Description
Label Review.
Four shows from January 1991. Half Moon Putney plus three German gigs.
Our Overview.
Featured shows are: The Half Moon, Putney, London 12/01/91, Logo, Hamburg, Germany 21/01/91, Dieselstrasse, Essslingen, Germany 26/01/91, Sinkkasten, Frankfurt, Germany 29/01/91.
For the first ten years of his career, Steve Marriott didn’t do much wrong. In just four amazing years (1965-68) his band The Small Faces with Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagen and Kenney Jones were one of the most inventive bands on the scene, scoring a string of hit singles and albums despite their tender ages. Marriott is still only 21 when he quit the band in order to pursue a harder sound with Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley and Jerry Shirley in Humble Pie. This band were bigger in the US than in the UK and despite the departure of Frampton in 1971 the band continued to whip up crowds until ‘75 when the band split, drink and drugs taking their toll on their leader.
After a brief spell on his own with a solo album, (and being considered to join the Rolling Stones) Marriott got The Small Faces back together but Lane didn’t take part due to his early symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. Rick Wills took his place and this line-up recorded a couple of albums to little success. Marriott then reformed Humble Pie although only Shirley from the original bunch joined in the fun. The first comeback album ‘On To Victory’ (1980) was a small hit in the States but this line-up only managed one more record before Marriott returned to the UK and for the rest of the 1980s, enjoyed getting back to basics and his fans. He could always pull a crowd and relished the pub circuit, The Half Moon in Putney being a regular venue for him and his band.
These live sets contain many old favourite Marriott classics such as “Itchycoo Park”, “All or Nothing”, “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” and “Big Train Stops at Memphis”, live Packet of Three staples, a smattering of rhythm & blues standards, plus a number of Chuck Berry classics in “Talking ‘Bout You” and “Memphis Tennessee”. This collection of live sets demonstrates the fact that not only was Steve an immense performer throughout his whole career, but that he was sadly taken from us far too early. Shortly after the gigs offered on this box set, Marriott died in a house fire. At the time he was planning a reunion with Peter Frampton and had he made it to the Britpop heyday of the mid 1990s he would definitely been welcomed by a crop of new younger fans.