The Small Faces
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| Small Faces | ||
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| Image:Smallfacesrussy.gif |
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | London, England | |
| Genre(s) | Rock and roll Rock Rhythm & Blues British Invasion |
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| Years active | 1965 – 1969 | |
| Label(s) | Decca Immediate |
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| Website | Room For Ravers (unofficial) | |
| Members | ||
| Steve Marriott Ronnie Lane Ian McLagan Kenney Jones |
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- For the Scottish film, see Small Faces (film).
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band of the 1960s. The group's classic line-up featured singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, bassist Ronnie Lane, organist Ian McLagan, and drummer Kenney Jones. Although starting out as a R&B-inspired mod group--the second-most popular mod band in the UK after The Who--Small Faces later evolved into one of England's most successful psychedelic acts before breaking up at the end of 1960s.
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[edit] Origins
Steve Marriott was born and raised in the East End of London; he became a noted child actor and appeared as The Artful Dodger in an early London stage production of Oliver! and appeared in two films in his early teens, one with Peter Sellers.
Lane and Marriott met in 1965 while Marriott was working at the J60 Music Bar in Manor Park; Lane came in with his father Stan to buy a bass guitar, struck up a conversation with Marriott, bought the bass and went back to Marriott's house after work to listen to records. The core of the band was born that afternoon and evening.
Recruiting friends Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston (born Jimmy Langwith, April 20, 1945 in Stratford, London), who had to switch from guitar and learn to play the organ, they rapidly progressed from rehearsals to ramshackle pub gigs to semi-pro club dates, and while not yet the crack live outfit they became -- Marriott was still learning guitar -- his explosive, sandpapery soul-belter voice attracted rising attention. They were spotted by singer Elkie Brooks who was struck by Stevie's vocal prowess and recommended them to a local club owner, Maurice King. Impressed, he began finding them work in London and beyond.
They were kicked out of their first out-of-town gig -- a workingmen's club in Sheffield -- after only three songs. Despondent, they literally walked into the mod-oriented Mojo Club nearby, offered to perform for free and played a blistering set that had the locals screaming for more and started a strong buzz. During a crucial residency at Leicester Square Cavern, they were strongly supported by Sonny & Cher, who were living in London at the time and had first spotted them in Sheffield.
The band appeared in a 1965 adventure movie crime musical, called Dateline Diamonds, about their manager (Kenneth Cope) smuggling diamonds out of the country with the help of a former Army man (William Lucas). Some of the scenes were filmed on Radio London's boat. It was released as a supporting feature to Doctor in Clover, on 3rd April 1966.
[edit] The Decca years
They signed a management contract with impresario Don Arden and they were in turn signed to Decca Records for recording. They released a string of high-energy mod/soul singles on the label.
Their debut single was 1965's "What'cha Gonna Do About It", a Top 15 hit (written by ex Cliff Richard backing group member Ian Samwell who wrote arguably the first British rock 'n' roll record, Move It). Unfortunately, the group failed to capitalize on the success when the follow-up single, the hard-edged mod number "I've Got Mine", failed to chart. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy Winston was released from the band. Most common explanations for his dismissal are a clash of personalities with Marriott or a lack of musical talent, though rumours persist he was released at least in part because he compromised the band's integrity of image by being too tall. (Indeed, the group took their name from a remark by a female friend of Marriott's who noted that the band members had "small faces". The name stuck in part because of the mod slang usage of the word "face" to mean a popular, trendsetting individual.) In a 2000 interview, Kenney Jones stated the reason Winston was fired from the band was because "[he] got above his station and tried to compete with Steve Marriott." [1] Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan, whose keyboard talents and dimunitive stature fit with the groove of the band perfectly. The new line-up hit the charts with "Sha-La-La-La-Lee", written for the group by the unlikely team of Jewish-American hitmaker Mort Shuman (who wrote many of Elvis Presley's biggest singles, including "Viva Las Vegas") and Black English entertainer Kenny Lynch. The song was a massive hit in England, peaking at #3. Their first album, Small Faces was a considerable success. They rapidly rose in popularity with each chart success, became regulars on British pop TV shows, and toured incessantly up and down the country. Their popularity peaked in August 1966 when "All or Nothing" hit the top of the UK charts, which proved to be their only Number One.
But by 1966, despite being one of the highest earning live acts in the country and scoring several Top 40 hits, the band had almost nothing to show for their efforts. After a messy confrontation with the notorious Arden (who tried to face down the boys' parents by claiming that the whole band were addicted to heroin) they broke with both Arden and Decca.
[edit] The Immediate years
They were almost immediately offered a deal with the newly formed Immediate label, formed by ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Given a virtual open account at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, the band progressed rapidly, working closely with engineer Glyn Johns. Their first Immediate single was the daring "Here Comes The Nice", which was clearly influenced by their drug use, and managed to escape censorship despite the fact that it openly referred to speed (amphetamines). A second self-titled album followed which, if not a major seller, was very highly regarded by other musicians and would exert a strong influence on a number of bands both at home and abroad.
At the same time, their old label Decca released a spoiler album called From The Beginning, combining old hits with a number of previously unreleased recordings. It included earlier versions of songs they re-recorded for Immediate, including "My Way Of Giving", which they had demoed for Chris Farlowe, and "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me", which they had given to Apostolic Intervention. The album also featured their stage favourite "Baby, Don't You Do It" with Jimmy Winston on lead vocals and guitar.
Their mid-1967 single "Itchycoo Park"[2] is one of Small Faces' best-remembered songs and was also the first of the band's only two charting singles in the United States, reaching #16. "Itchycoo Park" was also the first British record to use "flanging", an effect developed by Olympic engineer George Chkiantz in 1966. It was followed by the barnstorming soul-rock epic "Tin Soldier"[3] (originally written by Marriott for singer P.P. Arnold), who can be heard clearly on backing vocals; it remains one of their best-known singles and a fan favourite. However, when the song only reached #73 on the US Hot 100 chart, Immediate Records abandoned its shortlived effort to establish the act in America.
At home in England, their career peaked with the classic psychedelic LP Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake in 1968, which featured an innovative round cover, the first of its kind, designed to resemble an antique tobacco tin. The two-act LP consisted of five original songs on Side One and a whimsical psychedelic fairy tale on Side Two about the adventures of 'Happiness Stan'. It was narrated by Stanley Unwin, though original plans to have Spike Milligan narrating the album were dashed when he turned them down. Critics raved, and the album sold well, but they were confronted by the practical problem that they had created a studio masterpiece which was all but impossible to recreate on the road. The album did however yield another hit single: "Lazy Sunday", a bright and breezy music-hall style song which many years later was to inspire Blur's "Parklife", it was successful in spite of being released against the band's wishes.
Marriott abruptly quit the band at the beginning of 1969, frustrated at their failure to break out of their pop image and their inability to reproduce the more sophisticated material properly on stage, and already looking ahead to a new band, Humble Pie, with Peter Frampton. The last song released during the band's career was the folksy "The Universal" in the summer of 1968, recorded by adding studio overdubs to a basic track Marriott cut live in his back garden with acoustic guitar, taped on a home cassette recorder, complete with barking dog. Its subsequent lack of success in the charts (it reached number 16 in the UK Top 40) devastated Marriott, who then refused to write music for the following few months.
A posthumous album, Autumn Stone, was released later in the year, and included the major Immediate recordings, a rare concert performance, and a number of previously unreleased tracks, including the classic Swinging Sixties instrumental "Wide Eyed Girl on the Wall" and the frolicking "Donkey Rides, A Penny, A Glass", co-written by Ian McLagan. The final single, "Afterglow", was released in 1969 after the band had ceased to exist, and with nobody to promote it, it only just grazed the UK Top 40.
[edit] Post Break-Up Ventures, Reunion, and Legacy
Lane, Jones and McLagan floundered briefly before joining forces with former members of the Jeff Beck Group, singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood. They released one LP as Small Faces before becoming simply The Faces and later Rod Stewart & The Faces. Following the breakup of the Faces in 1975, the original Small Faces lineup reformed briefly to film videos miming to the reissued "Itchycoo Park" (a Top 10 hit for the second time), and "Lazy Sunday" (which went Top 40 again). The group tried recording again together but Lane left after an argument. Unknown to the others, he was just beginning to show the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and his behaviour was misinterpreted by Marriott as a drunken tantrum.
Nevertheless, McLagan, Jones and Marriott stayed together long enough, with ex-Humble Pie bassist Rick Wills taking Lane's place, for Playmates (1977) and 78 In The Shade (1978). Guitarist Jimmy McCullough also briefly joined the line-up after leaving Wings. Paul McCartney, who had found McCullough increasingly difficult to work with, allegedly phoned Marriott and said "You can have him." The absence of Lane's bass playing and songwriting was all too noticeable, and the reunion albums, which were released on Atlantic Records, were both critical and commercial failures. Nonetheless their 1960s output remains among the most acclaimed British mod and psychedelia of its era, and despite the group's continued obscurity in the United States, the All Music Guide refers to them as "the best English band never to hit it big in America." [4]
[edit] Recording and Release Chronology
Because the band's '60s catalogue is spread out over two record companies, as well as having issued many singles with A-side and/or B-side tracks which never featured on original albums, tracking the band's recording progress is difficult (but not impossible) even with what is known from existing publications. The following features all currently available material, or those from recently out-of-print compilations and collections.
7” Single (Aug. 6th 1965)
- What’cha Gonna Do About It
- What’s A Matter Baby
(Early Session – Mid 1965)
- What’cha Gonna Do About It (Alternate Version)
BBC Session (Saturday Club – 23/08/65)
- Steve Marriott Interview
- What’cha Gonna Do About It
- Jump Back
- Baby Don’t You Do It
7” Single (Nov. 1965)
- I’ve Got Mine
- It’s Too Late
7” Single (Jan. 28th 1966)
- Sha La La La Lee
- Grow Your Own
BBC Session (Saturday Club – 14/03/65)
- Shake
- Steve Marriott Interview
- Sha La La La Lee
- You Need Loving
BBC Session (Saturday Club – 03/05/66)
- Steve Marriott Interview
- Hey Girl
- E Too D
- One Night Stand
7” Single (May 8th 1966)
- Hey Girl
- Almost Grown
“Small Faces” (May 8th 1966) (1st Album Sessions – Early 1966)
- Shake
- Come On Children
- You Better Believe It
- One Night Stand
- Sorry She’s Mine
- Own Up Time
- You Need Loving
- Don’t Stop What You’re Doing
- E Too D
- Hey Girl (Alternate Version)
- Own Up Time (Extended Version)
- Shake (Alternate Version)
- Come On Children (Alternate Version)
- E Too D (Alternate Version)
(Early 2nd Album Sessions – Mid 1966)
- (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me (Early Version)
- My Mind’s Eye (Alternate Version)
- Baby Don’t You Do It (Different Version)
7” Single (Aug. 5th 1966)
- All Or Nothing
- Understanding
BBC Session (Saturday Club – 30/08/66)
- You Better Believe It
- Understanding
- Steve Marriott Interview
- All Or Nothing
7” Single (Nov. 11th 1966)
- My Mind’s Eye
- I Can’t Dance With You
“From The Beginning” (Released 1967) (Later 2nd Album Sessions – Mid to Late 1966)
- Runaway
- Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow
- That Man
- My Way Of Giving
- Take This Hurt Off Me
- Baby Don’t You Do It
- Plum Nellie
- You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me
- Take This Hurt Off Me (Different Version)
7” Single (March 3rd 1967)
- I Can’t Make It
- Just Passing
(Early 3rd Album Sessions – Early to Mid 1967)
- (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me (Alternate Version)
7” Single (May 26th 1967)
- Patterns
[B-Side: E Too D (1966)]
7” Single (June 2nd 1967)
- Here Come The Nice
- Talk To You
“Small Faces” (June 1967) (Later 3rd Album Sessions – Mid 1967)
- (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me
- Something I Want To Tell You
- Feeling Lonely
- Happy Boys Happy
- Get Yourself Together
- Things Are Going To Get Better
- Green Circles
- Become Like You
- All Our Yesterdays
- Show Me The Way
- Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire
- Eddie’s Dreaming
7” Single (Aug. 4th 1967)
- Itchycoo Park
- I’m Only Dreaming
7” Single (Dec. 2nd 1967)
- Tin Soldier
- I Feel Much Better
BBC Session (Top Gear – 14/04/68)
- If I Were A Carpenter (with PP Arnold)
- Kenney Jones Interview
- Lazy Sunday
- Every Little Bit Hurts (with PP Arnold)
“Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake” (June 1968) (4th Album Sessions – Early to Mid 1968)
- Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake
- Afterglow Of Your Love
- Long Agos And Worlds Apart
- Rene
- Song Of A Baker
- Lazy Sunday
- Happiness Stan
- Rollin’ Over
- The Hungry Intruder
- The Journey
- Mad John
- Happy Days Toy Town
(Mid-1968 Sessions)
- Me, You And Us Too
- (If You Think You’re) Groovy (with PP Arnold)
7” Single (June 28th 1968)
- The Universal
- Donkey Rides, A Penny, A Glass
7” Single (Late 1968) [A-Side: Afterglow Of Your Love]
- Wham Bam Thank You Mam
(The Final Sessions – Late 1968)
- The Autumn Stone
- Collibosher
- Red Balloon
- Call It Something Nice
- Wide Eyed Girl On the Wall
- Don’t Burst My Bubble
- Every Little Bit Hurts
- Picaninny
- Take My Time
- The Pig Trotters
- The War Of The Worlds
- Red Balloon (Alternate Version)
- Wham Bam Thank You Mam (Alternate Mix)
The Final Tour – Late 1968
- All Or Nothing (Live)
- Every Little Bit Hurts (Live)
- If I Were A Carpenter (Live)
- Rollin’ Over (Live)
- Tin Soldier (Live)
U.S. 7” Single (Early 1969)
- Mad John (Single Version) (1968)
[B-Side: The Journey (1968]
Note: not listed are several unreleased BBC sessions and the rare French EP singles, which feature alternate versions of several early singles. CD re-issues of Decca's two Small Faces albums (Small Faces and From The Beginning) purport to feature these French EP versions, but according to collectors, these versions are not from those singles, but are from session acetates recorded during the various recording sessions of those songs. The French EPs remain elusive to the general public.
[edit] UK Discography and Chart Positions
[edit] Singles
- "What'cha Gonna Do About It?", 6 August 1965, #14
- "I've Got Mine", 5 November 1965, Did Not Chart
- "Sha-La-La-La-Lee", 28 January 1966, #3
- "Hey Girl", 10 May 1966, #10
- "All or Nothing", 5 August 1966, #1
- "My Mind's Eye", 11 November 1966, #4
- "I Can't Make It", 3 March 1967, #26
- "Patterns", 26 May 1967, Did Not Chart
- "Here Come The Nice", 2 June 1967, #12
- "Itchycoo Park", 4 August 1967, #3
- "Tin Soldier", 2 December 1967, #9
- "Lazy Sunday", 5 April 1968, #2
- "The Universal", 28 June 1968, #16
- "Afterglow (of Your Love)", 7 March 1969, #36
- "Itchycoo Park" (re-issue), 13 December 1975, #9
- "Lazy Sunday" (re-issue) 20 March 1976, #39
[edit] Albums
- Small Faces (Decca), May 1966 – UK #3
- From the Beginning (Decca), June 1967 – UK #17
- Small Faces (Immediate), July 1967 – UK #21
- There Are But Four Small Faces (Immediate 52002-USA), March 1968 USA #178
- Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (Immediate), June 1968 – UK #1
- The Autumn Stone (Immediate), 1969
- Playmates (Atlantic), 1977
- 78 In The Shade (Atlantic), 1978
- Itchycoo park, 1999
