Eat It

I'm a relative newcomer to Steve Marriott and Humble Pie, having been pointed in their direction by my soon to be Father in Law. Having listed to most of their (Humble Pie's) output over the past year or so, I can say that I love their heavy rock tunes and also their more soulful moments. I found most of their albums to be a bit patchy, but the live albums - especially the King Biscuit set from the Winterland '73 - to be awesome.Out of all of their albums, Eat It is the one I return to the most. Originally a 2 vinyl release, each side has a different flavour. The first 4 tracks are the rock tracks (all Marriott penned). The next 4 are the soul tracks (covers). The next 4 are acoustic/lighter (again Marriott penned) and the final 3 tracks are live tracks from an Eat It era gig in Glasgow.To start with, the opening track "Get Down To It" is worth the purchase price alone - it's a seedy, soulful, rocking tune that will have you tapping your feet and rocking your head immediately.The other 3 'rock' tracks (I put that in apostrophes as the 3rd track seems out of place here - and is probably my least favourite of the album) are all solid, with the other highlight being "Good Booze & Bad Women".The soul covers are sublime. "Black Coffee" & "Shut Up & Don't Interrupt Me" are my two favourites here.On the acoustic side, once again all the tracks are strong. "Say No More" is a beautiful Marriott love song and is the only real acoustic track. "Beckton Dumps" is great, but is actually quite rocky really.The only downside is the live side - which is a snippet of what sounds like a great gig, recorded through a muffler... it's quite bassy but just lacks body in the mid-range. I would have though they could have EQ'd this better on the remaster. If you want to make up for that, just buy this album alongside the 'King Biscuit' concert (Live 73 / Rockin' the Winterland / etc) which has much better audio quality and the same tracks.The rest of the album sounds fine to my ears. The only thing I have to compare it to is a FLAC copy of the 2007 SHM Japanese remaster of Eat It, and it sounds identical - perhaps the bass is dialled down a bit but that's about it (if at all - I'm not sure!)So, in effect, this is at least as good as the rare Japanese import for 1/4 of the price. Buy it now!

They told me to Eat it...I did, and it tasted good. Very good. I only know HP through the legendary, classic live album 'Performance...', and a video I had seen on a rock programme where they blazed through 'Hony tonky woman'. I bought this as I wanted to hear more live Pie, and also I was attracted to the idea the original vinyl was unique in having each side different: Rock, soul/R n B/acoustic then Live. This has to be ultimate HP. I listened to it last night for the first time and loved it. It has the best of HP, their different styles and, of course, saving the best till last, having 3 raw, great live tracks to finish with. They are a cracking band, and hats off to Steve Marriott. A great, soulful singer who can rock with the best of them. A very unique voice. The rock stuff is fab, the sould stuff cracking, ('Black Coffee' is just great), the acoustic songs show another side to the band and Marriott and the live stuff is spot on. A rough and ready live recording from a theatre in Glasgow, they blaze through the fantastic songs. The really rock on the first track. I felt I was there in the theatre. 'Honky tonk woman' is fab, as is the closer. For any HP fan who might not have this or for any casual listener like me, (i.e., only having heard 'Performance...'), I would recommend this 100%. It will not disappoint.

This is a great album, and I am more than happy to recommend it. Humble Pie were riding high at the time, and 'Eat It' came on the heels of 'Smokin'', probably the band's strongest studio album. I think it suffered a bit in comparison which is a shame, as there is a lot to enjoy here. To me the early Pie albums tend to be a bit weak and directionless. This is not the case here with a strong soul/rock vibe enhanced by the delightful backing vocals of the Blackberries - Clydie King, Billie Barnum and Venetta Fields. The girls weren't mere decoration and became full members of the band for several tours. The songs are strong, and Marriot's singing is at it's best. Many would contend that he was the best white soul singer of the time. Whereas previous Pie records seem to want to present a democaracy, in terms of lead vocals and songwriting credits, Marriott seems to be very much in charge here. Guitarist Clem Clempson's dexterous, muscular style also comes over well.The sound is pretty good, though there are some small quibbles. Occassionally Marriot's vocals are put on one side, with the girls on the other, whereas I think his voice should be straight down the middle at all times. The sound on the live side is a bit porridgey, though the energy and atmosphere is fantastic. (It was, I was there at Green's Playhouse, Glasgow in 1972.) 'Black Coffee' is my favourite track, but maybe that's because I know it best. There's a lovely clip of them dong it on Whistle Test. I'm looking forward to hearing 'Thunderbox' now!  Old Grey Whistle Test - Volumes 1-3 Box Set [DVD] [1977 ] Thunderbox