Five Guys Walk into a Bar... | ||||
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Box set by | ||||
Released | 20 July 2004 | |||
Recorded | June 1969 – 7 March 1975 at De Lane Lea Studios, London; Stargroves with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio; Revox at Ronnie Lane's house in Richmond; Morgan Sound Studios, London; Olympic Studios, London; Maida Vale Studios, London; AIR Studios, London; Sunset Sound, Los Angeles; Quantum Studios, California; Paris Theatre, London; Reading Festival, Reading; Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida; Camden Theatre, London; BBC Music Studios, London; Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California [1] | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, boogie rock | |||
Length | 5:07:12 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. / Rhino Records | |||
Producer | Glyn Johns, The Faces | |||
Faces chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Five Guys Walk into a Bar... is a comprehensive four-disc retrospective of the British rock group Faces released in 2004, collecting sixty-seven tracks from among the group's four studio albums, assorted rare single A and B-sides, BBC sessions, rehearsal tapes and one track from a promotional flexi-disc, "Dishevelment Blues" – a deliberately-sloppy studio romp, captured during the sessions for their Ooh La La album, which was never actually intended for official release.
Eight of ten tracks from 1973's Ooh La La appear (along with a live version of "My Fault"), as do eight of nine from 1971's A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse , five of nine from 1971's Long Player (with an additional two in alternative versions) and three of ten from 1970's First Step (originally credited to Small Faces). Other vintage Faces tracks long sought-after by collectors and completists had never been compiled before (such as the studio-recorded US-only single version of their take on Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", or the obscure dobro-driven B-side "Skewiff (Mend the Fuse)"). The song that opens this set, "Flying", is a subtly remixed version of the track which originally appeared on First Step. "Wyndlesham Bay" is an early version of one of Rod Stewart's 'solo' songs, "Jodie", with different lyrics (although as the credit on the record label of the single itself clearly attests, "Jodie" is itself a later Faces performance of this song, likely recorded at the same session as 'Poolhall Richard', that has since been incorrectly credited to Stewart as a solo artist).
Many tracks from BBC sessions also appear throughout, including Faces takes on Stewart's own "Maggie May" and "Gasoline Alley," the latter as part of a medley including "Around the Plynth." The Faces' earliest recordings are represented by rehearsal excerpts from the summer of 1969, including covers of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" (featuring Stewart on guitar and Ronnie Wood on harmonica) and Howlin' Wolf's "Evil."
The set was compiled by the group's keyboardist, Ian McLagan, who had previously compiled 1999's Good Boys... When They're Asleep , and his liner notes offer a unique and intimate take on the band's history alongside a fulsome tribute to late Faces founder member Ronnie Lane.
Five Guys Walk into a Bar... has received a largely positive response from critics since its release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the box set as the best of its type: "There has never been a better box set than the Faces' Five Guys Walk into a Bar.... There has never been a box that captures an artist so perfectly, nor has a box set taken greater advantage of unreleased and rare material, to the point where it seems as essential and vital as the released recordings." [2]
+ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan
++ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood
Featuring:
Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane, and Kenney Jones —were joined by guitarist Ronnie Wood and singer Rod Stewart, both from the Jeff Beck Group, and the new line-up was renamed Faces.
The Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band were one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the 1960s, recording hit songs such as "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", "All or Nothing" and "Tin Soldier", as well as their concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. They evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic bands until 1969.
Ronald Frederick Lane was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (1969–73).
Ronald David Wood is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.
Ooh La La is the fourth and final studio album by the English rock band Faces, released in March 1973. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart in the week of 28 April 1973. The album was most recently reissued on CD in a remastered and expanded form on 28 August 2015, including early rehearsal takes of three of its tracks, as part of the 1970–1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything... box set. The box set's vinyl counterpart did not contain any bonus tracks, but it did replicate the original LP artwork and 'animated' cover.
"Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album Every Picture Tells a Story, released in 1971.
A Nod's as Good as a Wink... To a Blind Horse is the third album by British rock group Faces, and their second album of 1971. Bolstered by lead singer Rod Stewart's recent solo success with "Maggie May", it was their most successful album worldwide, peaking at No. 6 in the US, and reaching No. 2 in the UK. It also contains their biggest US hit, the swaggering "Stay with Me", and the album itself would be certified gold by the RIAA in 1972.
Long Player is the second album by the British rock group Faces, released in February 1971. Among the highlights are a live cover version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", the ballads "Richmond" and "Sweet Lady Mary", the party tune "Had Me a Real Good Time", and uptempo saloon bar rocker "Bad 'n' Ruin". Two tracks, "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "I Feel So Good", were recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York City, on 10 November 1970.
First Step is the debut studio album by the English rock band Faces, released on 27 March 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was released only a few months after the Faces had formed from the ashes of the Small Faces and The Jeff Beck Group. The album is credited to the Small Faces on all North American issues and reissues, while record labels for initial vinyl printings give the title as The First Step.
Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners is a 1974 live album credited to Rod Stewart/Faces. Stewart's practice was not giving concerts as a solo act at the time, but rather appearing jointly with the Faces, thus the dual crediting.
Snakes and Ladders / The Best of Faces was an October 1976 best-of album by British rock group Faces. While the first released Faces compilation was a repackaging of the group's first two LPs as a double album, this US-only release presented the first attempt to compile the popular songs from the group after they had disbanded in 1975. Featuring photography by Tom Wright and unique cover art by guitarist Ronnie Wood, it was only eventually superseded in the US market by the CD compilation Good Boys... When They're Asleep in 1999.
Good Boys... When They're Asleep... was a 1999 compilation of British rock group Faces. Compiled primarily by keyboardist Ian McLagan, it served to supersede the 1976 effort Snakes And Ladders / The Best of Faces, and to present a CD-length retrospective of the group, lasting nearly eighty minutes.
Tetsu Yamauchi is a retired Japanese musician. In the 1970s, he was a member of several popular rock bands, including Free, where he replaced original bassist Andy Fraser before the band's final album Heartbreaker, and Faces, where he replaced Ronnie Lane and appears on the band's final single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", as well as touring with them and playing on the live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. He also recorded various solo albums and did extensive work as a session musician before retiring from the music sometime in the late 1990s.
Mahoney's Last Stand is an album by Faces bandmates Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane, recorded in 1972. It is the music soundtrack album of the low-budget 1972 Canadian film Mahoney's Last Stand starring Alexis Kanner, Sam Waterston and Maud Adams. The film itself, little seen at the time of its release and even less so since, charts the progress of city-dweller Mahoney (Kanner) who abandons his urban existence to become a homesteader, and the drama that ensues. Pete Townshend, who guests on guitar on some tracks on the album, also receives a credit in the film for providing 'special electronic effects', alongside Wood and Lane's musical score.
Live at the Ritz is a 1988 live album by Ronnie Wood & Bo Diddley. It was a chart hit in Japan, peaking at #40 and selling over 11,000 copies.
"Ooh La La" is a 1973 song by the band Faces, written by Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood. It is the title song of the band's last studio album, Ooh La La.
"Cindy Incidentally" is a song by the British group Faces, written by group members Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood and Ian McLagan. It was produced by Glyn Johns. It was included on the band's 1973 album Ooh La La, and in the same year was released by Warner Bros. Records as the first single from that album.
The Definitive Rock Collection is a two-disc retrospective of the British rock group Faces released in 2007, collecting thirty tracks from among the group's four studio albums, various single A and B-sides, and an outtake from the sessions for a proposed but ultimately abandoned 1975 album.