Greg Ridley - Anthology - All I Ever Needed - 2005
"Então Steve Marriott disse: 'A propósito, já tenho um baixista que está a fim de me acompanhar nessa, é Greg Ridley, do Spooky Tooth.' Aquilo bastou para mim. Não que a simples presença de Steve não bastasse, mas na época Greg era o baixista mais respeitado da Inglaterra'
Jerry Shirley
If hearing Steve Marriott's voice at the helm of Humble Pie was the defining moment in my musical education - then next up, along with Frampton's guitar, was the big blonde guy who played bass, with the big booming voice and the rock star looks...or maybe he just seemed big at the time compared to the other three, who are all pretty small?
Then further investigation reveals that he is a top bass guitarist, the coolest bass player on the planet when he joined Humble Pie ! In fact an important part of the "supergroup" story around Humble Pie's beginnings.
"Steve rang me up early on New Year's morning" said drummer Jerry Shirley "and told me he was joining me and Peter in Peter's band." Somewhat tongue in cheek he added, "but what clinched it for me was that he was bringing Greg Ridley into the band - and he was THE bass player on the underground scene". Greg and Jerry would go on to quickly become the driving rhythm machine behind Marriott.
Greg Ridley could himslef put together a very decent "Best Of" from Humble Pie tracks....from Big George, to Sucking on the Sweet Vine, to Let Me Be Your Lovemaker, Drift Away, Send Me Your Loving, You're so Good to Me, Sweet Peace and Time and so on....and that's without his contribution to
songs like Four Day Creep and Hallelujah I Love Her So.
It was brilliant seeing Greg again at the 2001 Steve Marriott Memorial Concert...stage centre, legs astride in his famous pose, still wearing those trademark leather trousers.
A far cry from the early sixties in Carlisle, only a few miles from the Scottish border, as Dino from Dino and the Danubes.
In quick succession he led the Dakotas and the Ramrods, before teaming up with school friend Mick Harrison in the VIP's in 1964. In talking to Greg, this is a group he obviously remembers with great relish. In fact he was tickled pink when a fan on the recent Humble Pie German tour brought some VIP records to sign. Don't know if many people know, but Keith Emerson was also a member for a short time. Anyway, the VIP's evolved to Art, with Luther Grosvenor and Mike Kellie, and then into Spooky Tooth with American Gary Wright.
After Humble Pie, Greg worked on a still unreleased duo album with Steve Marriott, and joined the ill-fated All Stars on their short US tour. He tried out for Mike Patto's new band Boxer, and with Clempson/Powell in Strange Brew before retiring from the music industry at the ripe old age of 30.
Greg Ridley re-entered the music scene in 1991 with the reunion of Pie members Jerry Shirley, Peter Frampton, and Dave Clempson at the Steve Marriott Memorial Concert in London. Following that historic event, he and Shirley teamed with Humble Pie MkIII member Bobby Tench, Bucket Colwell, and Zoot Money in the studio for “Back on Track”. and a limited tour of Europe.
01. Trouble (Ridley)
02. All I Ever Needed (Colwell)
03. Gangster of Love (Watson)
04. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (Benjamin, Caldwell, Marcus)
05. Four Day Creep (Marriott)
06. Natural Born Woman (Marriott)
07. L.O.V.E Love (Ridley)
08. Live to Learn (Colwell, Reese, Ridley)
09. Desperation (Kay)
10. The Light of Love (Ridley)
11. Heartbeat (Montgomery, Petty)
12. Wrist Job (Marriott)
13. Home and Away (Frampton, Ridley)
14. Greg's Song (Ridley)
15. Natural Born Boogie (Marriott)
16. Big George (Ridley)
17. Send Me Your Loving (Lennon, McCartney)
18. Drive My Car (Lennon, McCartney)
Greg Ridley - Vocal, Bass, Guitar
Steve Marriott - Vocals, Guitar
Peter Frampton - Guitar, Vocal
Rick Wills - Bass
Joe Cooper, Dave Colwell, Adrian Smith - Guitar
Jerry Shirley, Geoff Britton - Drums
Patrick Frances McManus was one of 6 children born into an incredibly talented musical family in Derrylin, Co.Fermangh, N.Ireland. Pat’s father, John, and his mother Valerie were highly accomplished Traditional Irish music players, so it wasn’t long before Pat and his two brothers, John and Tommy, were picking up all the instruments lying around the house and learning to play. By the age of 7, Pat had already performed on live T.V. and by 14 he was All-Ireland Fiddle Champion. Aged 20, Pat somehow stumbled across a band called Horslips. As Horslips were a Celtic rock band, the 3 brothers could relate to their music and quickly became big fans and later attended so many gigs that they formed a friendship with the guys in the band. The brothers soon swapped their Fiddles, Uilleann Pipes and Bodhrans for electric instruments and formed their first band called - Pulse, with Pat on Guitar, John on Bass & Vocals and Tommy (who was only 12 at the time) on drums. During an interview with Radio Luxembourg , Dj – Tony Prince, who remarked how young they all were, jokingly called them Mamas Boys - the boys changed their name. It was just meant to be an ‘of the cuff’ remark but the name stuck and soon the 3 brothers were officially known as Mamas Boys...........