"Thirds" by JAMES GANG [featuring Joe Walsh] - April 1971 US LP on ABC Records and July 1971 UK LP on Probe Records (June 2000 US MCA CD Reissue - Bill Szymczyk and Ted Jensen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

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"...Midnight Man..."

It's not a dyed-in-the-wool five-star classic for sure. And yet I've always stroked and petted (with scary regularity) my British Probe Records copy of the 1971 vinyl LP "Thirds" by The James Gang (mottled sleeve and pink label) - gawking at the poor battering thing with undiminished affection.

Of the nine 1971 tracks maybe only four are gems - but on the last album The James Gang did with the future Eagles axeman Joe Walsh – boys-oh-boys what mighty nuggets those forgotten songs are. And it’s the record that also let Drummer Jim Fox and newcomer Bassist Dale Peters shine as songwriters too. Let's go to the midnight men and dig it (y'all)...

US released June 2000 - "Thirds" by JAMES GANG on MCA Records 088 112 022-2 (Barcode 008811202224) is a straightforward 9-track CD Remaster of the original 1971 LP that plays out as follows (36:14 minutes):

1. Walk Away [Side 1]

2. Yadig?

3. Things I Could Be

4. Dreamin' In The Country

5. It's All The Same

6. Midnight Man [Side 2]

7. Again

8. White Man/Black Man

9. Live My Life Again

Tracks 1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "Thirds" - released April 1971 in the USA on ABC Records ABCX-721 and July 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPB 1038. Produced by THE JAMES GANG and BILL SZYMCZYK - it was their final album with Joe Walsh and peaked at No. 27 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). Tracks 1, 5, 6 and 7 written by Joe Walsh - Tracks 3 and 9 written by Jim Fox - Tracks 4 and 8 written by Dale Peters and Track 2 written by all three members of the band.

JAMES GANG was:

JOE WALSH - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar and Electric Piano and Violin Arrangements on "Again"

DALE PETERS – Electric Bass on all Tracks except Upright Bass on "Yadig?” - Lead Vocals on "Dreamin' In The Country" and "White Man/Black Man" and Backing Vocals on "Midnight Man”

JIM FOX – Drums on all tracks, Vibes on the instrumental "Yadig?”, Lead, Backing Vocals and Organ on "Things I Could Be", Track Piano on "Dreamin' In The Country" and Pianos on "Live My Life Again"

Guests:

Mary Sterpka (of Lacewing) - Duet Lead Vocals with Joe Walsh on "Midnight Man"

The Sweet Inspirations (of Atlantic Records) - Backing Vocals on "White Man/Black Man"

Tom Baker - Horns Arranged and Played on "It's All The Same” and "Live My Life Again”

The three-way foldout inlay is hardly the stuff of legend - the picture of the three boys that graced the rear sleeve with the track-by-track session details and on the rear that long list of 'thank you' names that graced the inner record bag - everyone from Groucho Marx and W.C. Fields to Wonderdog, James Bond and The Cookie Monster, from J.S. Bach, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend (a champion of Joe Walsh from the get go - invited on a Who tour as a support act) to Lonnie Mack and Elvis' Back-Up Band. There are some new comments from Dale Peters and Jim Fox (none from Walsh) about the recordings - tracks made with Little Richard that never saw the light of day due to contractual crap - their pride in songs like "Walk Away" and "Midnight Man" - their admiration for Joe's axework and so on.

TED JENSEN and original LP producer BILL SZYMCZYK (later produced Joe Walsh’s solo work and The Eagles) did the Digital Remasters from original tapes at Sterling Sound in New York and it sounds fantastic. Those formerly muddied horns by Tom Baker on "It's All The Same", the Soulful vocals of The Sweet Inspirations on "Midnight Man" and those Jim Fox Vibes on the slinky instrumental "Yadig?" all now in your face and for all the right reasons.

The album opens on a slice of axe-wielding Rock joy and a track Walsh would play regularly as a Solo Artist – the fab riffage of  "Walk Away". Describing himself (wittily) in the track-by-track breakdown as a 'Train Wreck - it featured as the opening song on his April 1976 live set "You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind" with ABC Records UK even putting it on the 99p-selling 4-Track 12" single "Plus Four EP" in July 1977. Like the swagger of "Funk 49" - "Walk Away" is the 'All Right Now' of Joe Walsh's catalogue - dig that soloing as it fades out. There then follows a startling segue moment as we slide slinkily into the Jazz Instrumental "Yadig?" where Drummer Jim Fox plays a blinder on the Vibes as Joe shuffles his electric piano keys and Dale Peters compliments on an upright Bass (towards the end of the track Joe sneaks in a sexy solo too). Diversions done, we're back to Rock with Jim Fox's excellent "Things I Could Be" where he plays Drums, Organ and sings Lead Vocals - but it's Joe's guitar contributions that give it such a great feel. "Dreamin' In The Country" sounds like its title - a rather lame countrified doodle where JW has a go at a Pedal Steel. Way better is the fabulous "It's All The Same" - a Joe Walsh tune lifted up above its lonesome solo piano opening by Tom Baker's Horns that come sailing in and lend the Side 1 closer a truly epic feel. As the years have passed I've grown to adore "It's All The Same" - the Bacharach type brass interludes playing off against those high-strung acoustic guitars (and he mentions 'meadows' which would of course become a hit song for JW in its own right on his second solo LP "The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get" in 1973).

Side 2 opens with the magisterial "Midnight Man" - a song both Peters and Fox clearly rate as Joe Walsh's finest moment to that point because they both namecheck it in the new liner notes. And his solo too – superb. Band 7 "Again" may be the album's sleeper - another seductive JW melody this time bolstered up with violins (which he arranged) and not brass. Half way through it goes into an America-type shuffle - the remaster bringing out those strums and subtle electric piano notes. But despite my adoration of all things JW - I will openly admit that my heart belongs to Dale Peters on the "Thirds" album because of his magnificent song "White Man/Black Man" tucked away as Track 3 on Side 2. ABC Records in the USA slapped it on the B-side of the more commercial "Midnight Man" in October 1971 (ABC Records 11312) and were rewarded with a minor single hit at No.80. The UK saw never saw that release and so is a bit of a rarity on our side of the pond ("Walk Away" paired with "Yadig?" on the flipside was issued as Blighty's only 45 from the album in April 1971 on Probe Records PRO 533). I used to feature Dale Peters singing "White Man/Black Man" on so many CD-R compilations that I’d made as shuffle plays in Reckless Records in Berwick Street. Not recognising the vocalist but maybe the guitar playing - it was the kind of Soulful slow-marching Rock song that always elicited excited punter enquiries (who is this!) – the gorgeous singing of The Sweet Inspirations (one of Atlantic Records premier backing vocalist groups who had albums in their own right), Joe's fabulous guitar soloing and its racial equality lyrics – all would combine - bringing it on home every time it was played. And the album ends on another JW sleeper – the slow and epic "Live My Life Again" where he employs both The Sweet Inspirations and Tom Baker’s horns to huge effect. A great end to a great but underrated album...

Walsh would jump ship and the James Gang continued with other guitarists – namely Dominic Troiano and of course the mercurial Tommy Bolin. Joe would start his amazing solo career with the fabulous "Barnstorm" in 1972 – an album I might even be buried with. But if you want to know why Pete Townshend raved about him then and Daryl Hall had him over to Daryl’s House for a session now, then check out "Thirds", cheap as chips and sounding just as mouth-watering on this June 2000 CD Remaster.

The James Gang were always a solid little rocking American Band – the kind of group you couldn’t help loving and like The Faces or Humble Pie or Grand Funk Railroad - miss 45 years after the event...

"Eat It" [April 1973 2LP Set] by HUMBLE PIE (November 2016 Japan-Only Universal/A&M 'SHM-CD' (2007) Remaster in Mini LP Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Things You Do To Me..."

Ah the mighty Pie! They might have been white on the outside but inside their Souls were black and raring to batter the lugholes of the world with their brand of British Blues Rock and Rock Soul.

Preceded by four underwhelming studio albums on two different labels (Immediate and A&M Records) and after the groundbreaking and rocking live double "Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore" broke them huge everywhere (especially in America) – it was time for more studio shenanigans. The wildly underrated single studio LP "Smokin'" from April 1972 came next and was itself followed in 1973 by this - the equally fantastical double LP set "Eat It" – another strangely forgotten milestone in this British band’s stellar career.

Split between three studio sides of soulful Rock tunes and Acoustic ballads (beefed up with backing vocals from The Blackberries –a trio of veteran American ladies - see below) and one final side recorded live at Green's Playhouse in Glasgow (mostly cover versions) - their second double-album paired back on the band's usual cache of swagger and snake trouser boogie anthems and instead went for mellow and tuneful as Soul Music seemed to consume Steve Marriott whole.

Marriott wrote all of Side 1 and 3 and the lyrics to the opener on Side 4 "Up Our Sleeve" (the band wrote the music) with all of Side 2 and the remaining pair on Side 4 being Deep Soul covers from the Sixties (O.V. Wright, Ray Charles, Edwin Starr, Ike & Tina Turner, Jr. Walker & The All Stars etc). "Eat It" was also housed in a chunky and colourful gatefold sleeve (a John Kosh design) complete with a gorgeous illustrated 20-page booklet (reproduced here in full). But what issue to buy on CD?

Fans will know that Humble Pie's back catalogue (on A&M Records especially) has been strangely ignored by British reissue companies (licensing issues perhaps) and Japan has and still is your first port of call for remasters. I’d recommend this reissue from November 2016 that offers the full double-album Remastered onto 1CD as your fastest and best poison. It can be purchased as new for about £22 to £24 online from several sites including Amazon (sometimes less secondhand) – has a 2007 Remaster that wrestles well with a dense mix, Mini LP Gatefold Repro Artwork with the Booklet (separated from the sleeve) and both looks and sounds great. Here are the Drugstore Cowboys and Black Coffees...

Released 23 November 2016 in Japan - "Eat It" by HUMBLE PIE on Universal/A&M Records UICY-77981 (Barcode 4988031188149) is an SHM-CD Reissue (Double-Album onto 1CD) in Mini LP Repro Artwork with a 2007 Remaster that plays out as follows (65:25 minutes):

1. Get Down To It [Side 1]

2. Good Booze And Bad Women

3. Is It For Love

4. Drugstore Cowboy

5. Black Coffee [Side 2]

6. I Believe To My Soul

7. Shut Up And Don't Interrupt Me

8. That's How Strong My Love Is

9. Say No More [Side 3]

10. Oh, Bella (That's All Hers)

11. Summer Song

12. Beckton Dumps

13. Up Our Sleeve [Live] [Side 4]

14. Honky Tonk Women [Live]

15. (I'm A) Road Runner [Live]

Tracks 1 to 15 are the double-album "Eat It" - released April 1973 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 6004 and March 1973 in the USA on A&M Records SP-3701. Produced by HUMBLE PIE [Sides 1 to 3 are Studio Recordings - Side 4 is Live] - it peaked at No. 34 in the UK and No. 13 in the USA.

HUMBLE PIE was:

STEVE MARRIOTT – Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar and Harmonica on "Good Booze And Bad Women" and "(I'm A) Road Runner [Live]"

(DAVE) CLEM CLEMPSON (ex Bakerloo, Colosseum) – Second Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals

GREG RIDLEY – Bass and Backing Vocals

JERRY SHIRLEY – Drums

Guests:

THE BLACKBERRIES [Clydie King, Venetta Fields and Billie Barnum] - Backing Vocals on all Tracks except 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15

B.J. COLE - Pedal Steel Guitar on "Oh, Bella (That's All Hers)"

SYDNEY GEORGE – Saxophone on "Shut Up And Don't Interrupt Me"

Fans will know that Japan has had a 'long' history of reissuing Humble Pie – in this case a whopping four times on the SHM-CD format alone. Number one came 14 February 2007 on Universal/A&M Records UICY-93223 (Barcode 4988005459770) - that issue featuring SHM-CD technology and Mini LP Repro Artwork (or Paper Sleeve) and most importantly - a new Remaster by Audio Engineer HIDEAKI NISHIMURA (all reissues since have been based on this variant).

Second was 22 April 2009 on Universal/A&M UICY-94070 (Barcode 4988005555199) – again on SHM-CD and Mini LP Artwork. Third arrived as part of the 'Back To The Rock Years...' reissue series on 9 November 2011 – but this time the SHM-CD Universal/A&M Records UICY-25064 (Barcode 4988005677952) came in a standard jewel case only.

Which brings us to number four and our chosen poison today - the 23 November 2016 variant again in Mini LP Artwork. Essentially yet another reissue of the 2007 Remaster but one that is still on catalogue (the earlier discs are all deleted) - the Mini LP cover repros the original double-album gatefold colour artwork and 'the lovely Sheena' drawn booklet that came with original copies. The CD insert consists of a foldout white paper inlay that approximates lyrics in English and Japanese with a separate history of Humble Pie in Japanese (only). In its sealable plastic outer sleeve with an Obi strip along the side, this reissue is a sweet thing to look at and hold.

As a recording "Eat It" is a notorious mishmash of sound quality. Whilst Side 1 and 2 feel good (dense in places) - it's as if audio quality abandoned the record for Side 3 - many of the primarily acoustic tracks are a tad hissy and sound like they were recorded on the huff - more for feel than fidelity. The live side (4) is crude and rude and feels at times like a bootleg - huge and snotty nonetheless. But the Hideaki Nishimura Remaster is great and the enhanced SHM-CD brings out the sheer power of the band ("(I'm A) Road Runner" is a beast of Bass and Drums - the band rocking like mad as Marriott whips the audience into a frenzy) and the delicacies of the softer material and that's the real winner here. Let's get to the music...

Side 1 opens on a winner and a musical mission statement - out goes straight up 'Rawk' and in comes Humble Pie doing 'Soul Rock' with the wonderful "Get Down To It". The first thing you notice is his deliberate inclusion of The Blackberries giving it some bolstering Soulful Backing Vocals on every track. A trio of veteran ladies in the shape of Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Billie Barnum – their names will be familiar to anyone who has poured over inner sleeves for decades from hundreds of appearances on huge catalogue albums throughout the Seventies and Eighties. Marriott was clearly trying to move his hard-rocking band into different and looser territory and a No.13 chart placing in the USA in March 1973 proved that the American public at least thought this a good idea.

A rare barroom rocker "Good Booze And Bad Women" sees Marriott bring in the wailing harmonica as it chugs Ten Years After-like along - the girls shadowing his lead vocals as Clem Clempson solos away like a goodun. "Is It For Love?" has sadness to it - a slow melancholia like the Faces bemoaning a relationship breakdown (the girls add subtle power as they sing back Marriott's pain - so hard to feel the same again). The near seven minutes of "Drugstore Cowboy" - a fabulously sloppy rocker - probably reflected SM's lifestyle just a little too realistically - higher than a hog in L.A. Side 2 offers four Soul covers - a fantastic slow Blues screamer in Ike & Tina Turner's "Black Coffee" (probably my fave tune on the whole double) - a slow pleader in "I Believe To My Soul" by Ray Charles - a cheeky R&B dancer by Edwin Starr where Marriott shouts "Shut Up And Don't Interrupt Me" over the saxophone of Sydney George and finally the Roosevelt Jamison song made famous by O.V. Wright in 1964 (Goldwax 106) - "That's How Strong My Love Is" - Marriott duetting with the ladies to amazing effect.

After the full-on Band vs. Soul Singers noise of Side 2 - Side 3's acoustic opener "Say No More" comes as a shock and something of a relief. If you're my foot, them I'm your sock, I just need you, you're my long shot...say no more. It's a gorgeous little tune really. "Oh, Bella (All That's Hers)" continues in that vein but is even more delicate - his vocals sounding like he's even so slightly stoned. B.J. Cole's Pedal Steel guitar lends the lonesome lyrics a pathos quietly pinging away in the background for that beautifully vocalised chorus. He employs some very cool and musical slide acoustic guitar for "Summer Song" - asking you to listen to his summer song as he warbles on the Harmonica - while the jaunty Mickey Jupp rhythms of "Beckton Dumps" again feature lyrics about a sleepy head in someone else's home - a restless body that needs to wake up and move on from cravings that need to be tended to.

Side 4 is like the first three sides didn't exist. Live in Glasgow - raw and rocking - this is the Humble Pie of "Performance". First we're treated to the naughtiness of "Up Our Sleeve" - Marriott shouting his customary 'aw right!' before letting rip into those twin guitars. After a 'finest Rock 'n' Roll band in the country' intro they roar into the lethal new song and you can't help think that the stuffy-voiced announcer was in fact right. It ends with two covers - a tribute to the Rolling Stones with "Honky Tonk Women" and a nod to Motown with the encore of Jr. Walker's "(I'm A) Road Runner" which runs to a crowd shredding thirteen and a half minutes. What a ride...  

We would lose Marriott in 1991 aged only 44 from a horrible home-fire accident – robbing the world of one of the great front men and characters in Rock (much like the equally beloved Ronnie Lane). I miss him and them – and this entire reissue series has brought that home with a hammer blow. And isn't that the best compliment of all...

The Japan-Only 23 November 2016 Series of 

HUMBLE PIE SHM-CD Reissues in Mini LP Repro Artwork are:

1. "Humble Pie" (July 1970) – Universal/A&M UICY-77977 (Barcode 4988031188101)

2. "Rock On" (March 1971) – Universal/A&M UICY-77978 (Barcode 4988031188118)

3. "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore” (November 1971, Live 2LP Set onto 1CD) – Universal/A&M UICY-77979 (Barcode 4988031188125)

4. "Smokin'" (March 1972) – Universal/A&M UICY-77980 (Barcode 4988031188132)

5. "Eat It" (April 1973, 2LP Set onto 1CD) – Universal/A&M UICY-77981 (Barcode 4988031188149)

6. "Thunderbox" (February 1974) – Universal/A&M UICY-77982 (Barcode 4988031188095)

7. "Street Rats" (February 1975) – Universal/A&M UICY-77983 (Barcode 4988031188156) – 11 Tracks

8. "Street Rats – UK Version" (February 1975) – Universal/A&M UICY-77984 (Barcode 4988031188163) – 15 Tracks

"Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore" by HUMBLE PIE (February 2007 to November 2016 Japan-Only 'SHM-CD' Remaster in Mini LP Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...I'm Ready..."

Like so many British Rock Bands (Zeppelin, Purple, Sabbath, Floyd etc) - Humble Pie knew they had to break America. And after four well received but commercially underwhelming studio albums on two different labels (Immediate and A&M) - they finally hit pay dirt by going back to basics. I can still recall the excitement of hearing this beast for the first time in late 1971 - like a Gladiator unleashed on a baying crowd - the Pie 'rocked' like the proverbial sweaty sandals-and-swords blade-swinger with "Performance..." - and how. But which version to buy...

If I'm honest the best version is Omnivore Recordings 4CD monster "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore - The Complete Recordings" issued USA and UK in October 2013. The UK version on Omnivore Recordings 3751304 (Barcode 602537513048) captures Remasters of all four shows from 28 and 29 May 1971 at The Fillmore East venue in New York as they were played. Seven of these electric versions then formed the basis for the November 1971 double-album we've all known and loved for over four and half decades. But as many will have noticed, that 2013 multiple-disc limited edition has become rare and very pricey in certain circles.

In the absence of anything else (their catalogue is strangely ignored by British reissue companies) - I would suggest this back-to-basics full double-album onto 1CD reissue from November 2016 in Japan. It can be purchased as new for about £22 to £24 online from several sites including Amazon (sometimes less secondhand) – has a 2007 Remaster, Mini LP Gatefold Repro Artwork and both looks and sounds amazing. Here are the Stone Cold Fevers...

Released 23 November 2016 in Japan - "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore" by HUMBLE PIE on Universal/A&M Records UICY-77979 (Barcode 4988031188125) is an SHM-CD Reissue (Double-Album onto 1CD) in Mini LP Repro Artwork with a 2007 Remaster that plays out as follows (72:39 minutes):

1. Four Day Creep [Side 1]

2. I'm Ready

3. Stone Cold Fever

4. I Walk On Gilded Splinters [Side 2]

5. Rolling Stone [Side 3]

6. Hallelujah (I Love Her So) [Side 4]

7. I Don't Need No Doctor

Tracks 1 to 7 are the live double-album "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore" - released November 1971 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 63506 and November 1971 in the USA on A&M Records SP 3506. Produced by HUMBLE PIE - it peaked at No. 32 in the UK and No. 21 in the USA.

HUMBLE PIE was:

STEVE MARRIOTT – Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar

PETER FRAMPTON – Lead Vocals and Guitar

GREG RIDLEY – Bass

JERRY SHIRLEY – Drums

Fans will know that Japan has had a 'long' history of reissuing Humble Pie – in this case a whopping four times on the SHM-CD format alone. Number one came 14 February 2007 on Universal/A&M Records UICY-93221 (Barcode 4988005459756) - that issue featuring SHM-CD technology and Mini LP Repro Artwork (or Paper Sleeve) and most importantly - a new Remaster by Audio Engineer HIDEAKI NISHIMURA (all reissues since have been based on this variant).

Second was 22 April 2009 on Universal/A&M UICY-94068 (Barcode 4988005555175) – again on SHM-CD and Mini LP Artwork. Third arrived as part of the 'Back To The Rock Years...' reissue series on 10 April 2010 – but this time the SHM-CD Universal/A&M Records UICY-20095 (Barcode 4988005638977) came in a standard jewel case only. 

Which brings us to number four and our chosen poison today - the 23 November 2016 variant - essentially yet another reissue of the 2007 Remaster but one that is still on catalogue (the earlier discs are all deleted). The artwork repros the gatefold colour artwork – but as the original tan label A&M double-albums contained no inserts or booklet – your foldout white paper inlay is a basic job – approximated lyrics in English and Japanese with a history of Humble Pie in Japanese and naught else. But the Hideaki Nishimura Remaster is great...

Right from the off you notice that out of the seven songs – six are covers arranged by the Pie with Side 1’s "Stone Cold Fever" being the only band original. So the double felt new at the time – moulding these fantastic R&B, Blues and Soul songs into their own HP variant of British Blues Rock (much like Zeppelin had done so many times). The British Four-Piece that had produced "Humble Pie" in June 1970 and "Rock On" in March of 1971 were on top form and had gelled as a powerhouse Rock Band – miles away from Marriott’s days with The Small Faces and Frampton’s tint with The Herd.

And it's this hybrid of a great band using great tunes that comes storming out at you with their Ida Cox opener "Four Day Creep" – originally a scratchy 78” from 1939 on Okeh 05298 - the original big mama bemoaning that her man might be an opportunist lover and a low-down thief taboot. As Marriott shouts "...aw right!" twice – they launch into a sexy riff and you can just hear how tight Humble Pie are – those twin guitars delivering huge power – a swagger that bands in the early 70ts seemed to have in spades. Then you notice the other double-whammy – the twin vocals of Marriott and Frampton. As track 2 shuffles into play first Marriott works the crowd into a frenzy with his stop-start guitar-and-vocals intro – are you ready – cause this one is a long one! The audience giggles and as soon as that drum whacking beat hits them they’re clapping and in the mid of a fantastic Humble Pie reworking of the Muddy Waters classic "I'm Ready" – Frampton taking over the vocals half way through. At times you think – it just doesn't get any better than this when it comes to Classic Rock.

"...This is something off our album that we haven't played here awhile..." - Marriott shouts in his fabulous cheeky-chappy London accent introducing their "Stone Cold Fever". And off we go again – another killer twin-guitar riff – the two leads working off each other like Thin Lizzy in absolute go-mode. Even now it's a marvel to hear it and the Remaster is just huge. You might think it too much to have one song take up a whole side - but the 23:27 minutes of Dr. John’s voodoo anthem "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" is broken down in such a way as to make it not just palatable but awesome. Starting out with a lone guitar playing soulfully (check out that broken bottle that hits the floor) - The Pie sound like Led Zeppelin in destroy-all-comers form. And cleverly Marriott introduces the Harmonica half way through to liven up the mix - fabulous stuff.

For Side 3 up jumps another one-sider - the 16:10 minute Blues of Muddy Waters "Rolling Stone" that they covered on the "Rock On" LP in March of 1971. Seriously great Marriott guitar comes 'man' like out of his guitar - a fabulous Blues Rock version - and then 'that voice'. As he warbles the 'say I will' lyrics like Johnny Winter losing it - you can hear the crowd reacting - loving the heavy guitar and soloing (even if we do get that clumsy and prudish edited out curse - a beep). Mama takes him another room and tells our hero of her intentions - none of which are decent (ain't had none for a long time).

They bring the gig home with two upbeat covers - Frampton singing Ray Charles' Atlantic Records hit "Hallelujah (I Love Her So)" - the second half taken over by Marriott, then a rare slot by Bassist Ridley. Continuing on with the Brother Ray connection - finally we a Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson hit they penned for him in 1966 on ABC Records -  "I Don't Need No Doctor". Telling the crowd they're going home on Monday and they've had a gas playing in the States - Marriott leads his rocking troupe in a Soul tune that sounds like they wrote it. The crowd baying, clapping wildly, the twin guitars riffing and soloing - the show is brought to a properly memorable end – prescription filled...

Frampton would soon jump ship for what was to ultimately become a hugely successful solo career - while Humble Pie would return with the excellent but overlooked studio album "Smokin'" in 1972. But after the monster that was "Performance..." - I suppose a single LP in a rather boring sleeve felt like an anti-climax (even if in hindsight – it wasn’t).

I've always loved Humble Pie and many rate this as one of their many highlights and easily up there as one of the all-time great live double-albums – a British/American lightning-in-a-bottle moment that only grows in stature as the years pass.

We would lose Marriott in 1991 aged only 44 from a horrible home-fire accident – robbing the world of one of the great front men and characters in Rock (much like the equally beloved Ronnie Lane). I miss him and them – and this reissue had brought that home with a hammer blow. And isn't that the best compliment of all...

The Japan-Only 23 November 2016 Series of

HUMBLE PIE SHM-CD Reissues in Mini LP Repro Artwork are:

1. "Humble Pie" (July 1970) – Universal/A&M UICY-77977 (Barcode 4988031188101)

2. "Rock On" (March 1971) – Universal/A&M UICY-77978 (Barcode 4988031188118)

3. "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore” (November 1971, Live 2LP Set onto 1CD) – Universal/A&M UICY-77979 (Barcode 4988031188125)

4. "Smokin'" (March 1972) – Universal/A&M UICY-77980 (Barcode 4988031188132)

5. "Eat It" (April 1973, 2LP Set onto 1CD) – Universal/A&M UICY-77981 (Barcode 4988031188149)

6. "Thunderbox" (February 1974) – Universal/A&M UICY-77982 (Barcode 4988031188095)

7. "Street Rats" (February 1975) – Universal/A&M UICY-77983 (Barcode 4988031188156) – 11 Tracks

8. "Street Rats – UK Version" (February 1975) – Universal/A&M UICY-77984 (Barcode 4988031188163) – 15 Tracks

"Fotheringay" by FOTHERINGAY (August 2004 Fledg’ling Records Expanded Edition CD Reissue - Denis Blackham Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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An offshoot of the mighty Fairport Convention - FOTHERINGAY made one sublime album on Island Records in early 1970 and then dispersed into vapour. And if ever the Folk-Rock genre had a hidden treasure that shouldn't be - then this is it. Here are the misty-eyed details...

FOTHERINGAY were:

SANDY DENNY - Lead Vocals, Piano And Guitar

TREVOR LUCAS - Lead Vocals and Guitar

JERRY DONAHUE - Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals

GERRY CONWAY - Drums and Backing Vocals

PAT DONALDSON - Bass and Backing Vocals

UK released August 2004 - "Fotheringay" by FOTHERINGAY on Fledg'ling Records FLED 3044 (Barcode 5020393304429) is an 'Expanded Edition" CD Remaster that breaks down as follows (60:51 minutes):

1. Nothing More

2. The Sea

3. The Ballad Of Ned Kelly

4. Winter Winds

5. Peace In The End

6. The Way I Feel

7. The Pond And The Stream

8. Too Much Of Nothing

9. Banks Of The Nile

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Fotheringay" - released June 1970 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9125 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-4269. Tracks 1, 2, 4, and 7 are Sandy Denny originals. Track 5 is a co-write between Denny and Lucas, while 6 and 8 are Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan covers respectively. Track 9 is a Traditional Song arranged by the band.

10. Two Weeks Last Summer [Live]

11. Nothing More [Live]

12. Banks Of The Nile [Live]

13. Memphis Tennessee [Live]

Tracks 10 to 13 recorded live at The Holland Pop Festival in Rotterdam, 28 June 1970. "Two Weeks Last Summer" is a Dave Cousins song (Strawbs) while "Memphis Tennessee" is a Chuck Berry cover.

The 8-page inlay is a fairly basic affair but it does have lovely pictures of rare foreign picture sleeves like "The Ballad Of Ned Kelly" b/w "Nothing More" and "Peace In The End" b/w "Winter Winds" from Germany, Holland and Japan. There's also rare gig posters for Fotheringay, The Humblebums and Nick Drake in Birmingham and Leicester (now there's a gig I want to see), a shared bill at The Roundhouse "Pop Proms" between 20 and 25 April 1970 and a 'supergroup' show in March 1970 at The Royal Festival Hall. But the big news is the sound - a fantastic DENIS BLACKHAM remaster. His gift with tapes turned many of the tracks on the "Meet on The Ledge" Island Folk-Rock 3CD Box into a rehear treat (see detailed separate review) and he's done the same here.

The two powerhouse forces within the group were England's Sandy Denny and the Australian Trevor Lucas. Denny sings Lead Vocals on "Nothing More", "The Sea", "Winter Winds", "The Pond And The Stream" and the gorgeous album finisher "Banks Of The Nile" while Lucas handles the other four (3, 5, 6 and 8 above). The first thing that hits you is the great songs moving effortlessly from Folk to Folk-Rock and covering a few Traditionals in between - then the quality of the JOE BOYD Production and finally the beautifully sensitive DENIS BLACKHAM remaster.

There's stunning warmth to this album - the masterpiece Fairport didn't make to follow their meisterwork "Liege & Lief" in December 1969. Remaster engineer Blackham has made the combo vocals on "Peace In The End" sound glorious while Lucas sounds not unlike Gordon Lightfoot on the inspired cover version choice of "The Way I Feel". But for me the album is dominated by two truly beautiful Denny moments - her own composition "The Sea" and her loving arrangement of the Traditional Air "Banks Of The Nile". I'd rate "The Sea" up there with "Where Does The Time Go?" from 1969's "Unhalfbricking" - it's beautiful lilt and lyrics somehow evoking a longing in its listener that is rare. The eight-minutes of "The Banks Of The Nile" featured on the aforementioned "Meet On The Ledge" box set - and not surprising either - as gorgeous a tune as you've ever heard.

The first live track - the Dave Cousins song "Two Weeks Last Summer" has great audio quality and presents the band in exactly that laid-back feel the album has. But it takes a bit of a sonic nosedive come "Nothing More". Luckily the version of "Banks" is way better with Sandy sounding so good. We then get Fotheringay going on all Rock & Roll sounding not unlike the Faces with a raucous female singer - what a blast...

Conway, Donaldson and Donahue along with Drummer Tony Cox, Flute player Lynn Dobson and Jazzman Dudu Pukwana would make "Living Game" with Mick Greenwood in late 1971 on MCA Records (see separate review). Sandy would go Solo of course and Lucas went back to the Fairports. A second album was planned but never released. But Donaldson and Conway (remaining members of the band) returned to those tapes and put out "Fotheringay 2" on CD in September 2008 giving us that old material updated but in the spirit of the original. I loved it too.

Sometimes a year lodges in your brain - like 1970 - "On The Boards" by Taste, "Pendulum" by CCR, "Kiln House" by Fleetwood Mac, "Humble Pie" by Humble Pie, "Bryter Layter" by Nick Drake, "Encouraging Words" by Billy Preston, "Rides Again" by The James Gang, "Gasoline Alley" by Rod Stewart - and "Fotheringay".I've adored this album for over 40 years and as time passes its magic only grows.

As a footnote - I can remember vividly a pub conversation when I was with the late great JOHN WALTERS - John Peel's Producer at the BBC. I was buying his astonishing record collection on behalf of Reckless. He sat there misty-eyed telling me about a friend of his who'd come running into his control room in 1969 raving about this 'girl' singer he'd seen in a bar in London the night previous. A 'folky' his pal enthused with the voice of an angel. It was of course Sandy Denny. Ever scouting artists for Peel and his radio show - Walters went along and said the hairs stood up on the back of his neck when she began singing. I can still see John's face in that bar as we sat talking - remembering that great musical moment. God bless you both wherever you may be...