Apr 212020
 

I saw this performance by Humble Pie the other day, and I keep coming back to it for so many reasons: Steve Marriott’s overalls, his receding shag, his guitar playing and typically amped-up singing style, the rest of the band’s heroically pedestrian backing, and the general bloke-iness of the whole affair. Is there a better example of Block Rock than this?

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  12 Responses to “Bloke Rock”

  1. Happiness Stan

    Being back is certainly an education, when I saw this post I realised I’d never heard anything by Humble Pie, not sure why, possibly being such a big Small Faces nut I was a bit apprehensive, and nervous that they might sound, well… like that…

    Good heavens that was lumpen, and there was so much of it! On the other hand, it makes a case for Marriott being one of the godfathers of pub rock which I’d not hitherto considered.

    I met Kenney Jones last year at his polo club where a very sparsely attended music festival was happening, a lovely bloke with time for everybody.

  2. BigSteve

    This video just makes me sad. What a waste.

  3. Happiness Stan

    This just popped up as a suggestion on my Facebook feed, about as far away from bloke rock as it’s possible to get, I might be getting sentimental in my old age but I found it quite moving
    https://www.facebook.com/254963531302248/posts/1916701805128404/

  4. Humble Pie is one of those bands that could have been really cool but just never was. The only song I really liked by them was 30 Days In the Hole and this video might have just ruined that one too.

  5. diskojoe

    This video probably dates from the late 70s-early 80s, when Humble Pie briefly got back together.

    I hate to say it, but it appears that Steve Mariott was doing what he really wanted. He wanted Peter Frampton in the Small Faces. He also didn’t care about some of the Small Faces’ hits, like “Lazy Sunday” & wanted the band to be heavier instead of being a “teenybopper” band which was a late 60s thing.

    It was cool that he quoted “Mr. Pitful” during the video.

  6. 2000 Man

    I can’t get behind them. Their drummer, Jerry Shirley was a DJ on our Classic Rock station, a job you can keep in Cleveland until you die if you want. Every Christmas he did a food drive where he’d sleep in a semi trailer until it was full of food and money. I doubt he ever spent a night in it. He did steal a bunch of the money. He’s a dick.

  7. Just wanted to drop in and mention that X just surprise-released (dropped?) their new album. First studio album with the original lineup in 35 years. So far, it sounds like an X album and that makes me happy! https://xtheband.bandcamp.com/album/alphabetland

  8. Re: Oates’ X news

    WHOA! I’ll be checking that out. Thank you.

  9. My brother’s LP collection was filled with all those bands whose efforts eventually wound up in the $1.99 cut out bins at Woolco: Wishbone Ash, Dust, Spirit, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Atomic Rooster, West, Bruce, and Laing, Mountain, and lots of Humble Pie. All of it was and still is very, very bad. When I discovered Steve Marriott more or less left the Small Faces to form that turd, it was akin to finding out that your best friend has thrown his/her lot in with the people in high school you despise. Honestly, this was the guy behind “In My Mind’s Eye”, “Understanding,” “All or Nothing”. Why would anyone choose to go that route?

  10. Drugs and hair loss, EPG.

  11. Happiness Stan

    EPG, have you seen the Ronnie Lane documentary, The Travelling Show? It’s on YouTube. I don’t think the rest of the Small Faces got why he left either. When I look at what Marriott did with the rest of his life, and think of the abomination that was Rod Stewart’s set at Glastonbury – where he turned down an offer by the surviving Faces to make it a reunion! – it’s pretty obvious to me that Lane, Jones and Mac were the unsung heroes whatever they did throughout the sixties and seventies, while the two Jack the Lads got the credit for it.

  12. Bang! Well said, Happiness!

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