Members of the latest class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Small Faces put out their most ambitious album in 1968 – Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. The psychedelic concept album is not only their best, but it pops up on many “best of” lists, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Here, bassist Ronnie Lane takes the lead vocals on “Song Of A Baker,” with help on vocals and guitar from the great Steve Marriott. That’s Kenney Jones on drums, and although we don’t get a good view of him, our friend (and fellow Texas resident) Ian McLagan on keyboards. It doesn’t get any better than this – R.I.P. Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott.
By the way, Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake has been reissued as a 3-CD deluxe edition set. Check it out on iTunes.
There are two really cool things about Austin, Texas, that maybe you don’t know: 1. This weekend, an Austin resident will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That would be Ian McLagan, keyboardist for the legendary Small Faces and the Faces.
McLagan, who has made Austin his home for about 10 years, will be in Cleveland to accept the induction along with surviving Small Faces mate Kenney Jones and Faces mates Ron Wood and Rod Stewart. They’ll all pay tribute to fallen band members Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott.
And the other cool thing? 2. Austin’s Bergstrom International Airport has a permanent stage, where live bands play regularly to welcome travelers to the “Live Music Capital of the World.” On this stage yesterday, the city of Austin threw a little bon voyage party for McLagan as he jetted off to Cleveland for the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Congratulations, Mac!
Thanks to chickrock for letting us borrow this video.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland announced yesterday its 2012 class of inductees, and it includes the rockin’ British quintet the Faces. Finally!
The Faces rocked the late 1960s and early 1970s like no one else, including the Rolling Stones. First known as the Small Faces, the core group of keyboardist Ian McLagan, bassist Ronnie Lane and drummer Kenney Jones found themselves at a crossroads when lead singer Steve Marriott left the group.
Salvation came in the form of two new members: guitarist Ron Wood and singer Rod Stewart. So in 1970 the Small Faces became simply the Faces, and they came on like a bunch of rowdy boozers who just happened to be great musicians. With Lane (and sometimes McLagan) the group already had strong songwriting, but Stewart and Wood contributed some great numbers too, like the classic “Stay With Me.”
The induction includes both versions of the band. Both Stewart and Wood will become second-time members of the Rock Hall (Stewart was inducted as a solo artist in 1994 and Wood as part of the Rolling Stones in 1989) for the Small Faces/The Faces.
“Well it’s quite a thrill and honor to make it in the Hall of Fame a second time,” Stewart said in a statement. “We (The Faces) were always synonymous with a good party and with this list of fellow artists being inducted I’m looking forward to (it) … and it’s a hell of a good reason to reunite and celebrate with my old mates.”
Other inductees announced Wednesday include Guns n’ Roses, the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the late singer/songwriter Laura Nyro and trippy-dippy singer/songwriter Donovan.
Other inductees include Freddie King for early influence; rock promoter Don Kirshner, who died earlier this year, receives the Ahmet Ertegun award; and Tom Dowd, Glyn Johns and Cosimo Matassa will be honored for musical excellence.
The Rock and Roll Hall of fame induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland on April 14.
If you are in or around the Austin area, you can still get a healthy dose of prime Faces by catching a performance of Ian McLagan’s Bump Band. “Mac” still plays free happy hours (at the Lucky Lounge, next door to Antone’s) and will happily take requests for Faces songs, although don’t ask him to perform any by “Big Nose” (guess who). It is, truly,the World’s Greatest Happy Hour. He says he’s gonna be there this Thursday, too! McLagan keeps alive the spirit and songs of Ronnie Lane, who died in 1997. Congratulations on your long-deserved honor, Mac!
I can’t think of a better way to wrap up a week than with a tune or two by Ian McLagan, the world’s greatest rock and roll keyboard player. In the first video, he does up “Get Yourself Together” from the Small Faces days. This one was recorded in 2009 with his always-awesome Bump Band.
And I can’t resist – George and I were talking earlier this week about acts who are woefully ignored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and McLagan and the Faces are right at the top of the list. Even without Rod Stewart the band is truly great, as seen in this video from 2010. Hey Mac, when are you guys gonna bring the Faces to the States?
The great Ian McLagan – keyboardist for the Faces, a Texas resident and friend of this blog – has been cornered long enough to talk a little about the career-defining tracks he’s either played on, sung on, or written.
Mac just finished a handful of festival shows with the reunited Faces (with Mick Hucknall on lead vocals, replacing Rod Stewart) and now he’s touring the United Kingdom and Europe doing solo gigs. He won’t be back in Austin until October … so in the meantime check out this amazing portfolio of music by the Small Faces, the Faces, the Rolling Stones and more.
More versions of English/American hits done in other languages by the original artists. Now, there are TONS of hit songs that were remade for European and Japanese music fans – the Beatles’ remakes alone could fill a large warehouse – but we thought we’d focus here on the versions cut by the people who made the hits. I would give anything to see how long it took Johnny Cash to lay down German versions of his songs.
Full disclosure: “Santo Domingo” by Wanda Jackson, was actually originally recorded only in German in 1965. She cut a handful of German-language songs that were eventually collected on an album, Made In Germany.
Viewing this short promo video this morning made me happier than I’ve been in weeks. The British Invasion – what a great time to be alive. One of the best bands to come out of that movement was the Small Faces, comprising Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and the great Ian McLagan. Amazon will start selling ’em on March 30 but if you go to McLagan’s website you can order a copy now – and he’ll autograph it for you!
Humble Pie was a British boogie-rock band that reached monstrous success in the early 1970s. The band was formed in 1968 by former Small Faces guitarist/singer Steve Marriott, and Peter Frampton, a guitar player from the Herd, a moderately successful U.K. pop band. Because they signed a recording deal with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, it was thought that Humble Pie would be a sort of Stones-ish blues rock band – but it took a while for them to get there.
The band’s first two albums (As Safe As Yesterday Is and Town and Country) sounded more like the Band, with its acoustic underpinnings. It wasn’t until the fourth album, Rock On (1971), that Humble Pie hit its stride. The band recorded many of the songs on tour before they went into the studio and Rock On is a balance, a tug-of-war maybe, of Frampton’s more sedate, acoustic pop sensibility vs. Marriott’s boogie-till-you-puke approach.
30 Days Out 