AFTER SEVERAL WELL-RECEIVED U.S. tours, a striking self-titled A&M debut in 1970 and the critically acclaimed Rock On album in early 1971, British quartet Humble Pie were still largely an opening band in the U.S., with only a relatively modest following back in their native England in fall 1971. Still, expectations — and record company advances — were high.
But despite being among the first bands ever dubbed a “supergroup” by the British press — owing to a lineup that included both the great singer/guitarist Steve Marriott of the Small Faces and a young phenom guitarist named Peter Frampton from a band called the Herd — Humble Pie were commercial underachievers.
That all changed with a concert they recorded with engineer Eddie Kramer at the Fillmore East in New York City, opening for, of all people, soft-rocker Leo Sayer.
The resulting album, 1971’s Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore — with its titanic highlights, including the proto-punk of “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and the OG stoner anthem “Stone Cold Fever” — catapulted Humble Pie into what the band’s friend David Gilmour once described as “the superleagues.” Lengthy cuts like “Four-Day Creep” and a cover of Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So” featured Frampton’s flights of futuristic modal-blues soloing, Marriott’s braying, stratospheric voice, and the R&B-informed rock rhythm section of drummer Jerry Shirley and ex–Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley. Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore was quickly certified Gold and acted as an instant coronation. Then came the beheading.
Before was even released, Frampton quit the band to pursue a solo career. Meanwhile, guitarist David “Clem” Clempson, who already had an enviable career under his belt with
