Dee Anthony and Humble Pie

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The news that longtime music manager Dee Anthony had died sent me scurrying to the Times’ archives, looking for some interesting details about his career. After all, there had to be a story or two worth retelling in a 40-year career dealing with acts as diverse as Jerry Vale and Devo.

I found a gem in the paper’s database, a 1973 story by future Oscar-winning filmmaker Cameron Crowe about the development of English rock band Humble Pie.

Which brings us back to Anthony.

Humble Pie, featuring Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton, had trouble finding its focus on the group’s first two albums, according to Crowe. Then Humble Pie switched labels and gained Anthony as manager.

Here’s a quote from Crowe’s story:

‘When Dee Anthony took us over,’ Marriott once told a reporter, ‘he looked at our act objectively and as a result gave us a good boot from behind. He advised us that we should cut out the softer stuff and play our heads off instead… all solid, loud and crunchy. So that’s just what we did.’

--Keith Thursby