Smokin’ has one of the most generic, near-redneck-looking covers this side of the Atlantic, which meant that of course it was their highest-charting LP in the States ever! Concurrently, the sound has become less diversified, and more focused in a distinct hard rock-crossed-with-R&B vein. From here on out, the Pie would be pigeonholed as “boogie rock”, but that’s BS because Marriott and crew had a serious fetish for R&B during this period and did everything in their power to make their band sound like an arena rock version of an R&B band. The execution of this goal, over time, would become more and more questionable, but boogie rock? Grand Funk Railroad – as much as I dig that band – couldn’t hold the Pie’s jockstraps. That is boogie rock to me. Anyway, getting back to this album, where it appeared Marriott was the be-all end-all more than ever before and the material suffers a slight bit. But not much. There were two hits from the album, though – “30 Days in the Hole” and “Hot ‘n’ Nasty” – both of them up there with earlier classic cuts. Everyone and their mother know “30 Days in the Hole” by now – the lyric about “Durban poison” was long an inside joke within the band – but the joyous chants and raucous guitar licks and organ lines belies the darker turns which would soon befall the band. “Hot ‘n’ Nasty” hits every check mark on the Pie’s list at this point and time – a slick, but nasty R&B groove, a great vocal hook, and it was tailor-made for the dance floor. Great track. Another song in this category, surprisingly, is the “Road Runner/Road Runner’s ‘G’ Jam”, which clearly was the group just toying around in the studio covering “Road Runner”, but then it evolved into something more entertaining than a simple jam session. Too bad it feels a little short-circuited. “You’re So Good for Me” might as well be the reason a band like the Black Crowes exists, even though it is far from my favorite track here. Meanwhile, just to give people a different mood – because they were required to do things like this back in these days – “Old Time Feelin” is one of two spots featuring Ridley on vocals. The other one is “Sweet Peace and Time”, which in my mind is a lovely way to end this otherwise rough-and-tumble record. My guess is Marriott was not quite ready to completely ascribe to the notion that he was the absolute star of the show, but then again, who else could have carried “I Wonder”, a searing, towering, bluesy tour-de-force? I will not deny that cracks are starting to show in the foundation now. “The Fixer” and “C’mon Everybody” are the two tracks here which exemplify what is wrong with the new approach. These are out-and-out bruising rockers, seemingly all wah-wah force, but somewhere in the maelstrom you begin to wonder if Marriott himself was going to be able to hold up against the waves of unnecessary sound. The other issue was Clempson, who was a very good guitarist, and fit the band to a tee attitude-wise, but as stated before, the extra bit of class, taste, and contrast as provided by Frampton was now sorely missing. Still, Smokin’ – IMHO – generally lived up to the title. Worse stuff lies in wait.

Right on the heels of the previous studio effort the Pie toured like madmen. Part of the deal was to capture material for a live album. Going by their reputation thus far, it seemed like the most logical move. Group and management settled on shows played at the Fillmore East on May 28-29, 1971. What was released became a huge influence on everyone for the rest of the decade. Arguably, this was THE album which created arena rock, like it or not. After this behemoth, if you were a touring band in the 70’s, you were required to release a live record. As far as Humble Pie goes, Fillmore and Rock On became a package deal – feeding off each other enough to drive both albums to Gold status and establishing the Pie as a force to be reckoned with. In their attempts to establish the band Stateside, management seemed to be in favor of Steve Marriott taking over the band and being the face of it all. Which would make logical sense. Steve was the main “face” of Small Faces, after all, so he did have tons of experience in this area. So, the decision was subconsciously made here, and this is the record where Marriott really steps to the forefront with his massive act. You can feel Frampton melting into the background while Steve scat-sings his way through a large part of “Rollin’ Stone”. One era is ending, and another was beginning. It’s hard not to feel great for Steve, though, because this is really his triumph. I’m not saying the rest band does not put on a great show, because they do, but let’s be real about this. The problem here is the very thing which brought me to value Humble Pie over a lot of other groups was their democratic spirit, which by the way, is certainly on display here as well. The goofy cover of “Hallelujah I Love Her So”, “I’m Ready”, “Four Day Creep, and of course, “Stone Cold Fever” – it’s as if the old Pie mechanisms haven’t changed one iota, right? And yet, these mammoth tracks in the middle of the record. “I Walk on Gilded Splinters” – which, admittedly, they had been doing since the early days – “Rollin’ Stone”, and the bubbling-under hit cover of “I Don’t Need No Doctor”. Bear witness to the power, and the glory, and never mind those dastardly subtleties. I think that is a big reason why I personally do not connect with this record as much as the earlier studio efforts, and why I think the later efforts are flawed without Frampton around to balance out Marriott and the rest of the band. Still, Fillmore, for many of the reasons already mentioned, is an essential stop in 1970’s hard rock. Just be warned, there are excesses a-plenty one will encounter.

Now this is a key album. Here the “super-group” lineup solidifies the sound and direction they want to go in. If they had stayed together after this album, for at least a couple more discs, perhaps the overall story might have been different…. Anyway, I do not think there is much difference between the previous album and this one, except…well, obviously, the material is better, and the interplay between band members is better. To the second point, many people might be quick to say this is Marriott’s show, but I think that is far from the case here. I just think his performances are more forceful and purposeful. But they do not take away from the other band member contributions one bit; in fact, Frampton and Ridley are as strong as ever if not better served by a reconstituted Marriott swaggering and swinging his brass balls around. Touché – the record opens with “Shine On”, a Frampton-penned and lead vocal track which was the catchiest thing he ever did with the Pie, proving he could beast around with the rest of band when he wanted to. There are at least three, maybe four tracks here which I file under “personal favorites” since I get the feeling no one in the group intended them to be gargantuan hits or anything, but I really dig these tracks. There’s Ridley’s “Big George”, a meaty ‘n’ rooty rocker which can either feel like a big put on or is just a whole lot of fun. Plus, Bobby Keys gets in a killer sax solo. Marriott’s “A Song for Jenny” is a dedication to his then-wife (ironic because he would soon be divorced from her) which runs the gamut of emotions from gentle to epic. Not to be missed! I have referred to “79th and Sunset” before; here it is re-imagined as a tongue-in-cheek, country-flavored track about…what else…skeevy groupie girls and hustlers! Man, did Steve run with a horrible crew or what? The way he delivers the vocals are all tongue-twisted in a crazy way that only he could think of, much less execute. Great little track! But unlike the previous effort there are some real heavyweights which should have put the Pie in the big leagues. “Stone Cold Fever”, for one thing, which was a true group effort, and a shining example of their crossover work with hard rock and R&B music. Even better is the cover of “Rollin’ Stone”, which they ABSOLUTELY own, IMHO, and probably shredded people’s ears about a hundred thousand times in many a live setting. I am not one to pooh-pooh the Zeppelin covers of old blues tunes, but no one had the style and feeling down like Marriott and his crew did, at this time. And this was only a studio recording. The last epic on the record is “Strange Days”, which shares the same paranoiac tone as the Rolling Stones work on Let It Bleed, but does not quite cut to heart of the matter. As long as it is on, though, hard to deny when it grips its’ claws into you. This was the obvious jumping point to greener pastures…and it was, for a short period of time. In relation to this list, quite possibly the best of the best.

After the first two albums the Pie signed onto A&M Records who basically reorganized them, got rid of the whole democratic super-group thing, and had them become a big “bloozy” hard rock band. Except they didn’t do that right away. They made this album, which split the difference between the old band and what the new band would become, with an artsy photo of a topless chick on it which I’m sure pleased a lot of executives back then! Consequently, it did not chart. Getting back to this album, it’s pretty good. I like it because it’s fairly similar to Town and Country, the sad thing is, it feels shorter. Although run-time wise, it’s five minutes longer than the previous album. The thing is, now that they were being asked to be this big, heavy rock act, they of course stretch out the material so less tracks can fit on an LP! In many cases, it works, though. There are eight tracks here and I like more than half of them – five to be exact. The opening “Live with Me” – credited to the whole band – is a swirling tour-de-force which is brought home by a killer vocal from Marriott. Definitely a key Humble Pie track. Frampton’s “Earth and Water Song” is great, not only because it provides contrast to the grit and determination of the rest of the band, but like “Every Mother’s Son” from the last record, there is something here that is fiercely unique, setting it apart from many other artists, but do not ask me to describe what that something is! Ridley’s “Sucking on the Sweet Vine” ends the record on sort of a folky, soulful vibe. In another band, this guy could have been a lead singer, I tell ya! Marriott’s “Red Light Mamma, Red Hot” is a theme he would soon revisit far too often in the coming years – dalliances with questionable women and hard drugs mixed with bruising boogie rock – but here the formula is still a new thing to behold. “Theme from Skint” is an entertaining tale about the group’s foibles with record companies. Sadly, Marriott and the band would learn this lesson the hard way many times over in the future as well. Maybe the only song here I truly have some misgivings about is their cover of “I’m Ready”, which is dealt with in a rather boorish manner, compared to how the band had treated covers thus far. Overall, though, some transition – this is up there with the group’s best.

Originally, this LP was UK only. Later releases would be packaged as 2-fers with other albums, or as a “remaster” with bonus tracks. Whatever the case, this bunch of tracks from the exact same recording sessions as the previous record – did I make that point already – is either hailed as a marked improvement or a noticeable downgrade. Really? Someone want to make up their mind here? It is the same grab-bag, anything-goes, Traffic-like approach, for sure, but just better executed this time, IMHO. Interesting that Marriott, the main songwriter, is credited with only four songs here, but others pitch with their takes which are pleasant surprises if one drops preconceived notions. Hell, the cover itself is a piss-take on Traffic’s Dear Mr. Fantasy, just to give you an idea of where these guys heads were at in the creative process. Frampton’s walk-in-the-country rocker “Take Me Back” sets the tone here – intimate, warm, homey, comfortable, and more approachable than anything on the debut or what their colleagues were doing at the time. “The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake” was the single (don’t quote me on this), a cutesy rambling tale about a down-on-his-luck bandit from “Abilene” and was probably autobiographical (being one of the few Marriott-written tracks). The B-side was Shirley’s “Cold Lady”, a spooky ballad which benefits from the group’s ragged vocal harmonies. Later on, the group covers Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” and it is normally recognized as a high point of the album. What I can’t figure out is how they ignore the rest of it. Before “Heartbeat” one encounters a couple of Marriott’s most heartfelt tracks ever. “Down Home Again” is simply lovely – a neat little uncluttered rocker somewhat in the mold of the “Heartbeat” cover, which was unburdened by all of the crap that affected the band down the line. “Every Mother’s Son”, though, might just be my favorite Marriott track of all-time. This one is straight acoustic, and again, feels rather autobiographical, but the lyrics do not matter all that much. It’s the mood that matters, and this one is hard to rightly pin down. Is it lost love, lost opportunity, or lost innocence that the man is lamenting here? Not sure, and maybe that is the trick…. “Silver Tongue” has been pegged quite often as a highlight, but for me I find it to be more in tune with the chaos of the debut record. However, the anything-goes final track “Home and Away”, which serves as a metaphor for the album in general, is another notable pick here. Re-issues of the album itself will include “Greg’s Song” (a decent cut from Ridley) and “79th Street Blues”, an early version of “79th and Sunset”, one of the more notable cuts from the Rock On record, although this version is fairly similar. All in all, the peak of their early “super group” era.