h Posted April 9, 2002 Report Share Posted April 9, 2002 Ok i dont have a question, but the who talk made me post this... ah there doesn't seem to be any consequences to posting stuff here... Faces Formed Mar 1969 in London, England Disbanded 1975 09 Group Members Rod Stewart Ron Wood Ian McLagan Ken Jones Ronnie Lane Genres Rock Styles Album Rock, Proto-Punk, Hard Rock, Rock & Roll Tones Hedonistic, Messy, Raucous, Humorous, Rambunctious, Wistful, Playful, Rollicking, Rousing, Poignant, Rowdy, Cheerful, Reckless, Organic, Earthy, Amiable/Good-Natured, Carefree Labels Warner Brothers (6), Riva (2) When Steve Marriott left the Small Faces in 1969, the three remaining members brought in guitarist Ron Wood and lead singer Rod Stewart to complete the lineup and changed their name to the Faces, which was only appropriate since the group now only slightly resembled the mod pop group of the past. Instead, the Faces were a rough, sloppy rock & roll band, able to pound out a rocker like "Had Me a Real Good Time," a blues ballad like "Tell Everyone," or a folk number like "Richmond" all in one album. Stewart, already becoming a star in his own right, let himself go wild with the Faces, tearing through covers and originals with abandon. While his voice didn't have the power of Stewart, bassist Ronnie Lane's songs were equally as impressive and eclectic. Wood's rhythm guitar had a warm, fat tone that was as influential and driving as Keith Richards' style. Notorious for their hard partying, boozy tours, and ragged concerts, the Faces lived the rock & roll lifestyle to the extreme. When Stewart's solo career became more successful than the Faces', the band slowly became subservient to his personality; after their final studio album, Ooh La La, in 1973, Lane left the band. After a tour in 1974, the band called it quits. Wood joined the Rolling Stones, drummer Kenny Jones eventually became part of the Who, and keyboardist Ian McLagan became a sought-after supporting musician; Stewart became a superstar, although he never matched the simple charm of the Faces. While they were together, the Faces never sold that many records and were never considered as important as the Stones, yet their music has proven extremely influential over the years. Many punk rockers in the late '70s learned how to play their instruments by listening to Faces records; in the '80s and '90s, guitar rock bands from the Replacements to the Black Crowes took their cue from the Faces as much as the Stones. Their reckless, loose, and joyous spirit has stayed alive in much of the best rock & roll of the past decades. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine *********************************************** The Small Faces Formed 1965 Years Active Group Members Steve Marriott Ian McLagan Ronnie Lane Rick Wills Jimmy Winston Kenny Jones Genres Rock Styles British Psychedelia, Mod, Psychedelic, British Invasion Tones Energetic, Passionate, Witty, Organic, Aggressive, Amiable/Good-Natured, Campy, Stylish Labels Castle (6), Immediate (5), Repertoire (3), Decca (3), Charly (3), Atlantic (3), Virgin (2) The Small Faces were the best English band never to hit it big in America. On this side of the Atlantic, all anybody remembers them only for is their sole stateside hit, "Itchycoo Park" — but in England, the Small Faces were one of the most extraordinary and successful bands of the mid-'60s; their music remains some of the most valuable and enjoyable of the era. Lead singer/guitarist Steve Marriott's formal background was on the stage; as a young teenager, he'd auditioned and won the part of the Artful Dodger in the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! Marriott was earning his living at a music shop when he made the acquaintance of Ronnie Lane (bass, backing vocals), who had formed a band called the Pioneers, which included drummer Kenney Jones. Lane invited Marriott to jam with the Pioneers at a show they were playing at a local club — the gig was a disaster, but out of that show the group decided to turn their talents toward American R&B. The band — with Marriott now installed permanently and Jimmy Winston recruited on organ — cast its lot with a faction of British youth known as the mods, stylish posers who, among their other attributes, affected a dandified look and a fanatical love of American R&B. The quartet, now christened the Small Faces ("face" being a piece of mod slang for a fashion leader), began making a name for themselves on-stage, sparked by the group's no-holds-barred performance style. The quartet was signed by manager Don Arden, and brought to Decca/London to record. The band's debut single, "What'cha Gonna Do About It," was released in August of 1965 and reached number 14 on the charts; a second single, "I've Got Mine," failed to chart when released in November. Soon after its recording, Winston exited the lineup; he was replaced by Ian McLagen (organ/guitar/vocals). The group returned to the charts in February of 1966 with "Sha-La-La-La-Lee," which rose to number three in England. Three months later, they were back at number ten with "Hey Girl," and heralded this new single release with their first album, Small Faces. "All or Nothing" marked their first chart-topping entry, and its follow-up, "My Mind's Eye," followed it nearly as high. On the surface, nothing could possibly have seemed wrong for the band. Keeping up the standard of songwriting and recording that they were maintaining was difficult, however, and they were increasingly unhappy with Arden. At the end of 1966, the band severed their ties with him and eventually moved under the wing of Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew "Loog" Oldham. Oldham signed the group as clients; by the middle of the 1967 he had gotten them moved over to his new Immediate Records label. With the shift in management and label, the group suddenly found themselves with a drastically reduced touring schedule and vastly increased time available in the studio. Their sound immediately became looser. They remained a top-flight R&B-driven band, but a much wider array of sounds and instruments began figuring in their music. Their first Immediate album, entitled Small Faces (known in the U.S.A. as There Are but Four Small Faces), was issued in mid-1967, and was an instant hit. In August of the year, they released "Itchycoo Park," a lilting, lyrical idyll to the Summer of Love that captured the hearts of listeners on both sides of the Atlantic. The band had bigger aspirations than doing more hit singles, and set to work across five months during 1968 in at least four different studios recording what proved to be their magnum opus, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. The group's fortunes didn't equal the artistic success of the album. In June of 1968, to announce the release of the album, Immediate took out an ad in the music trade papers that included a parody of the Lord's Prayer that managed to offend several million people before an apology from the band was issued. And Immediate, over the objections of Marriott, chose to release the song "Lazy Sunday" — which he'd recorded as a joke — as a single, and its rise to number two on the British charts did nothing to ease his unhappiness. Already, the group was showing serious signs of strain. A tour of Australia ended with complaints from the authorities concerning the band's behavior, and there were reports of late arrivals (or no-shows) by the band at their English gigs. "The Universal," a single released in the summer of 1968, was to have been Marriott's most serious effort in that vein in over a year; it subsequently failed to crack the Top 20, and much of his interest in continuing with the band seemed to falter. The end came soon after, on New Year's Day, 1969, when Marriott suddenly left the stage while the band was jamming to "Lazy Sunday" during a show at the Alexandria Palace; he later called Peter Frampton, a guitarist from the Herd, and the two began mapping plans for a band of their own called Humble Pie. The Small Faces did carry on into 1969, but it wasn't the same. With Marriott gone, they needed a replacement singer and lead guitarist, and found them in Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. They carried on under the name the Small Faces for one album, before dropping the "Small" and going on to greater glory as the Faces. During the mid-'70s, the Small Faces reunited (without Ronnie Lane) for two albums, Playmates and 78 in the Shade, that attracted a lot of press attention but nothing resembling the chart action of their earlier releases. Lane recorded with Pete Townshend, amongst others, before contracting multiple sclerosis, which ended his career as a musician (he later organized the A.R.M.S. benefit concerts to raise money for research into a cure for the disease). Jones subsequently joined the Who, replacing Keith Moon after the latter's sudden death in 1978, and did a couple of tours and a pair of albums with the band. Steve Marriott always seemed poised for a comeback, and in 1991 it looked as though he was going to finally pull it off — alas, he died in his sleep when fire swept his home in England, tragically just a couple of days after beginning work on a new album in America with his former bandmate Peter Frampton. Ronnie Lane died at his home in Trinidad, CO, on June 4, 1997 after battling multiple sclerosis for nearly 20 years. — Bruce Eder *************************** tune in next week for Humble Pie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted April 9, 2002 Report Share Posted April 9, 2002 Ah sweet.. I love the Faces! Ronnie Lane was the reason why I started playing bass (along with Julie from Eric's Trip). All the damn Blur and Nirvana cover bands in Stratford didn't understand 'melody'...ad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted April 9, 2002 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2002 no kidding - i like you AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted April 10, 2002 Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 Hey there... I've actually chatted with her a bunch of times too. I wish I had a scanner so I could post the picture of her and me, me sporting a white-guy afro. I recommend that everyone pick up 'Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars'. My favourite Canadian album of the last 5 years....alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSloth Posted April 10, 2002 Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" by the Small Faces is one of my favorite story albums of all time. I havent heard it years and I have no idea where my old copy is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted April 10, 2002 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 i have it, maybe i should burn it and mail it to you? trading small faces discs, funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moe.ron Posted April 10, 2002 Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 Hey AD, funny little fact, I actually sat next to Julie from Eric's Trip on a bus for 13 hours once. We were talking most of the time and it was only near the end that I found out who she was. She's super cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSloth Posted April 10, 2002 Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 If you're offering H, im taking. We should try and work something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted April 10, 2002 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2002 i'll look for the disc, i'm pretty sure where it is, if i find, i will burn and send to 420 nero/jomama w/ bouche - will you be at that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSloth Posted April 11, 2002 Report Share Posted April 11, 2002 Definately and thx in advance if you find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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