Town and Country (Bonus Track Version)

Editors’ Notes Humble Pie’s second album finds the band replacing much of their patented shambolic boogie with acoustic strums and autumnal hums: the sounds of Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott showing their obvious love of country, folk, and blues. In fact, the beautiful drone of “The Light of Love” conjures some wine-buzzed relaxation on the English countryside at sunset. Unfortunately, this 1969 LP was never promoted upon its release (nor did it appear stateside), because the band’s label, Immediate, was headed for bankruptcy court. And what a waste. The open-tuned and perfect “Take Me Back” could’ve been a real hit contender in the vein of early Faces and Rod Stewart (or, later, The Black Crowes). “Every Mother’s Son” is darn near transcendent. Humble Pie's electric-acoustic version of Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” has a majestic power that contemporizes the tune into a timeless classic. Young producer Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, Free, The Rolling Stones) was no stranger to organic-sounding albums, so there’s lots of found instrumentation (guitar-body slaps, foot-tapping, percussion saw, brandy bottle, plastic cups, etc.) and songs that sound performed live in a room.