Alfred Gregory Ridley (23 October 1947 – 19 November 2003) was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English Rock music, rock band formed by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first Supergroup (music), supergroups of the late 1960s and enjoyed success in the early 1970s ...

and

Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth was a rock band originally formed in Carlisle, England, in 1967. The band was principally active between 1967 and 1974, and re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding ...

Career

Ridley was born in

Carlisle, Cumberland Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve castra, forts along Hadrian's ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 VIPs in 1963, playing blues-based music. The band added guitarist Luther Grosvenor and organist/pianist

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 194411 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He be ...

, 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. Keyboardist Keith Emerson, bassist Lee Jackson (bassist), Lee Jackson, guitarist David O'List, and drummer Ian Hague ori ...

. 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

in 1968. Spooky Tooth signed to

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

and recorded two albums '' It's All About'' (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 actor, musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and appeared in the West End, before taking a r ...

from the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, 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 ...

, who was part of a new band, to be called

. The line up also included Humble Pie founder and guitarist

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

from The Herd and drummer

Jerry Shirley Jeremy Duncan Tipson Shirley (born 4 February 1952), known professionally as Jerry Shirley, is an English rock drummer, best known as a member of the band Humble Pie (band), Humble Pie, appearing on all their albums. He is also known for his wor ...

. 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 is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

and a re-working of their sound into a harder brand of music, coupled with extensive touring of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

followed. A

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

Performance Rockin' the Fillmore ''Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore'' is the 1971 live double-LP/single-CD by the English blues-rock group Humble Pie, recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City on May 28–29, 1971. It reached No. 21 on the ''Billboard'' 200, #32 in Canada ...

'', 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 ''

'', "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 and

Ollie Halsall Peter John "Ollie" Halsall (14 March 1949 – 29 May 1992) was an English guitarist, songwriter, and singer, best known for his role in the Rutles, the bands Patto, Timebox (band), Timebox, and Boxer (band), Boxer, and for his contribution to t ...

'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 stripped pine furniture for other traders as a business. On 14 April 2001, he appeared with Jerry Shirley, Peter Frampton and Clem Clempson, 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. This resulted in the album '' Back on Track'', released by

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

in 2002, and a short tour of Germany with Company of Snakes 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 Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and resulting complications. He was 56. 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

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 the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

) - recorded in 1974 with Boz Burrell,

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: * ''

'' (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) * ''

: The Complete Recordings'' (2013) (Omnivore Recordings) 4-CD Boxset

Collaborations

* '' Marriott'' - 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 Site

Greg Ridley Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Greg English rock bass guitarists English male bass guitarists Humble Pie (band) members English male songwriters People from Aspatria 1947 births 2003 deaths Spooky Tooth members Deaths from pneumonia in Spain English baritones 20th-century English bass guitarists 20th-century English male musicians