaker. Once again there are not enough original numbers and too many covers. Let Me Be Your Lovemaker I believe was the only song from this to make their concert set lists. Rock And Roll Music was released as a single but fizzled.

Session keyboardist Tim Hinkley joined the Pie for the 1975 tour.

 

Street Rat, Rain, Countryman Stomp, & especially There Tis are top-shelf Pie for me. SR doesn't deserve the awful reputation it's gained over the years. I do wish this wasn't the last gasp of the 2nd lineup though.

Will there be a review of Scrubbers Sessions? Since some of the SR tracks came from there, it would fit in right about now in the thread.

 

I wonder if they will ever reissue this in the U.S. on compact disc. I used to have this on lp but purged some of my albums and no longer have it.

 

That is awesome.

 

I will post the Scrubber Sessions.
I agree. It should get more recognition. Dare I say it but it is their last great one.

 

Probably not. I have the Japan Mini and a double with Thunderbox.

 

How is the sound on the double with Thunderbox? I have read reviews that suggest it might be a pirate release with misspellings of song titles etc., so I held off. I don't want to pay that much for a Japanese copy of an album that I may not play much. I also already have Thunderbox on compact disc.

 

It's interesting how they are billed as one of England's premier heavy metal bands.

 

It does not sound very good. The Japan Mini sounds better IMO but is OOP. HOwever, for $25 or so it is worth it unless you don't really listen to it much.

 

They want about $25 for the Thunderbox/Street Rats combo as well. It also might be out of print now

 

I miss the days of promo ads-- those are great!

 

I was not able to attend shows for several months in the summer of '75. I would have seen Pie, Stones, Zeppelin, and Genesis, etc. But it was not to be.

I'm sure the 1975 Farewell Tour was rockin' just like the other tours. I would not get to see Humble Pie until "Fool for a Pretty Face" was charting. Now that was not the same. They were low on the bill and it felt like an oldies act with key original members missing.

But anyway, 1975 is an amazing year for rock albums and tours. And even a low charter like Street Rats is pretty damn great.

 

Sreet Rats is another underated album by The Pie, must admit i was a bit disappointed at the time it was released but it is a real grower over the years since, i don't think there is a bed track on it.