Best Seat in the House: Drumming in the '70s with Marriott Frampton and Humble Pie

yeah when i mention humble pie or jerry shirly to any rock fan who is under 40 years old most of them dont seem to know who i am talking about, sadly what a loss for them, i actually did not get into pie until the early 1980s as i am old now BUT not that old where i can tell you i saw them in there us touring glory days between 1969 through 1975, YES the the rockin the fillmore live album from 1971 was as good as most other killer live albums of the 1970s live THE WHO LIVE AT LEEDS, URIAH HEEP LIVE JANUARY 73, RAINBOW ON STAGE, DEEP PURPLE MADE IN JAPAN & UFO STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT among others, sadly after pie split in late 75 they seemed to fade off into the rock n roll sunset and did a few reunions in the late 70s & mid 80s but they where doing them in clubs under rather pathetic situations, regardless i am so glad jerry keeps the flag flying for pie and has also put out some very decent cd unofficial bootleg box sets in the past few years as well as this book wich is already 8 years old now, if you are a new or old fan YOU WILL LOVE THIS READ!! sadly i wish jerry had done a book more on his life both in & out of pie and after pie, jerry did a killer drumming job on the first two records by FASTWAY in 1983 & 84 and i would love to read about that era of jerrys life as well as especially that first fastway record in 83 was and to this day is such a heavy killer rock album, they toured the us in late 83 for that record as openers for AC/DC and sure gave AC/DC a run for there money wich is very hard for any band who opens for AC/DC to do. anyway if interested i also suggest LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL by KENNY JONES that is another great read from another great drummer..................

Humble Pie, one of the great RnR bands and Jerry Shirleys recounting his time with them and more is worth read. As the drummer he really had the best seat in the house.

I really enjoyed this book , I have read very many biographies on rock stars and I consider this one of the best.

I was jazzed to read about one of my favorite bands from the 70's and Jerry did not disappoint. He comes across not only as a funny and quick-witted individual, but also as a humble person devoid of all the negative rock-star attributes. He also avoids writing a tawdry tell-all book, as he occasionally hints at some band member activities without going into gory details.I've always lamented the lack of any full concert footage of the band in their heyday, and in the book we learn that a film crew was scheduled to document them in Japan during the "Eat It" tour, but never showed up! The band and management were so deep into drugs at the time that their reaction was "oh well" and a shrug of the shoulders.Understandably, a good deal of the book deals with the joy and frustration of dealing with the complex personality of Steve Marriott, although I would have liked to read a bit more about Greg and Clem. I deduct a star from the rating because the photos, while interesting, are barely the size of a postage stamp!

My interest in Humble Pie started with the album "Smokin'". The band wasn't well known to me, but the album was great. Dug deeper and discovered more music and more of their story. Just for fun, thought I'd see if anyone had written their story...and found "Best Seat in the House" by Jerry Shirley (their drummer no less). Perfect! The book is a great read and hard to put down. You can really feel the emotions coming off of the pages. There are a lot of emotions. Not to spoil too much, but by the end of the book you might get choked up. If you love late sixties to early seventies rock and want to know more about Humble Pie (obviously) and want to know more about the environment that produced them then get this book.

Book is in good condition. A little pricey but it is out of print and I wanted to read it.I received it fast. Seller was very quick to ship it.

Well, I read this book straight after reading Ian MacLagans Small Faces/ Faces book and the two have some similarities other than the obvious Steve Marriott connection. Both give an insight to the lifestyles of the musicians and culture of the times, both have some good stories, but sadly both fail to really engage with either the other people involved in these stories and more importantly with the music.After reading both books I still feel as though I really know nothing about even major characters like Steve Marriott, and how Jerry could write a book about his time in Humble Pie and leave me knowing absolutely nothing about Greg Ridley is quite staggering.Both Peter Frampton and Clem Clempson are treated as minor players leaving you with no idea about who they were as people, or as musicians and I still have no real idea why Peter Frampton left the band.While there were lots of things to enjoy about this book, and Jerry does a great job of describing the ups and downs of his life ( fair enough, after all it is his story) I struggled to get to the end and sadly it was a relief when I did .

Humble Pie seemed to be one of the "house band"(s) at the Fillmore East. They definitely received lots of turntable time in my home and having seen them many times including when "Rockin' The Fillmore" was recorded in May of 1971. "Best Seat in the House" brings another view of this great time in my life with insight into one of my favorite bands rise and departure from rock music.One of the great things about Jerry's book is that it made me aware of some great live recordings of other shows after Frampton's departureand I am grateful for knowing about them and hearing them now.Welcome Humble Pie back in your life with this book.

i was hoping to read about humble pies inter action with grand funk as they were the opening act toured together in europe played shea stadium opening for GFR how they got along with mark don and mel since they got exposed to a large audience as a result i heard humble pie for the first time because of GFR not much in the book about that so i was disappointed thanks Anthony

The Humble Pie story told from the drum throne itself. Fantastic reading!

The titles says it all. A "fly-on-the-wall" look at the history of Humble Pie from drummer Jerry Shirley. A great read . . . well written and full of great detail. A glimpse into one of the best pure rock and roll bands to ever come out of Britain.

Best Seat in the House by Jerry Shirley is a fascinating tour of the life of a rock band in the 70's. Jerry Shirley is witty, self-deprecating, telling a joyous and agonising story of the highs and lows. The book is full of detail: from his various drum set-ups to the endless lists of tour dates. It is a very entertaining read, even for those who are not especially familiar with, or fans of, Humble Pie.

Back in the late 60's early 70's I used to have an open front window into the life and times of Humble Pie and the antics of Jerry Shirley and crew, as I knew his brother Angus (RIP) quite well. This book is an excellent well written honest account of a hard living, hard rocking, top quality band, who perhaps today, deserve a much higher accolade in the annals of Rock. Their musical contribution was always five star while it lasted, amid times when the streets & the Rock industry were also awash with five star drugs of every description. Jerry has laid down a true, vivid, and in retrospect, at times a sad account, of a band that was up there with the best, but who I feel, imploded with so much more to give. Although what they did leave behind...is still good enough to eat !