The Humblebums were a Scottish

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band, based in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. Its members included

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

, who later became a renowned stand-up comedian and actor; guitarist Tam Harvey; and singer-songwriter

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...

. The band was active from 1965 to 1971.

Career

Connolly co-founded the band with Tam Harvey in 1965, and played in the pubs and clubs around Glasgow, most notably the Old Scotia Bar. Connolly sang, played banjo and guitar, and entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs. Harvey was an accomplished bluegrass guitarist. A first album, ''First Collection of Merry Melodies'', was released in February 1969. Rafferty joined later in 1969 and for a short time they performed as a trio. However, the nature of the act had changed and Harvey departed shortly afterwards. The remaining duo broke up in the early 1970s after recording two more Humblebums albums of material: ''The New Humblebums'' and ''Open Up the Door'', the former graced by a cover by John "Patrick" Byrne, marking the beginning of a long working relationship between Byrne and Rafferty. In 1970, the single "Shoeshine Boy" became a small hit in the Netherlands. Connolly embarked on a solo career while Rafferty recorded a low-impact solo album, ''

Can I Have My Money Back? ''Can I Have My Money Back?'' is the first solo album by Gerry Rafferty. The distinctive cover design was by John Patrick Byrne and was the start of a long working relationship between Rafferty and the playwright. The LP was well received, but ...

''. Rafferty then formed Stealers Wheel with Joe Egan before eventually emerging as a major recording act with "

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

". A number of songs performed by Connolly on his early comedy albums originated with the Humblebums, and actual Humblebums recordings also frequently turn up on Connolly compilations. A number of Humblebums recordings were reissued following Connolly's rise to international stardom. The Rafferty tracks from this period have been released in a variety of formats, some with just Humblebums material, others adding some or all of ''Can I Have My Money Back?'' Gerry Rafferty died on 4 January 2011, at the age of 63. Tam Harvey died on 17 December 2021.

Musical style

According to

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

, the Humblebums were a "subdued, somewhat folk-rock duo". '' High Fidelity'' also described them as "folk-rockers", whose sound "falls somewhere between the Sarstedt brothers and

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

. Their songs all combine interesting lyrics, usually with a story line, and sprightly melodies."

Discography

Albums

* ''First Collection of Merry Melodies'' ( Transatlantic TRA186, February 1969) ::Billy Connolly (vocals, guitar, banjo), Tam Harvey (guitar, mandolin) with Ronnie Rae (bass) * ''The New Humblebums'' (Transatlantic TRA201, September 1969) ::Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty * ''Open Up the Door'' (Transatlantic TRA218, June 1970) ::Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty

Singles

* "Saturday Round About Sunday" (BIG122, 1969) * "Shoeshine Boy" (1970, written by Rafferty) / "My Apartment" (written by Connolly)

Compilation albums

* ''

'' (Transatlantic TRA270, 1974) compilation album from the second and third Humblebums albums * ''The Complete Humblebums'' (Transatlantic TRA288, 1974) 3 LPs * ''The Humblebums'' (MTRA2008, 1979) * ''The Best of the Humblebums'' (Pulse PDSCD542, 1996) 2-CD set * ''The Humblebums'' (ESMCD498, 1997) single disc containing all of the second and third albums * ''Please Sing a Song for Us: The Transatlantic Anthology'' (Castle CMDDD1211, 2005) 2-CD set of all three albums, singles tracks (single version of 'Saturday Round About Sunday' and B-side 'Bed of Mossy Green', with previously unreleased material (five out-takes from the 'Open Up the Door' sessions) and four tracks from a Radio 1 session. :: This set (now out of print) was re-released (Talking Elephant TECD 400, 2018) minus the four Radio 1 Session tracks.

References

External links

nigelgatherer.com
Humblebums biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Humblebums, The 1965 establishments in Scotland 1971 disestablishments in Scotland Scottish folk music groups Musical groups from Glasgow Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups disestablished in 1971