Marriott 1976

This was 1960s mod hero Steve Marriott’s first officially released solo album, recorded and released in 1975-76 after the demise of his second band Humble PieSo what’s it like? Well, by 1975 Steve had gone from the classic ‘60s British r'n'b sound through to psychedelia and heavy rock, thrown in a touch of blues, soul and country and (ears always tilting towards the sounds of black America) had even dabbled in a touch of raunchy JB-style funk. And, despite still being in his 20s, that brilliant, at times raw, white soul voice had broadened and maturedRather like Paul Weller’s first solo album back in the early 1990s, this LP seems to be a summation of Steve's early career influences in one package The original vinyl LP was divided into two halves with the mostly rockier ‘British side’ recorded with Greg Ridley, Ian Wallace and Mickey Finn and a funkier, groovier and more soulful ‘American side’ featuring a cast of expensive West Coast session musicians who brought along assorted keys, strings, horns and percussion. Note that both sides feature vocal backing from Steve's beloved Blackberries (his ‘Black chicks’)In actual fact, the LP is pretty diverse, and it's probably easier to describe each track individually:The five tracks on ‘the British Side’ are generally rockier:EAST SIDE STRUTTIN’ a chugging riff-heavy, bluesy rocker sets the sceneLOOKIN’ FOR LOVE – a slice of mid ‘70s British-style rock with a riff - to my ears at least - not that far removed from ‘Holidays In The Sun’ by the Sex Pistols !HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY – moody, mid-tempo ballad with flashes of Hammond organ and Fender keyboards and Steve letting rip with his deep soul vocals. Reminiscent of a typical Bobby Womack songMIDNIGHT ROLLIN’ – a mighty, bluesy stop-start guitar riff, with enough power to blow the Stones and AC/DC off stageWAM BAM THANKYOU MA’AM – a stripped-down, more straightforward reinterpretation of one of the final songs Steve recorded with the Small Faces. It is good but, to my mind, the SF version with Ian McLagan’s growling Hammond is betterThe 'tighter-but-looser' American Side reminds me a lot of Chaka Khan's band Rufus who were around LA at the time. It kicks off with a stab at commercial success:STAR IN MY LIFE was released as a single in the US (and also used in the soundtrack to the Bill Cosby movie, Mother, Jugs and Speed). Basically, a mid-tempo country-soul ballad with the addition of pedal steel guitar on the verse, a huge gospel chorus and a Stevie Wonder-style middle eight. No, I wasn’t sure about this at first, but trust me it works – that chorus will get you in the end! It’s a great song to boot and you can easily see why it was chosen as a single – and all the more surprising that it wasn’t a huge US hitARE YOU LONELY FOR ME BABY – A nice punchy, jabbing, funky little number with catchy horn vamps and a great Marriott-Blackberries chorusYOU DON’T KNOW ME – A deeply soulful Mister Ray Charles-style balladLATE NIGHT LADY – Another electrifying funk groove. More classic Marriott-Blackberries call and response on the chorusEARLY EVENING LIGHT – probably my favourite song on the LP. A fantastic slice of driving, funky Memphis soul with a brilliant string and horn arrangement laid down by the LA Philharmonic OrchestraThat this album was not a success with either the critics or the public at the time is a mystery to me. It's often said that Steve was unhappy with A&M who insisted on muscling in on the production and that he preferred versions of the songs he'd recorded without their assistance earlier in 1975. In any case Steve - being Steve - failed to promote it and threw his energy into the forthcoming Small Faces reunion instead. Personally, I think that's a real shame - the reunion didn't work out and, to me, this is a piece of lost treasure, ably demonstrating Steve's full range of talents and influences. There were two later Humble Pie reunion albums (On To Victory and Go For The Throat) that continued this sound but this is great as a stand alone Marriott albumDefinitely a 'five' and definitely worthy of your attention....!

Cd came on time ,And love to here marriottA must have more of him .

I THINK MY SON LIKED IT!

I had 'Marriott' on a tape in the 70's. The tape was never very good quality but I never forgot it. I was over the moon tofind the album again. The unique voice of Steve Marriott at it's best!

Great album!

Had this on vinyl when it first came out. So I knew what I was getting. Love all things Steve Marriott.

excellent brings back great memories

Not a good album from Mr Marriott

De enige solo-cd van Steve Marriott, zeker de moeite waar al is het niveau niet hetzelfde als bij de Humble Pie cd's (vooral periode 1969-1973). Deze zou geremastered zijn, maar ik hoor het er niet aan af. Weinig dynamiek, weinig lage tonen. Marriott was multi-instrumentalist maar werd vooral bekend vanwege zijn fenomenale zangstem in zijn hoogtij dagen. Die stem komt hier volop aan bod.

Classic

Cet album solo de Steve Marriot est divisé en deux entités musicales différentes. La première qui correspond à la face A en vinyl est composé de musiciens anglais qui proposent une musque Rock (même Hard Rock) où S. Marriot prouve encore qu'il est un grand chanteur avec sa voix si particulière. Et aussi un très bon guitariste car il tient la Lead ... On retrouve globalement l'univers de HUMBLE PIE. La deuxième partie où l'on retrouve des musiciens américains est plus varièe. On passe d'un style influence Country (superbe pedal steel mais le titre est déservi par un clavier "cheveux dans la soupe" ... dommage !) a une influence Funk. Les morceaux sont plus arrangés - cuivres et cordes - et moins Rock. Le reproche que je fais à ce disque (à mon humble avis), c'est qu'il aurait été judicieux de finir avec un titre Hard pour relancer "la machine" au lieu de ces violons qui éssouflent l'auditeur ... Transfert en digital de qualité et infos et photos avec le livret (format poster).

This is Steve just after the break up of HumblePie.....old Pie demos and some new 'AmericanStyle' tracks (hence the American side), and, a very nice re-recording of WhamBamThankYouMa'am that Steve did while still with SmallFaces. This is a great record and well worth the price, a must for any SteveMarriott fan!

Humble Pie解散後の初ソロアルバムですがパイ時代のようなゴリゴリのヘビーなサウンドから脱却してぐっと軽快でノリのいい楽曲が多くなってます。A面にあたる1～5がリフ主体のロックンロールがメイン（５はスモール・フェイセズ時代の隠れた名曲のセルフカバー）でB面の6～10がブラスセクションやコーラスを加えたソウルフルでファンキーなサウンド。それが功を奏したのかわかりませんがマリオットのボーカルが実に伸び伸びとしていて迷いがなく焦点の絞りが利いている聴きごたえのあるアルバムになってますね。少なくともパイ後期の「サンダーボックス」や「ストリート・ラッツ」よりもずっと良いアルバムです。こういうサウンドをずっと作り続けてほしかったです。マリオットのキャリアにおける最後の輝きだったかもしれません。この後のスモールフェイセズやパイの再結成アルバムはそりゃあひどい出来だったもんなあ・・・。このアルバムなら間違いなくおススメできます。