"Green Circles" | |
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Song by the Small Faces | |
from the album Small Faces | |
Released |
|
Recorded | 13 December 1966 – 28 February 1967 |
Studio | IBC and Olympic, London |
Genre | |
Length | 2:46 |
Label | |
Songwriter(s) |
|
Producer(s) | Marriott/Lane |
"Green Circles" is a song by English rock band Small Faces first recorded in 1966. While not issued as a single in the United Kingdom, it was originally intended as the B-Side of "Here Come the Nice", their first single release on Immediate Records, this release was cancelled and the B-Side was replaced with "Talk to You." [1] It remains one of the group's most well known and influential songs, and showcases the group's venture into psychedelic music, which would be prevalent in their later work, such as on "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday" and Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. [2]
The song was written by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and Michael O'Sullivan, it was recorded on 13 December 1966 at IBC Studios at a session attended by Melody Maker journalist Nick Jones. [3] The group resumed further work added at Olympic Studios on 28 February 1967, Olympic Studios was the same studio the band recorded most of their tracks while signed to Immediate. It was the last track on side one of the band's second studio album Small Faces and features Ronnie Lane on lead vocals. [4] The song got its release in the US on the album There Are But Four Small Faces in March 1968. [5]
The inspiration for the lyrics came after Michael O'Sullivan, a friend of the group, lived at their residence for a while. He is therefore listed as a writer for the song and became the only person not in the group to receive songwriting credits on the album. [6]
Yeah, I suppose an acid trip, I dunno....yeah, Mick O'Sullivan, he lived with us at about that time. He even gets songwriting credit, I don't suppose he gets any money, though, either (laughs).
— Ian McLagan, Small Faces Talk to You: The story of the Small Faces in their own words
Set in B-flat major (the same key as their single "Here Come the Nice"), the song is described as highly psychedelic, and it is about the topic of being visited by a enlightened stranger. The recording engineers for the track are John Pantry, Glyn Johns and George Chkiantz, who was responsible for the flanging effect both heard on this song, and later on "Itchycoo Park". [7] Johns and Chkiantz were also featured as the recording engineers on most tracks of the album.
Small Faces made an appearance on Beat-Club on 23 September 1967 , in which they mimed the song, along with "Itchycoo Park". [8] Earlier versions can be found on the Here Comes The Nice boxset. [9] [10]
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 was 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.
Small Faces is the second studio album by Small Faces, released through Immediate Records on 23 June 1967. Although this was their first album for new manager Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, recording actually commenced during their tenure with Decca Records, whom they left in January 1967 after severing professional ties with original manager Don Arden. As a result of the switch of label and management, Decca and Arden released an outtakes compilation album, From the Beginning in early June 1967 in order to sabotage the chart success of the Immediate Small Faces release - something that it managed to do to some extent when From the Beginning reached number 17 in the UK charts. The Immediate album shares its name with their 1966 Decca debut album, which has led to some confusion regarding the titles. As a result of this, it has been unofficially dubbed The First Immediate Album by several fans.
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"I've Got Mine" was the second official song released by the English rock band Small Faces in 1965. The song failed to chart despite receiving favourable reviews in the British music press.
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From the Beginning is the first compilation album by the English rock band Small Faces. It was released by Decca Records of group material after the band had left the record label; it consisted of the band's Decca hit singles combined with various unreleased recordings. The album rose to Number 17 in the UK Album Chart.
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"Talk to You" is a song by English rock band Small Faces. It was recorded in 1967 and issued as the B-side of "Here Come the Nice" that peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
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"My Way of Giving" is a song written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. Initially demoed by their band Small Faces in 1966, it was given to British singer Chris Farlowe, who released his version as a single in early 1967. It was Farlowe's first single not written by Jagger–Richards since 1965's "The Fool". The Small Faces themselves decided to go on and record a version which was released on two different albums on two different record labels.
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