Humble Pie

Steve Marriott formed Humble Pie in 1968 with Greg Ridley, Peter Frampton and Jerry Shirley. Their debut single "Natural Born Bugie" became a hit in the UK Singles Chart and was followed by the album As Safe As Yesterday Is, which rose to number sixteen in the UK album charts. Their second album, Town and Country was released in the UK during 1969 while the band was away on its first tour of USA. This album featured a more acoustic sound and songs written by all four members.

This concert was recorded while the band was promoting Eat It!, a double LP that featured three sides of studio songs and one side of live material. Though Eat It! went to the Top 15, and Humble Pie had firmly established themselves as a powerful live act, the band's powers (and their popularity) seemed to gradually decline following this tour. The band returned in 1974 with Thunderbox, but the constant focus by the media and the fans on Steve Marriott began taking its toll within the group. In 1975, Humble Pie reunited in the studio with ex-manager Andrew Oldham, and recorded Street Rats, a quirky collection of tracks, including three Beatles covers. The band embarked on a "Farewell" tour, and called it a day. Soon after the demise of Humble Pie, Marriott recruited Ridley for a solo album and tour, and in 1977 and 1978, participated in an unsuccessful Small Faces reunion. Clempson joined the Jack Bruce Band, and Shirley played with Natural Gas and Magnet, neither of which saw any real commercial success.

Humble Pie's Official Bootleg Box Set Volume 1 is a raw testament to what this band did best; playing bluesy, gutsy, soulful and often hard rock, live on stage to an adoring audience. Drawn from a variety of mainly audience recordings that have previously only been available as "under the counter" pirate releases, this is an honest, and often unforgiving, tribute to a classic and much missed '70s supergroup. Originally emerging from the remnants of '60s beat heroes, The Small Faces, Humble Pie formed in 1969 when guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott joined forces with Peter Frampton, drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley, and signed to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label.