Often sighted as one of the first “super groups”, Humble Pie formed when Small Faces vocalist and guitarist, Steve Marriott jumped ship before teaming up with former The Herd guitarist Peter Frampton (who he wanted to join the Small Faces), Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley and Apostolic Intervention drummer Jerry Shirley. Their debut album, As Safe As Yesterday Is, was accompanied by the ‘Natural Born Bugie’ single which headed straight to number 4 in the UK charts and helped temporarily revive the fortunes of the ill fated Immediate Records label. When the label eventually collapsed in 1970 the band were signed by A&M and despite Frampton’s exit prior to 1972’s Smokin’ album the rest as they say is history… and what a history.
This latest live release from Cleopatra Records takes things back to the beginning and showcases one of the bands first performances on US soil. Many so called historic performances promise much but somehow fail to live up to their billing. That is certainly NOT the case with Sunset Blvd 1969. With just five tracks over its fifty-one minutes, recorded at the Whisky-A-Go Go in December 1969, the abilities of the four musicians on stage is highly evident throughout this newly restored set.
Opening this covers heavy set list (after the audience have been instructed to “shut up”), Marriott and the boys give an absolute masterclass in how to take other people’s tunes and make them your own, as they lock onto The Yardbirds pop classic ‘For Your Love’ transforming it into a highly emotional soul workout, before Johnny Kidd & The Pirates ‘Shakin’ All Over’ is given a full on blues jam twist including Marriott’s stellar harmonica playing and extravagant Hammond breaks allowing Frampton to get down and dirty on lead guitar. Both of these tracks also benefit from beautifully executed gang choruses and hammer home the fact that The Pie were far from just the Marriott, Frampton show, and with Ridley and Shirley in full swing, they contained a rhythm section that supplied the solid backbone required for the job. Next up lead single ‘Hallelujah I Love Her So’ (released on 31st October 2025) takes Ray Charles’s 1956 rhythm and blues classic and adds a mouth watering crust to an already delicious pie, seasoned with Marriott’s ballsy baritone. The concise ‘The Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake’ from Town And Country, their 1969 sophomore release is the lone original in the set with its quirky almost humorous tale of an accidental (maybe?) killer, which melts into a vastly extended take of Mac Rebennack’s (Dr. John), ‘I Walk On Gilded Splinters’ where the group settle into a full on jam band groove the likes of which are the realms of musical folklore. With this track alone Humble Pie may have just invented the term “classic rock”. Sunset Blvd 1969 certainly doesn’t exhibit a young band finding their feet, despite Frampton only being nineteen at the time, but it proves them to be a blues rock power house of legend.
Considering the huge number of live albums which have been plucked from the Humble Pie archive over the year, including the standout, Rockin’ The Fillmore from 1971, it seems bold to say that this not only tops that release but must be up there in the top live albums of all times, and to think that this was only the embryonic stages of the now critically acclaimed, Humble Pie. There is certainly no need to ditch your copy of Rockin’ The Fillmore but it now has an amazing companion piece to add to the shelf of your record collection. Available on purple marble vinyl, CD or download, Cleopatra a justifiably proud of Sunset Blvd 1969… and rightly so.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- Sunset Blvd is released via Cleopatra Records on 21st November 2025
Track List:
1. For Your Love
2. Shakin’ All Over
3. Hallelujah I Love Her So
4. The Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake
5. I Walk On Gilded Splinters
