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Three of Humble Pie's early '70s albums will be re-released this spring courtesy of Lemon Records --  specifically, their self-titled 1970 effort, 1973's 'Eat It' and the 1975 double album 'Thunderbox.'

According to the Second Disc, all three albums will get the re-master treatment and new liner notes that draw on interviews with the band members. When Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott left the Small Faces (late 1968) he joined Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley and Jerry Shirley to form Humble Pie, liberating himself from the pop expectations of his former group.

This trio of early 70's records found the band taking an even heavier approach than on their first two albums, 1968's 'As Safe as Yesterday Is' and 1969's 'Town and Country.'

‘Eat It’ had a different concept for each side -- side one rocks, side two is R&B covers, side three is acoustic and the fourth features live concert excerpts. This marks one of the first times this album has been released on CD outside of Japan. Note: Frampton had left the band by now, with Dave “Clem” Clempson taking his place.

‘Thunderbox’ features twelve songs; six of which are originals and the other six covers. Ann Peebles ‘I Can’t Stand the Rain’ and Arthur Alexander’s ‘Anna (Go To Him)’ are just two of the classics they chose to take on. The word ‘Thunderbox’ is apparently a seventeenth century slang word for toilet, which demonstrates the band's good sense of humor.

It doesn’t appear as if there are any bonus tracks or goodies tacked on the end of these original recordings, which is somewhat disappointing. Still, the bigger question is... why aren’t the other three studio A&M records a part of this re-issue series? With the exclusion of 1971’s ‘Rock On,’ 1972’s ‘Smokin’ and the 1975 ‘Street Rats’ record, this re-issue news is appetizing but tastes somewhat bittersweet.

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