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Steve "The Guv'nor" Marriott was an English rock and roll singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best remembered for his musical work in the groups Small Faces (1965-1969) and Humble Pie (1969-1975) and had a voice that
could strip 10 coats of gloss enamel in 3 seconds!
This site is a labour of love and gives credit where credit is due in recognising not only a one-off songwriter and guitarslinger but one of the GREATEST Blue-Eyed Soul singers the world has EVER known..."Got it! Good!!! Nar enjoy........"
Small Faces-
Despite his small stature and slight build, Marriott possessed a thrilling and powerful voice; he was (and remains) widely admired as one of the best British rock and soul singers of his generation. He was also an accomplished songwriter.
Small Faces, along with The Who, were the most respected mod band, highly regarded by the youth cult's followers. Marriott was one of many influences on the formation and musical style of premier British hard rock group Led Zeppelin. Marriott is also reputed to have been Jimmy Page's benchmark when selecting a lead singer for Led Zeppelin (the other being another rowdy-voiced Brit, Terry Reid), and there are unmistakeable stylistic and timbral similarities between the voices of Marriott and Led Zeppelin's lead singer Robert Plant. Paul Weller, of The Jam and The Style Council, has also cited Steve Marriott and Small Faces as a strong influence.
Small Faces were one of Britain's most successful and popular groups of the late Sixties, and Marriott wrote or co-wrote (with bassist Ronnie Lane) almost all of the Small Faces' most successful songs including "All Or Nothing", "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", and "Tin Soldier".
Marriott quit abruptly at the end of 1969, frustrated by the group's inability to break out of their teen-pop image and their failure to achieve major success in the lucrative American market. Their failure to "break" America in spite of "Itchycoo Park" being a massive hit during the Summer of Love was most likely due to their failure to tour there.
Humble Pie -
Shortly after leaving The Small Faces he formed a new band, Humble Pie with guitarist Peter Frampton (ex-The Herd), drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley (ex Spooky Tooth). After extensive rehearsals at Marriott's Essex home, they released their first album As Safe As Yesterday Is on Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, and scored a UK Top 5 hit with "Natural Born Bugie". Humble Pie almost disbanded after their first American tour however ..when they returned to England they discovered that Immediate had gone into liquidation.
It later transpired that much of the company's profits had been siphoned off by one of its senior executives and during their lifetimes neither Marriott nor Lane ever saw any of the royalty money owed to them by Immediate, despite the fact that their work was licensed extensively over the next thirty years, selling millions of units in total.
With the assistance of a lawyer who worked on a "no win, no fee" basis, Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones and keyboard player Ian McLagan were finally able to secure ongoing royalty payments from Decca, beginning in 1991, and from Charly, the current owners of the Immediate catalogue, beginning in 1997. However, neither Marriott nor Lane lived to benefit from this, and according to Jones there is still a substantial amount of money owing to the group from their music publishing rights.
After the Immediate fiasco, the band transfered to A&M Records. They toured constantly, which helped increased their popularity. The band's next 2 releases Humble Pie and Rock On, benefited from this and were reasonably successful. Their live album Performance Rockin' the Fillmore became the band's most successful release to date. During the process of these recordings, Marriott's vocals began to become the focal point of the band and he began to take creative control of the band away from Frampton, which resulted in Frampton's departure.
After Peter Frampton left, Marriott took creative control of the band. The group's first album with new guitarist Clem Clempson, Smokin', was their most successful release ever. However their next release, the double album Eat It, failed to crack the top ten, and the band's popuarity quickly declined, and they eventually disbanded in 1975.
Solo career -
Marriott also had a solo career after the breakup of Humble Pie, appeared on recordings by French pop singer Johnny Hallyday(with the Small Faces) and New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders(with Jones & Cook of the Sex Pistols) and wrote and recorded with Australian drummer and songwriter John Lee (ex The Dingoes). Marriott was heavily influenced by American soul music as well as The Beatles. He wore his influences on his sleeve, adding covers of many of his favorite songs to live sets throughout the years. Ray Charles was a particular favorite, with Humble Pie rendering "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "I Believe" to great success.
Marriott's dog Seamus made a notable appearance in the song "Seamus" on Pink Floyd's album Meddle. He can also be heard on the Small Faces song "The Universal", which Marriott recorded on a cassette player in his backyard. The former track appears on the video Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, however, the dog featured in the live recording is not the original Seamus. His vocal styling was reprised by a female Afghan Hound named Nobs with similar musical talents, and in the film the title was altered accordingly to read "Mademoiselle Nobs".
In the 1970s Marriott bought a large country house in Essex and in the 1980s it was used as the location for the home of the title character in the British television series Lovejoy starring Ian McShane.
Marriott died in a house fire in his home on 20 April 1991. The accident was caused by his falling asleep while intoxicated and leaving a cigarette burning, after arriving home jet-lagged from an overseas trip. Just prior to his death, Marriott and Peter Frampton had begun writing songs together again, but the project was never completed, although two recorded songs from this final effort, "The Bigger They Come", and "I Won't Let You Down", with Steve Marriott on vocals (and guitar), appear on Peter Frampton's album "Shine On."
So there you have it...a short history of a very talented geezer...small in stature-Gargantuan of TALENT. I have been blessed with the opportunity of
seeing the Guv'nor at some of those great little seedy dives that he used to
love to play...the crowd always got a show to remember and he NEVER left
a single punter shortchanged.
When I chatted to him about my own endeavours before one of his gigs he was right behind it & showed himself to be a real gent with a sharp sense of humour that would have everyone in stitches..."Do it mate...no electronic stuff mind!"
He signed a ten pound note for me the first time I saw him play & was amazed that I would offer that piece of paper as an autograph page "A F****n' Tenner!!!"(£10.00 was a good round at the bar at that time). I have treasured it ever since & was amazed to find recently that after 15+ years it transpires that he wrote me a short note on the back of his famous Brandy & Ginger gig-rider and asked a very close friend to give it to me (I was on tour in France at the time).
"Simon, You got the tenner. Now where's them pies you c**t! Good Luck,
Stevie Baby"
Suffice to say due to circumstances that are a novel in their own right the note did not reach me. In 2007 I met my dear friend again through MySpace and was amazed that she had kept that note safe for me for all those years (I was always preaching the manifesto D'Marriotty to her poor love!...god bless you Helen X)
When she handed me that note I was understandably shaken...he had written this just before his death & I was reading it for the first time. Tears
followed "Soppy Prat!" & then a smile...I can't give you them pies Steve...but I can stick you on MySpace...so here 'tis!
God Bless,
Si x
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