Marriott in Bloomington, MN

In 1975,
Humble Pie
came sputtering to a halt after a series of less than inspiring albums. Surprisingly, frontman
Steve Marriott
's first solo album after the split, 1976's
Marriott
, is a sprightly, rollicking affair that is light on the
blues-rock
of
and heavy on
soul
,
funk
, and hard-charging
rock & roll
. The album is divided into a British side (recorded by
's band that included ex-
T. Rex
guitarist
Mickey Finn
) and an American side (with backing by a raft of West Coast session players including
Michael Nesmith
sidekick
Red Rhodes
on pedal steel). The British side is a rocked-out blast of
noise
with
's wailing vocals sounding rejuvenated and his live-wire guitar playing fully to the front. Tracks like
"East Side Struttin',"
"Lookin' for a Love,"
a fully fleshed-out version of a
Small Faces
track,
"Wam Bam Thank You Ma'am,"
and
"Midnight Rollin'"
equal the best moments of
, and only the
blues
ballad
"Help Me Through the Day"
lets the side down. The American side is unsurprisingly a much slicker proposition, relying on backing vocalists and synths to flesh out the sound.
's ragged
shines through, however, on rollicking tracks like
"Star in My Life,"
the
disco-fied
"Late Night Lady,"
and a slinky cover of
Freddie Scott
's
"Are You Lonely for Me Baby."
Again, the
drags things down as the cheesy arrangement of
"You Don't Know Me"
shows that maybe
should have steered clear of the
ballads
-- the cheesy arrangement is pure supper club, and
sounds very out of place. Batting .800 is nothing to look sideways at, though, and
is a stunning return to form and a powerful two-finger salute to anyone who had written the lad off as washed up. He's dirty as ever and on top of his game, and the album flat out rocks. ~ Tim Sendra