¡lis. PERFORMERS ASHLEY KAHN ONE OF ROCK & ROLL'S MOST IMPROBABLE SECOND-COMINGS l here are groups that are about to rock, and bands of the 19 70s. Consistent to both lineups was its rhythm that simply, rock. There are those that prepare section, taking its cues from the best of American R&B and primp until every power chord is just so, and and blues: Ian McLagan, Kenney Jones, and second lead Tthere are those that power up instinctively—guilelessly— singer and songwriting genius Ronnie Lane. with a generosity of spirit that doesn’t fade over time. The In 1972, Lane described the scene into which the Small Faces and the Faces are kings of that latter category, Small Faces were born, and how that music still shaped the two bands forming the distinct halves of one unlikely new Faces: “There was a big Mod era, with all the Mods continuum—a shared timeline that writer David Fricke taking pills down at the Marquee, and Tamla-Motown and rightly describes as one of rock & roll’s most “improbable Otis Redding was what was going down then . It’s still second-comings.” our Toots now. With this band it’s still very much in there As the Small Faces, the group first blossomed as a in the foundation.” foursome in swinging, mid-sixties London. During the At the start of the sixties in the drab world of postwar height of psychedelia, with guitarist/singer Steve Marriott England, a new generation began dressing in sharp, colorful usually at the helm, they grew into a scene-leading band. outfits and hanging out. They were the Mods and called After losing Marriott and recruiting two freelance blues themselves “faces,” gobbled speed, and craved records by rockers—namely Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood—they the Miracles, Booker T. & the MGs, and James Brown. returned to deliver some of the most carefree rock & roll John’s Children and the High Numbers (later renamed the Who) became centers of the Mod scene. In 1965, a Ready Steady Go! While the media portrayed the Small band composed of East End teenagers—Marriott* Lane, Faces as safe and respectful, their live shows showed off a Jones, and guitarist/keyboardist Jimmy Winston built rowdy, unruly side. an audience in and around London. Their initial set list Radio hits followed, some written for the band, others by included only five tunes; all of short stature and good them: “Sha La La La Lee”; “Hey Girl”; their first U.K. chart- humor, they dubbed themselves the Small Faces. topper “All or Nothing”; “My Mind’s Eye”; and “I Can’t Make They came together easily: Steve Marriott, a former I t ” All revealed Marriott’s distinctive growl and a burgeoning child actor, sold instruments in a music shop to both Lane group sound, which began to lean to a harder rock tilt, and later Winston; the Outcasts, one of Lane’s first groups, influencing a new crop of bands. Check out the Small Faces included Jones. Their first gig in early ’65 ended with a 19 66 rendition of Willie Dixon’s “You Need Loving ; it s the blueprint for Led Zeppelin’s 1970 classic “Whole Lotta Love.” The Small Faces had been living fast and, true to their Mod roots, fashionably, spending on account. At the outset of ’67, realizing how little money they had to show for their success, the group parted ways with Arden and Decca, and signed with Andrew Loog Oldham’s new Immediate imprint. Oldham, young and connected through his role as the Rolling Stones’ manager, gave them free rein in the studio and reintroduced them to an old friend from Decca days, producer Glyn Johns. Though Immediate soon fell victim to the label’s own creative excesses, Oldham deserves credit for giving the Small Faces the chance to fully realize their studio potential and develop as songwriters. From 1967 into ’68, they drew freely (and often humorously) from all the era’s flavors—psychedelic effects like phasing and spacey harmonies, acoustic instruments, found sounds to create inspired, three-and-a-half-minute reflections of their experiences, and of the times: Here Comes the Nice” (an ode to drug Use that somehow bypassed BBC rules of the day), “Itchycoo Park” (with its memorable singalong line, “It’s all too beautiful. ”), “Tin Soldier,” and “The Universal.” Their magnum opus was Ogdens Nut Gone Flake, an ambitious two-part LP packaged in a round tin resembling a tobacco can, and advertised with a print ad satirizing the OPENING PAGE SmaffiFSiiig'SS'Steve Marriott, lan McLagan, Kenney Lord’s Prayer. On one side, actor Stanley Unwin strung Janes, and Ronnie Laneifrom left). THIS PAGE, FROM TOP together a folk-like tale between original songs; the flip darlings, 196^‘On the air in featured Cockney-flavored songs (“Lazy Sunday” and broken piano, an irate bar manager, and the group on the “Rene”) and the soulful “Afterglow (of Your Love).” sidewalk. But before the year was over, the Small Faces The Small Faces had become a creative cauldron, and had a manager (the hard-nosed Don Arden), signed with cauldrons do boil. Their musical differences pulled them Decca Records, hit the U.K. charts with “Whatcha Gonna down divergent paths; they refused to play any Ogden Do About It,” and recruited the suitably diminutive Ian tracks live. Unhappy when “The Universal” failed to top McLagan to replace Winston on Hammond organ. By the charts, Marriott stopped writing songs. Toward the 1966, they were living together in Central London and end o f’68, he met guitarist Peter Frampton and, hearing a enjoying growing stardom. They appeared regularly on more hard-driving, two-guitar band in his future, split to form Humble Pie. He quit the Small Faces on New Year’s first two years together, they would tour America no less Eve, 1968. than four times. Ultimately, the Small Faces were part of the British There were but two hiccups." Their new record Invasion that never invaded. “Itchycoo Park” represented company (Warner Bros.) insisted on keeping the old band their most significant crossing, rocking American radio for name; “Small” was dropped as a compromise. The second a few months in ’68. would prove more challenging: Stewart was already signed Many heard of the dismantling of the Small Faces to Mercury as a solo artist. For five years, the singer and reached out, like Donovan, a fellow Hall of Fame recorded simultaneously for the two labels, often using inductee, who offered them a gig playing with him (they members of the Faces on his own recordings. And as his respectfully declined); and guitarist Ron Wood, a friend of star rose with hits like 1971’s “Maggie May,” the group Lane’s then playing bass in the Jeff Beck Group alongside repeatedly found themselves billed as “Rod Stewart and the Faces,” Their first three albums were released in rapid succession in 1970 and ’71: First Step, Long Player, and A Nod Is as Good as a Wink.... to a Blind Horse (the latter reuniting them for a third time with Glyn Johns). They were solid playing blues or gospel- tinged love songs and weren’t afraid to take it slow and get teary. Thanks to THEIR LIVE SHOWS HAD A ROWDY, UNRULY REPUTATION ABOVE Ron Wood, Lane, an#.find Stewart, 1 w e t right The FiCWt in typk$f&#ckstage ■mode, Hoiland, 1972. vocalist Rod Stewart. McLagan, Lane, Jones, and Wood—soon joined by Stewart—began jamming regularly in a basement room in South London. Almost immediately, they made for a rare musical mix. Having apprenticed in such blues-focused bands as Steampacket, Stewart had developed a confident, raspy vocal style; Wood’s punchy guitar sound had a worlqnan- like grit—minimal and effective. In mid-1969, Stewart and Wood left Beck’s employ, and a new, five-man edition of the Faces emerged. In their Faces: Lan-e, Wood, Jones, McLaga®, and St ewa rt (f ro mieW The Faces carried the inclusive spirit of the sixties well into the seventies, delivering the right mix of no- Lane’s influence, they had an affection for country-flavored frills, riff-based guitar rock and boisterous abandon ballads. Whether they locked into a supple sentimental (small surprise so many punk groups regarded the Faces tune or balls-to-the-wall rocker, they had an instinct for as stylistic forebears). They may have been rock stars, but building a great song into a loose-footed, out-and-out jam. unlike Led Zeppelin, the Stones, or other headliners, the The Faces had a nose for tunes old and new that seemed Faces were accessible rock stars. Check out the security tailor-made: Big Bill Broonzy’s *1 Feel So Good”; Paul nightmare on the cover of A Nod Is as Good...: the band in McCartneys “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Their own songwriting full-tilt concert mode, audience members seated onstage, was top-rate, with a British accent, rootsy, and rough-edged: a front-row fan chatting up Wood mid-song. Or listen to “Around the Plynth,” “You’re So Rude,” “Three Button “Stay With Me,” the hit single from the same album that Hand Me Down.” They explored other flavors as well: a was their one entry into the U.S. Top Forty. That fuzz- honky-tonk feel on “Debris” and “Richmond,” a soaring, filled opening guitar riff, the drum fills kicking it into high jazzy approach on “Flying.” Songs like “Had Me a Real Good gear, and that delicious break on the Wurlitzer that shifts Time” and “Last Orders Please” reflected the jet-setting, it down to a more measured beat, the better to deliver the fast-moving road trip their lives had become, as they began song’s bold, bumbling invitation to a one-night stand: One to accrue the rewards that had been denied the Small Faces.