Take, for example, their most famous single Itchykoo Park. Moreover, they were willing to more directly tweak the establishment than those higher profile bands. The Smalls had caught up to their contemporaries despite the later start and management distractions. Marriott too had a Folky side to him but it was his aggressive electric guitar style that fit in well with the non whimsical songs of the era: think Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd or Arthur Lee’s Love, not Hendrix to understand what I mean. Ronnie Lane always has a pastoral, whimsical streak that meshed well with Psychedelia. That cultural shift - fortunately - suited the bands two principal songwriters to a fault.
This would be around late 1966, which meant that their original Mod approach needed a serious overhaul in the face of the rising Psychedelic scene. I should add that they entered their prime as the musical zeitgeist was changing in London. Ultimately, however, those managerial and financial issues would continued to dog them and would - in part - lead to their demise but by then their artistic legacy had been cemented. That said, Andrew gave the band unlimited, high quality studio time at Olympic and was able to obtain, via the Stones, the production services of Glyn Johns.Ī free creative hand in the studio matters more in the long run, at least from a creative legacy point of view and the Smalls seized it. Needless to say the resentments between him and the band began to accumulate almost from go. The extent a producer/manager can help sell a band - even at the top of their game - is always questionable but Andrew was in over his head at that point in his career and personal life. Andrew was unraveling due to excess and his credibility via the Stones had run its course as had his management tenure with them.
What could go wrong?Īs it would turn out, a lot. As if that weren’t enough, he had just started a new record company - Immediate. More importantly, Andrew seemed to have credibility in the biz via the Stones. Unlike most of the label executives of the time, he was of the same generation as the Smalls. The Rolling Stones’ original manager - Andrew Loog Oldham - seemed to offer a breakout solution. Management, in turn, blamed said “hard living” which did - in fact - keep the band out of the US. Originally signed to Decca, the hard living band could not seem to break out of their UK niche which they blamed on management.
The real issues were those that beset so many of their contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic: label shenanigans, mismanagement, visa issues and zero tolerance drug arrests. So that turned out to be addition by subtraction rather then a distraction. Original keyboardist Jimmy Winston had to be replaced early on but by the much, much more talented Ian McLagan. Problems, unfortunately, also followed the band from day one. With that, they were off and the originals soon followed. That is, until they could got the hang of original songwriting.Īs a bridge the band covered a reworked version of Solomon Burke’s Everybody Needs Somebody called Whatcha Gonna Do About It and it made the British charts. Like them, the Small Faces specialized in R&B rave ups. The “Small” part of their moniker refers to their collective and relatively below average heights.Īs a Mod band that came together slightly behind The Who, you would expect a similarity and you would not be disappointed there. And it doesn’t hurt that anything you might hear here is fucking fantastic and probably not very familiar even if know some of the history that follows.Īs befits their name, the Small Faces came up through the Mod era. Nevertheless, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane deserve an audio moment from your ears to appreciate what they did and the ongoing extent of their legacy. Well, obviously, you can name the band, it is right there in the title. Almost needlessly to add at this point, both died tragically and relatively young. Can you name a four person band that helped produce two members of The Rolling Stones, one member of The Who and was the keystone for the mega successful solo careers of two Rock Stars of the 1970’s? I might add that this same band and its members were out in front of their better know contemporaries as regards Psychedelic Rock, concept albums, Boogie Rock and Hard Rock.Īnd to add a sad stereotypical Rock Star pathos to this set up, the two principal songwriters and singers in this band never achieved any of that mega success mentioned above and are now somewhat forgotten.