Small Faces were an English rock band from London. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band’s keyboardist. The band is remembered as one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the 1960’s. With memorable hit songs such as “Itchycoo Park”, “Lazy Sunday”, “All or Nothing”, “Tin Soldier”, and their concept album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, they later evolved into one of the UK’s most successful psychedelic acts before disbanding in 1969. (More from Wikipedia)
The article on Small Faces in Allmusic opens: “Small Faces were the best English band never to hit it big in America.” Frontman Steve Marriott was the lead guitarist and lead vocalist for the band; he had already appeared in a key role in the musical Oliver!. Ronnie Lane (bass guitar) invited Marriott to jam with his band the Pioneers, which also included Kenney Jones (drums) – while that gig didn’t go well, the three decided to move in the direction of American R&B. The fourth bandmember was Jimmy Winston (organ), who was replaced by 1966 with Ian McLagan.
They had a rocky start with Decca Records but eventually began working under one of England’s top producers, Andrew Loog Oldham – who had worked with the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, and others – and signed them as the top act on his new company, Immediate Records. Their first album with that label, Small Faces – a self-titled album like their debut effort with Decca, Small Faces – was an instant hit in mid-1967 and included a song that even made the charts in the U.S., “Itchycoo Park”.
Small Faces’ response to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album was a remarkable psychedelic achievement called Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake; the album was originally released in a round cover and had the appearance of a vintage tobacco tin. And I sure wish it would show up from the LP’s in the Katrina mud that I still haven’t cleaned up, because I miss it!
As the 1960’s wound down, Steve Marriott wanted to make some changes in the band, and one day he just took off in the middle of a concert. Marriott had wanted to bring Peter Frampton into the band; instead, the two put together a new band called Humble Pie.
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The remaining bandmembers in Small Faces found two dynamite replacements for Steve Marriott; Rod Stewart was brought in as the vocalist, and Ron Wood joined as the lead guitarist. The direction of the band changed dramatically after that; although Small Faces was still the name on the first album by this line-up, First Step (at least in the U.S.), the band is better known as Faces.
(April 2014)
