Humble Pie
 Hard-rock combo Humble Pie formed in London in 1969 when Peter
Frampton left The Herd and Steve
Marriott quit The
Small Faces.
Having met in Paris while doing session work, the pair
recruited bassist Greg Ridley from Spooky
Tooth and the relatively unknown drummer, Jerry Shirley.
Following rehearsals at Marriott's country cottage (the sound
of the streets, eh?) the band signed to Immediate Records and
issued their debut album, As Safe As Yesterday Is, which
included the single Natural Born Bugie - the group's only
chart hit, peaking at Number 4 on the UK charts.
The group embarked on a UK tour and then hastily assembled a
follow-up album, called Town And Country, which
failed to chart.
Switching labels in 1970 to A&M, the band released a
self-titled album, followed by another in 1971 (Rock On)
which climbed to Number 118 in the USA, supported by intense
touring of the States.
 By October 1971, Frampton had quit the band amid much rancour
to pursue a solo career - He would go on to considerable success
in the 70s. Frampton was replaced in Humble Pie by Dave
"Clem" Clempson.
The live album Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore
(1971) - which still featured Frampton on guitar - restored the
band to the UK charts at Number 32, and marked a major US
breakthrough, reaching Number 21.
It
was their next album (Smokin') though, that was to prove
their most successful UK release, rising to Number 28 and hitting
Number 6 in the USA.
By 1975 the band were tired of touring and called it a day as
their final album of the decade, Street Rats, just made
it to Number 100 in the US.
Following an unsuccessful solo career (and a short-lived Small
Faces reunion) Marriott re-formed Humble Pie in 1980 with Jerry
Shirley, adding Bobby Tench (formerly with Jeff
Beck) on guitar and vocals, and Anthony Jones on bass.
They released the album On To Victory which battled to
Number 60 in the US, but had to cut short a tour when Marriott
crushed his fingers in a hotel door in Chicago.
Shortly after recovering from his hand injury, Marriott was
hospitalised with a stomach ulcer and more shows were cancelled.
Meanwhile,
the new line-up's second album Go For The Throat stalled
at Number 154 in the US and the group disbanded permanently in
1981, with Shirley ending up as a DJ at radio station WNCX,
Cleveland, Ohio.
 Despite all the records he sold, Marriott was skint for most of
his career. When he left Humble Pie he was reduced to stealing
food.
When he moaned to manager Dee Anthony he was invited to a
meeting in New York at which Mafia boss John Gotti was also
present. He soon stopped asking questions about the missing
millions.
At one point, all his guitars were seized in lieu of payment by
his coke dealer and, by the time of Live Aid in 1985, he was
to be found not at Wembley but playing at a pub in Putney.
He eventually died in a fire at his 16th Century cottage
in Arkesden, Essex, England on 20 April 1991.
Bassist Greg Ridley (pictured at right) died in Spain in
November 2003 after suffering for three years with throat cancer.
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