We saw them several times after that as he slowly built his following, releasing four studio albums before he exploded “overnight.” Geils Band and BB King, with Frampton’s Camel, and they just grabbed the audience and held them, which is damn hard for a third-on-the-bill band to do. I frist saw him third on the bill behind the J. On their Rockin’ the Fillmore album, just before they kick off “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” (they had a thing for covering Ray Charles songs), a voice shouts “Doctor!” My good friend the late Michael Alix (JJ Ajax) always swore that was him.įrampton became huge because he too built his reputation live. Savaged and/or dismissed by the critics, they certainly have a helluva Greatest Hits catalog, and quickly gained a word-of-mouth reputation as a band that put out live. Humble Pie started out as an eclectic band but veered toward heavy as they found their audience on the road. In retrosepct it’s easy to see how the music slowed down in the late 60’s-early 70’s. This is not actually a greatest hits compilation rather, it’s a selection of tracks from the group’s first two LPs (As Safe as Yesterday Is and Town and Country), both from 1969.The first three tracks Natural Born Woman, Desperation and A Nifty Little Number Like You are from Yesterday Is and are typical Humble Pie, i.e., heavy hard rock in the style of Bad. Today’s SotW, “Shine On,” is a good example of that quandary.īeen a long time for this one.
He stayed with the band until 1971 when theĭevelopment of his softer, pop songwriting didn’t fit in with Marriott’s more hard-rocking Part to escape the teen idol image he was tagged with as the frontman for The Herd. To undertake a final tour because he has been battling a degenerative muscleĭisease – inclusion-body myositis – that would eventually rob him of hisįamous for his mega-sales, live double album, Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), Frampton deserves recognition for soįrampton started to play in bands when heįormed Humble Pie in 1969, Frampton was recruited to be in that band’s original Sadly, the underrated guitarist was motivated Retired, wrapping up his “Finale: The Farewell Tour” in nearby Concord, CA.