As you know from this thread, I’m heavily into early 70s British hard rock at the moment and am right now listening to Humble Pie’s album Smokin’. It’s great, and I once more noticed the mighty throat of Steve Marriott. He could have screamed down even Robert Plant at the time. Now compared to his (much more in the end) famous counterpart of the Faces/Small Faces universe, Rod Stewart, which one was better? Of course Rod became a superstar while Steve Marriott became quite obscure over the years and finally burned at his home at age 44. But I think he really could hold a candle. What do you think?
I’ll go Steve Marriott. He made sounds that just shouldn’t have come from that body. Un-freakin’-believable.
Yeah, where did that volume come from? He was really not a big man.
He probably shouldn’t have held that candle…
I think Stewart probably had a better voice, but never chose or wrote songs that allowed him to show it off to its best effect. Marriott, OTOH, always made the most of his song choices.
I’d probably prefer to listen to Marriott.
You’re a mean person ;).
Now in earnest, of course Marriott wrote the songs himself, while Rod rarely did. But Rod Stewart is an excellent interpreter of songs by other songwriters. But only in voice, I think Steve Marriott impressed me more.
My vote goes to Marriott. Take a listen to Rockin’ The Fillmore, what a dynamo he was!
Little bit o’ trivia: Steve played the Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver. Other notables to play that part: Davy Jones and Phil Collins.
I never heard of Steve Mariott, though I’ve probably heard him.
I miss Bowie. Thanks for that.
Well hell, if we’re linking to classic Marriott tracks, I have to ask, Are You Ready?
(for non-Pie fans, the other vocalist/guitarist is Peter Frampton)
I’m horrible remembering artists, but, based on what I found when I googled them, Marriot has the better vocal range, better control, and better tone. Stewart has this nice raspy effect that’s not remotely unpleasant to listen to, but he tends to sound the same in everything I could find. I applaud that he’s kept his voice in such good shape, since he sounds the same in the 2010s as in the 1970s, but I think Marriot had him beat.
I’d vote for Marriott.
I’ve never had much interest in seeing Rod, although the Faces were huge when I started going to gigs, but I did go see the Small Faces on a re-union tour in 1978. (I think, the support was Cock Sparrer whose 1st album was just out then).
Their heyday was obviously past but his voice was still good. I wasn’t as familiar with their back catalogue back then and wasn’t sure which songs were new and which were old ones I didn’t recognise, but the bulk of the audience knew, and gave the new material a very muted reception, which was a shame. But it was still a packed hall and a good night.
Sadly, I think he had one of his heart attacks later that night back at their hotel. (Or so I figured from their keyboard player Ian McLagen’s autobiography All the Rage.)
And Tony Robinson. Marriott was Robinson’s understudy and they became friends.
While I’m a huge fan of all the great 60s British bands, I think Marriott might have been the best of all the frontmen. YMMV.
Steve Marriott by far. I always thought Rod had a good blues voice but it wasn’t well suited for much else.
Obviously the requirements for being a good frontman aren’t exactly the same as for being a good singer, but Marriott was unbelievable. Could Rod Stewart, or indeed any other white guy, be so mesmerising?
I always thought Bonn Scott sounded like a cheap imitation of Marriott.
Interesting that you mention that…I was just on youtube listening to one of the last songs Marriott recorded w/Frampton and there were several comments saying it sounded just like Hells Bells. They’re right I think, but it’s kinda of a chicken/egg thing to me. The Bigger They Come, The Harder They Fall