Smokin' (Humble Pie album)

Smokin' is the fifth studio album by the English group Humble Pie, released in 1972. It was the band's international breakthrough, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart,[2] and hit the UK Top 30 and number 9 in Australia.[3]

Smokin'
Studio album by
Humble Pie
ReleasedMarch 1972 (1972-03)
RecordedFebruary 1972
StudioOlympic Studios, London
GenreHard rock, blues rock, boogie rock
Length43:48
LabelA&M
ProducerHumble Pie
Humble Pie chronology
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore
(1971)		 Smokin'
(1972)		 Eat It
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Background

The album was Humble Pie's first following the departure of guitarist Peter Frampton, which placed singer and co-founder Steve Marriott as the band's de facto leader. Smokin' is the band's best-selling album, due in large part to the success of the single "30 Days in the Hole".

Smokin' includes dramatically slowed down versions of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody", Junior Walker's "Road Runner", and the wah-wah laden slow blues "I Wonder". "You're So Good for Me", which begins as a delicate acoustic number, ultimately mutates into a full-bore gospel music rave-up, an element that would later influence bands like The Black Crowes.

Alexis Korner guests on the track "Old Time Feelin'", Marriott's vocals take a back seat as the main vocals are provided by Greg Ridley and Korner who also plays a Martin Tiple, mandolin-type guitar. Its sound is reminiscent of the song "Alabama '69" on their first album.

Stephen Stills guests on "Road Runner 'G' Jam" (the title is a nod to the band's habit of developing songs out of jam sessions), playing Hammond organ, and his backing vocals were over-dubbed on "Hot 'n' Nasty" a slow-burning and then dynamic R&B song, after he strolled in after recording his own sessions next door.[4]

Marriott insisted on producing the album himself for the challenge of creating a compact R&B sound with a high-tech 24-track mixing board. Marriott collapsed with exhaustion in February. The New Musical Express (NME) reported at the time: "Following intense recording sessions with Humble Pie, Steve Marriott collapsed with nervous exhaustion and doctors told him to rest".[5]

With this album the group were seen as leaders of the boogie movement in the early 1970s.[6]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriterLength
1."Hot 'n' Nasty"Marriott3:22
2."The Fixer"Marriott5:02
3."You're So Good for Me"Marriott, Ridley3:50
4."C'mon Everybody"Jerry Capehart, Eddie Cochran5:13
5."Old Time Feelin'"Marriott4:00
Side two
No.TitleWriterLength
6."30 Days in the Hole"Marriott3:57
7."Road Runner/Road Runner's 'G' Jam"Holland-Dozier-Holland, Humble Pie3:43
8."I Wonder"Cecil Gant, Raymond Leveen8:53
9."Sweet Peace and Time"Marriott5:48
Total length:43:48[1]

Personnel

Guests

Production

  • Album cover art designed by Kosh
  • Engineers: Alan O'Duffy, Keith Harwood
  • Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, February 1972.
  • Produced by The Pie

Charts
Chart performance for Smokin'
Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 9
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[8] 13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 26
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 20
US Billboard 200[11] 6

Release history
  • 1990 CD A&M
  • 1972 LP A&M
  • 1990 CS A&M
  • 2007 CD Universal
  • 1995 CD Universal/A&M
  • 2007 CD Universal Japan
  • 2017 LP Box Disc 4 A&M ('The A&M Vinyl Boxset 1970–1975', released on 16 June 2017)

References
  1. Smokin' at AllMusic
  2. US Billboard Chart No. 6
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 144. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. Twelker, Uli; Schmitt, Roland. The Small Faces (The Faces, Peter Frampton, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Steve Marriott Humble Pie & other stories). Sanctuary. pp. 90–91. ISBN 1-86074-392-7.
  5. The Small Faces (The Faces, Peter Frampton, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Steve Marriott Humble Pie & other stories). pp. 89–90.
  6. "Humble Pie, Smokin'". allmusic. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 145. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7698". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Humble Pie – Smokin'" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  10. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  11. "Humble Pie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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