Alfred Gregory Ridley (23 October 1941 – 19 November 2003) was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band
Humble Pie and
Spooky Tooth.
Career
Ridley was born in
Carlisle, Cumberland,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Early in his career he played under the name Dino as guitarist for "Dino & the Danubes" before joining bands such as the Ramrods. Ridley and Mike Harrison formed
The V.I.P.'s in 1963, playing blues based music. The band added guitarist
Luther Grosvenor
Luther James Grosvenor (born 23 December 1946) is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym Ariel Bender, in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker.
Grosvenor was born in Evesham ...
and organist/pianist
Keith Emerson, who stayed for a brief period of time before leaving and forming
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band.
The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...
. Subsequently, the VIPs changed their name to Art, for the album ''Supernatural Fairy Tales'' and then, with the addition of American keyboardist Gary Wright, to
Spooky Tooth in 1968. Spooky Tooth signed to
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
and recorded two albums ''
It's All About
''It's All About'' is the 1968 debut album by British band Spooky Tooth, released in the United Kingdom by Island Records on 26 July 1968.
In West Germany the record was released by Fontana. The American version of the album, entitled ''Spoo ...
'' (1968) and ''
Spooky Two'' (1969).
In January 1969 Ridley was approached by
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...
from the
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
,
who was forming a new band, to be called Humble Pie. The line up also included guitarist
Peter Frampton from
The Herd and drummer
Jerry Shirley. Humble Pie's first album
As Safe As Yesterday Is was released and a second album ''
Town and Country'' was also released in the same year. A contract with
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
and a re-working of their sound into a harder brand of music, coupled with extensive touring of
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
followed. A
double album ''
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore'', featuring a now-historic recording of a raw performance of rare quality, catapulted Humble Pie into rock history. Ridley's powerful bass playing anchored the band's performance and was at the centre of their sound. Together, Ridley and drummer
Jerry Shirley comprised one of the most respected rhythm sections in rock music during this period. Although Ridley rarely sang lead vocals, his deep baritone was frequently used to provide contrast with the higher tenors of Marriott and Frampton. Ridley made several songwriting contributions, including "Sucking on the Sweet Vine" on ''
Humble Pie'', "The Light of Love" on ''
Town and Country'', and "Big George" on ''
Rock On''.
This incarnation of Humble Pie continued until 1975 and Ridley left the music business, after finishing an unreleased album with Marriott and abortive attempts with bands such as
Mike Patto
Mike Patto (born Michael Thomas McCarthy, 22 September 1942 – 4 March 1979) was an English musician, who was primarily notable as lead singer for Spooky Tooth, Patto and Boxer.
Life and career
Patto was born in Cirencester, England, and fi ...
and
Ollie Halsall
Peter John "Ollie" Halsall (14 March 1949 – 29 May 1992) was an English guitarist best known for his role in the Rutles, the bands Timebox, Patto and Boxer, and for his contribution to the music of Kevin Ayers. He is also notable as one of ...
's band
Boxer. Ridley moved to Gloucestershire and lived in a stone cottage in the Forest of Dean with his girlfriend. He found the peace and quiet of country life a pleasant and refreshing change to touring and recording. He became involved in the antique furniture business and throughout the 1980s. He was a low-key antique trader and he stripped pine furniture for other traders as a business.
On 14 April 2001 he appeared with
Jerry Shirley,
Peter Frampton and
Clem Clempson
David "Clem" Clempson (born 5 September 1949) is an English rock guitarist who has played as a member in a number of bands including Colosseum and Humble Pie.
Career
Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the power trio, Bakerloo (or ...
, billed as a one off
Humble Pie re-union, at a ''Steve Marriott Tribute Concert''.
Earlier that year, he had also become involved with a
Humble Pie project initiated by Jerry Shirley's reactivation of the group.
and the enlisting of another former Humble Pie guitarist and vocalist
Bobby Tench
Robert Tench (born 21 September 1944) is a British vocalist, guitarist, sideman, songwriter and arranger.
Tench is best known for his work with Freddie King and Van Morrison, as well as being a member of The Jeff Beck Group, Humble Pie, Street ...
. This resulted in the album
Back on Track, released by
Sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...
in 2002 and a short tour of Germany with
Company of Snakes
The Company of Snakes were an English rock band formed in 1998, by former members of the English rock band Whitesnake who were also members of The Snakes. They released two albums before morphing into M3 during 2004.
History
The Company of ...
during the early part of 2003. The project was cut short when Ridley became ill.
Death
On 19 November 2003, Ridley died in Alicante, Spain, of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
and resulting complications. He was 62.
His funeral was paid for by a concert organised by harmonica player Dave Hunt.
Discography
The VIP's
*Singles:
* Don't Keep Shouting at Me / She's So Good (RCA Victor
K 1964)
* Mercy Mercy / That's My Woman (Philips, 1966)
* Wintertime / Anyone (CBS, 1966)
* I Wanna Be Free / Don't Let It Go (Island, 1966)
* Straight Down to the Bottom / In A Dream (Island, 1967)
*EPs:
* Stagger Lee / Rosemarie / Late Night Blues (1966) - with
Keith Emerson on piano & organ
* What's That Sound (For What It's Worth) / Come on Up / Think I'm Going Weird / Rome Take Away Three (1967)
* I Wanna Be Free / Don't Let It Go / Smokestack Lightning (1967)
* Straight Down to the Bottom / Back into My Life Again / Every Girl I See / In A Dream (1967)
*Compilations:
* ''Live at Twen Club 1966 & More'' (1990)
* ''I Wanna Be Free'' (1990)
* ''The Complete VIP's'' (2007) 2-CD
Art
* ''Supernatural Fairy Tales'' (1967)
Spooky Tooth
* ''It's All About Spooky Tooth'' (1968)
* ''Spooky Two'' (1969)
* ''Cross Purpose'' (1999)
Humble Pie
*Studio Albums:
* ''As Safe As Yesterday Is'' (1969)
* ''Town and Country'' (1969)
* ''Humble Pie'' (1970)
* ''Rock On'' (1971)
* ''Smokin' '' (1972)
* ''Eat It'' (1973)
* ''Thunderbox'' (1974)
* ''Street Rats'' (1975)
* ''Humble Pie: The Scrubbers Sessions'' (1999) (
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
) - recorded in 1974 with
Boz Burrell
Raymond "Boz" Burrell (1 August 1946 – 21 September 2006) was an English musician. Originally a vocalist and guitarist, Burrell is best known for his singing with King Crimson (1971–1972) and bass playing in Bad Company (1973–1982, 1998†...
,
Mel Collins
Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician.
Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...
,
Ian Wallace
* ''Back on Track'' (2002)
*Live Albums:
* ''
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore'' (1971)
* ''King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: In Concert Humble Pie Live 1973'' (1995) (King Biscuit Entertainment)
* ''In Concert'' (1996) (King Biscuit Entertainment) - new edition/reissue of the first released version
* ''Extended Versions'' (2000)
* ''Natural Born Boogie: The BBC Sessions'' (2000)
* ''Live at the Whiskey A-Go-Go '69'' (2002)
* ''
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore: The Complete Recordings'' (2013) (Omnivore Recordings) 4-CD Boxset
Collaborations
* ''
Marriott
Marriott may refer to:
People
*Marriott (surname)
Corporations
* Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993
* Marriott International, international hote ...
'' - Steve Marriott (1976) - with Ian Wallace
* ''Steve Marriott's Scrubbers'' - Steve Marriott (1996) - with Ian Wallace
Notes
External links
Official WebsiteMore information on Humble Pie / Greg RidleyHumble Pie Unofficial SiteGreg Ridley Obituary*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Greg
English rock bass guitarists
Male bass guitarists
Humble Pie (band) members
English songwriters
People from Aspatria
1941 births
2003 deaths
Spooky Tooth members
Deaths from pneumonia in Spain
English baritones
20th-century English bass guitarists
20th-century British male musicians