Monday 21 January 2019

Town & Country – HUMBLE PIE***

Take Me Back/The Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake/The Light Of Love/Cold Lady/Down Home Again/Ollie Ollie/Every Mother’s Sun/Heartbeat/Only You Can See/Silver Tongue/Home & Away

Town & Country was a quick follow up album from the British blues rock group Humble Pie. Compared with their debut this is softer and more acoustic with much less of the hard rockin’ blues.

“This one is often dismissed for not being the loud and raucous bar band rock of their more well known releases. Although I like them too, this one is unique in their catalogue with its mostly soft and subtle, introspective type of material. What it lacks in energy, it makes up for in quality. Well worth seeking out, if for no other reason than to see what else they were capable of.”

“Clearly more a reflection of Frampton's idealism than his partner Marriott, this is still a fantastic effort from Humble Pie. Marriott never sounded more subdued and focused than he did on this album, which in my opinion makes his contributions here some of his best.”

“This is definitely Humble Pie lite. Some nice moments here which take you back to the late '60s. Has that rural optimistic feel to it on a lot of the tracks. Includes a gangbuster cover of Heartbeat. However, I prefer their more solid and memorable debut and I have to replay this to remember it. Easy to forget, but nice all the same.”

“Great rhythm section, killer bass lines, searing leads traded back and forth by Marriott and Frampton, great vocals not only by Marriott but also an incredibly roughvoiced Frampton.”

“This was one of their two early records with the original line-up, including Peter Frampton. Overall, this is probably the Pie's quietest record, with a definite bent toward acoustic numbers. Frampton's songs hint at his early solo work to come. Marriott quits screaming for long enough to contribute some fine numbers. The album ends with a flourish. One wishes Frampton and Marriott had truly collaborated more after hearing this.”

“This album tried to meet in the middle between Marriott’s boogie and blues and Frampton’s more melodic interludes. The mix is very interesting and Marriot even manages to throw in a countryish song. All in all this is a very good album.”

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