26 December 2009

Saturday Night Rock-n-Roll Oldies:
Humble Pie- 1969

The English blues-rock band Humble Pie was founded by guitarist and 1960s British Mod icon Steve Marriott as he left the Small Faces in 1969. 

He had wanted to add young Peter Frampton to the band and make changes to their sound, moves opposed by the others- so he went off to form a new band with Frampton, bassist Greg Ridley, and 17-yr-old drummer Jerry Shirley. The residual Small Faces therefore added Ronnie Wood and Rod Steward and rechristened themselves The Faces, of "Stay With Me" and "Maggie Mae" fame.



Although Frampton left in 1971 -and went-on to solo superstardom- Humble Pie continued with his replacement to record such iconic hits as 30 Days in the Hole, I Don't Need No Doctor, and Fool for a Pretty Face in the 70s.

I myself favor the the earlier blues-rock sound of the original 1969 Humble Pie, and it's entertaining to see the talents of the then 20-yr-old Peter Frampton in this clip. This was the band's first single, released after having been recorded in secret home studio sessions right after Marriott left the Small Faces by dramatically walking off-stage in the middle of a New Year's Eve gig.

And for reasons probably only known to the eccentric Marriott, this song's title includes the intentionally misspelled "bugie"- which appears nowhere in the song's lyrics anyway-


Humble Pie: Natural Born Bugie- 1969

There she is again steppin' out of her limousine, well
Looking like the cover of a twenty-dollar magazine
She's got it where you find it, if you know what I mean
She's a natural born woman
A natural born woman
She's a natural born woman

There she is again watch her stop the Main Street in it's tracks
Looking like Creole queen, hair hangin' down her back
I say, don't look too long, boy, she'll make your glasses crack
She's a natural born woman
A natural born woman
Natural born woman

Get your track

Yeah, natural born woman
Yeah, yeah...
Natural born woman
Yeah, yeah...
She's a natural born woman
Well, I'm sweatin' and I'm shakin' when I'm bringin' you the news
You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
That's why I'm standin' here today preachin' natural born woman blues
Well, she's a natural born woman
Well, yeah, natural born woman
Well, yeah, natural born woman

Well, I'm looking out my back door wonderin' which place to go
Think I'll move on down to Memphis, pay my money to see a rock 'n' roll show
Find me a sweet-heart Susie, together we can lose control
Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
She's a natural born woman
Yeah, yeah, natural born woman
Yeah, natural born woman