Smokin' - HUMBLE PIE****

Hot 'N' Tasty/The Fixer/You're So Good To Me/C'mon Everybody/Old Time Feelin'/30 Days In The Hole/Road Runner- Road Runners G Jam/I Wonder/Sweet Peace & Time

After Peter Frampton had departed Humble Pie Steve Marriott was given free rein to impose his blues and boogie rock vision on the band. The outcome was Smokin’, regarded as their definitive album. (US:6 UK:28)

“Humble Pie's best album and one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Elements of funk, soul, blues, folk and good old fashioned rock ‘n' roll all combine to make one hell of a record.”

“Steve Marriot is, in my opinion, the best rock singer that ever lived. He had a fantastic voice, and a fearless presence. The guy was a natural born performer , and a good guitar player as well, he had feel.”

“Smokin' was the album that made Humble Pie's commercial reputation in the States. This was the band's first studio release after founding member/guitarist Peter Frampton's departure. In spite of the personnel change, musically the set wasn't a major change from their previous collections. Frampton's more commercial touch was obviously gone, but most folks bought Humble Pie album's for their blues and boogie rock moves and these characteristics remained firmly in place.”

“Their first sans Frampton yields a temporary rejuvenation to their sound, seemingly pulling this one out of a hat. For my money, they were clearly on a downhill slide by this point, but somehow manage to record some real good, hard rockin' material here.”

“Pretty standard for the era blues/boogie rock. I'm actually a big fan of this genre in general, but the problem with this album is that there really isn't anything that makes it stand out from the pack.”

“This is quintessential Humble Pie, hard rockin' 70s riffs with a hint of blues and soul. All of the make your hair stand on end energy that you heard on the live Rockin The Fillmore is captured on this, easily the best-recorded studio effort from the Pie, as the sound is right up front and you can almost feel the sweat. This is their first record without Peter Frampton, but Dave Clemson more than fills his shoes with his bluesy stylings on guitar. Everyone was firing on all cylinders when they made this record.”