The latest sensational release in Omnivore Recordings' catalogue is a massively-expanded edition of Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore, the 1972 live album and commercial breakthrough by British blues-rockers Humble Pie. This sensational album, taped over two nights at the legendary Fillmore East in the spring of 1971, is now coming out as a four-disc box set featuring all four recorded shows in their entirety.
Humble Pie was the brainchild of Steve Marriott, powerful frontman for The Small Faces, who'd left to pursue other projects in 1969. He very quickly formed Humble Pie with a stunning stable of young talent: drummer Jerry Shirley, a 17-year-old session player for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label; bassist Greg Ridley, who'd just come off two years with Spooky Tooth; and an 18-year-old Brit known in his native country as the frontman for psych-pop band The Herd but a relative unknown in the rest of the world: Peter Frampton.
Having scored a Top 5 hit that year with "Natural Born Bugie," Humble Pie would spend 1970 and 1971 attempting to penetrate the American market. That didn't work much as studio albums and tracks went, but the band's live act was top-notch. Their two nights at The Fillmore East in May of 1971 featured strong sets, mostly covers of great blues and soul tunes. There was Ida Cox's "Four Day Creep," Willie DIxon's "I'm Ready," Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "I Don't Need No Doctor" (penned by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson), Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" and a killer, 23-minute version of Dr. John's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters."
Ultimately, Performance made it to Billboard's Top 30 in the U.S. - but its success arguably did more favors for Frampton than Humble Pie at large: he left the band before the album was released, and would later release an iconic live album of his own.
This four-disc complete version of Performance features all four Fillmore shows from May 28 and 29, in their original sequences. Much of the original album was sequenced from the second shows on each night - and none of the very first show has ever been released, making this a definite must-buy for fans. Each disc is packed in its own CD wallet, all of which will be housed in a lidded box with new art in the style of the original LP sleeve. Best of all, the shows are newly mixed and mastered, under the supervision of Humble Pie's surviving members, Shirley and Frampton.
Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore - The Complete Recordings will be available October 29. Pre-order links from Amazon are not yet available, but the track list is below.
Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore - The Complete Recordings (Omnivore, 2013)
Disc 1: Friday, 5/28/1971 (first show)
- Four Day Creep
- I'm Ready
- I Walk on Gilded Splinters
- Hallelujah (I Love Her So)
- I Don't Need No Doctor
Disc 2: Friday, 5/28/1971 (second show)
- Four Day Creep
- I'm Ready
- I Walk on Gilded Splinters
- Hallelujah (I Love Her So) *
- Rollin' Stone *
- I Don't Need No Doctor *
Disc 3: Saturday, 5/29/1971 (first show)
- Four Day Creep
- I'm Ready
- I Walk on Gilded Splinters
- Hallelujah (I Love Her So)
- Stone Cold Fever *
Disc 4: Saturday, 5/29/1971 (second show)
- Four Day Creep *
- I'm Ready *
- I Walk on Gilded Splinters *
- Hallelujah (I Love Her So)
- Rollin' Stone
- I Don't Need No Doctor
* released on original LP - A&M Records SP-3506, 1972
I'm in!
Everyone talked about the Who's "Live at Leeds" as being the ultimate English live band performance LP, But I always thought that Humble Pies "Performance, Rockin' The Fillmore" was in a league of it's own. One listen to Steve Marriot belting out "I Don't Need No Doctor" and you knew you these guys were on fire.
I can only hope it comes out on vinyl.
I'm such a Marriott fan, and this set has been rumoured for so long, that I'm over the moon to see it's finally coming out! Even if I'm not sure if the four versions of each song may vary that much from one another, and the japanese CD reissue already sounded fine.... Still it's great news!... No booklet of any sort though?
Andrea i understand Peter Frampton is looking at adding some liner notes, and sometime next year they're looking at releasing a "Humble Pie" box set and of interest depending on the scale of the set and no details as yet a huge "Rainbow" edition arriving around the end of the year, no doubt "Christmas" time entitled "A Light In The Black". With so many live albums; compilations, and recent deluxe editions. I think it covers 1975-1984 or thereabouts. I have no doubt it will cover all 3 eras of Rainbow, Dio,Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. Hmmmmmm.
Wow! What a great set. I love the original album; my old vinyl copy is well worn, and it's gonna be fascinating listening. Roll on October. Oh dear, what with Nirvana and now this it's gonna get expensive....
This sounds pretty cool. I was too young to have had first hand experience with Humble Pie, but what I've heard of Rockin at the Fillmore made me a fan. I never owned this album--I was always waiting for the remaster--and I only hope this is priced as a straight 4-disc set ($30 ?) and not at some ridiculous premium. The absence of a vinyl copy, a Blue-ray, and a hard cover book is promising.....
45spin this one will be huge from what i understand it will be unedited from start to finish. There have been some killer live albums in the 70's which seemed to be the rigor: Deep Purple "Made In Japan", Thin Lizzy
"Live and Dangerous" Ten Years After "Recorded Live", UFO "Strangers In The Night",Lynyrd Skynyrd "One More For/From The Road, and the seminal Humble Pie "Rockin' The Fillmore", they were all amazing in their time, if anyone had to chose a preference what order would you have, can't wait.
My opinion is that Humble Pie easily beat the hell out of any of the mentioned acts... except the Who... I see a tie there.
Pre-order from Omnivore Recordings is currently $ 49.98... not cheap, but not expensive either....
... and as of today, Amazon pre-ordering is available for $37.48 🙂