Before The Image Took Control Of The Band
Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 03/04/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"By 1972 Humble Pie was a concert favorite. Their live album "Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore" peaked at No. 21 and musically they had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But this wasn't until after they had switched record labels to A&M in 1970.In 1969 they had released two albums on the Immediate label--"As Safe As Yesterday Is" (tracks 3-12)and "Town and Country" (tracks 13-23)--featuring frontman Steve Marriott, who had just left the Small Faces, and 19-year-old Peter Frampton. The melodic songwriting and sometimes acoustic arrangments on these two albums make it difficult to recognize them as the same band that two years later would plod through a 16-minute version of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" or a 24-minute rendition of "I Walk on Gilded Splinters."In addition to these two albums presented in their entirety, you also get their first single "Natural Born Bugie" b/w "Wrist Job," which went to No. 4 in the UK. Also, there are numerous previously unreleased tracks, including a take on Ray Charles' "Drown In My Own Tears" and a slowed-down version of the Yardbirds' "For Your Love." This is a kinder, gentler Humble Pie than the boogie 'n' blooze image of their later albums. As such, it is also my favorite. RECOMMENDED"
They don't have to be so humble
Guy Gillor | Be'er Sheva, Israel | 08/18/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This double-disc set features the entire 1969 output of one of Rock's most underrated bands - Humble Pie. It features the first two albums, the first single and about 8 unreleased cuts from these sessions.
The music here is phenomenal: it shifts from classic rock, to soul, country, blues, folk, a bit of prog and sweet old rock and roll. It is very different from the boogie sound of later albums as Rockin' The Fillmore and Smokin'. I figure its because Peter Frampton had more influence on the band's sound.
Take it, put it in the stereo, and get addicted to it. You will not believe the amount of magic those two discs contain."