Small Faces were originally a British rhythm and blues band with a heavy mod following. [1] They were later heavily praised and regarded as an influential psychedelic group with songs such as "Here Come the Nice","Itchycoo Park" and "Lazy Sunday" [2] Formed in early 1965, the group originally included guitarist and lead singer Steve Marriott, bassist Ronnie Lane, keyboardist and guitarist Jimmy Winston and drummer Kenney Jones.
Small Faces were formed in early 1965 by Steve Marriott, previously of the Moments, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones of the Outcasts and Marriott's acquaintance Jimmy Winston. [3] Don Arden signed them onto Decca Records, and released their debut single "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" shortly thereafter. It managed to reach number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. [4] The follow-up single "I've Got Mine" was not nearly as successful, as it failed to chart in the UK.
Winston left the band for a solo career shortly after. [5] [6] In a 2000 interview, Kenney Jones 'stated' the reason Winston was fired from the band was because "He (Winston) got above his station and tried to compete with Steve Marriott." Reality is he left. [7] Ian McLagan, of the Muleskinners, replaced Winston as the keyboardist. [5] McLagan played his debut performance with them on 2 November 1965. [8] After "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" became their first top ten hit, the Small Faces enjoyed widespread success, particularly in the UK and mainland Europe. Despite rumours that the group split on New Year's Eve of 1968, [9] the truth is that they were actually obligated to perform a few scheduled live performances during the earlier parts of 1969 before finally separating, with Marriott forming Humble Pie, and the remaining Small Faces created Faces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, both formerly of The Jeff Beck Group.
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Steve Marriott |
|
| all Small Faces releases | |
Kenney Jones |
|
| ||
Ronnie Lane |
|
|
| |
Jimmy Winston | 1965 (died 2020) |
|
| |
Ian McLagan |
|
|
| |
Rick Wills |
|
|
| |
Jimmy McCulloch |
|
| 78 in the Shade (1978) – as guest |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kenny Lynch | 1965–1966 (died 2019) | backing vocals | Small Faces (1966) | |
P. P. Arnold |
|
| ||
Billy Nicholls | 1967–1968 | Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968) | ||
David McCallum Sr. | 1967–1968 (died 1972) | conductor | ||
Stanley Unwin | 1967–1968 (died 2002) | narration | ||
Lyn Dobson | 1967–1968 | flute |
| |
Eddie Thornton | trumpet | |||
Harry Beckett | 1967–1968 (died 2010) | |||
Derek Wadsworth | 1967–1968 (died 2008) | trombone | ||
Joe Brown | 1977 |
| Playmates (1977) | |
Mel Collins | saxophone | |||
Dave Hynes | backing vocals | |||
Greg Ridley | 1977 (died 2003) | |||
Vicki Brown | 1977–1978 (died 1991) |
| ||
Helen Chappelle | 1978 | 78 in the Shade (1978) | ||
Lavinia Rogers | ||||
Madeline Bell | ||||
Liza Strike | ||||
Sam Brown | ||||
Stephen Smith | ||||
Greg Cobb | ||||
Nick Webb |
Lineup | Members | Contributions |
---|---|---|
January – October 1965 |
|
|
November 1965 – February 1969 |
|
|
Band inactive February 1969 – Late 1975 | ||
Late 1975 |
| None |
Early 1976 – September 1977 |
|
|
September 1977 – 1978 |
|
|
Faces are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. It was formed 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).
Kenneth Thomas Jones is an English drummer best known for his work in the groups Small Faces, Faces and the Who. Jones was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces/Faces.
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.
James Edward Winston Langwith, known professionally as Jimmy Winston, was an English musician and actor. He was the original keyboard player with Small Faces. Winston had apparently previously worked under the stage name James Moody.
Small Faces is the debut album of Small Faces, released in May 1966 by Decca Records. It includes the hit singles "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" and "Sha-La-La-La-Lee". The album was well received by music critics and was popular with the public, rising to number 3 on the UK album chart remaining at the top for several weeks. It also reached number 8 in Finland.
"Sha-La-La-La-Lee" was the third single by English R&B-influenced group Small Faces, recorded in December 1965 and released on 28 January 1966, reaching number three in the UK Singles Chart. It was also the first single by the group to feature Ian McLagan on keyboards.
"Whatcha Gonna Do About It" is the debut single released by the English rock group Small Faces, released in the UK on 6 August 1965. The song peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, and stayed on chart for a total of 14 weeks. It reached number 28 in Canada.
"The Universal" is a song by English band Small Faces, released as a single on 28 June 1968. It reached number 16 in the UK, staying in the top 40 for a total of 10 weeks.
"Here Come the Nice" is a song by English rock band Small Faces. Written by guitarist Steve Marriott and bass guitarist Ronnie Lane, it was released as a single on 2 June 1967, through Immediate Records. The song, which was the band's debut on Immediate, was their first promoted release of 1967, following feuds with Decca Records. It marked a distinct turning point for Small Faces' career, being their first single to deliberately venture into psychedelia, though they had previously done that on a few album tracks for Decca. The song's subject regarding a drug dealer somehow bypassed the BBC censors, who did not ban it, which resulted in the song managing to chart at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart during the summer of 1967. The song received mostly good reviews from music critics, with many positively noting the change of genres.
"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.
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.
Playmates is the fourth studio album, and the first during their reunion, by English rock band the Small Faces. The album was created by Steve Marriott, Ian McLagan, Kenney Jones and Rick Wills when they reformed in the late 1970s and recorded it along with the album 78 in the Shade. Ronnie Lane left before the album was recorded.
"Get Yourself Together" is a song by British rock band Small Faces, first released in 1967. It was cut during their tenure on both Decca and Immediate Records in 1966 and 1967 and was written by the Marriott/Lane partnership, who wrote a majority of the Small Faces material. It is regarded as one of their best compositions. It remains one of their most popular efforts despite it not being released as single in the United Kingdom or the United States and has since been covered by other influential artists.
"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.
The BBC Sessions is the second live album by the British rock group Small Faces, released on 15 November 1999 on Strange Fruit Records. It is a collection of recordings the group made for the BBC. While mostly being made up of tracks recorded for Saturday Club in 1966, it also features three songs recorded for Top Gear in 1968. Accompanying these tracks are four interviews with Steve Marriott, and one featuring Kenney Jones.
"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.
"Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire" is a song written by English keyboardist Ian McLagan, first recorded and released by his band Small Faces in 1967. The song was McLagan's first original composition written for the band.
In Memoriam is the first posthumous album release by East London rock band Small Faces after the announcement of their break-up in early 1969. It was released on 1 May 1969 through Immediate Records in West Germany only. Their second compilation album following 1967's From the Beginning, In Memoriam is a collection of live cuts and unreleased studio tracks. The studio material was recorded during 1967 and the 1968 sessions for Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, and also included a few tracks possibly intended for their projected but unrealised fourth album 1862. The studio outtakes were complemented by five live tracks recorded on tour in November 1968.