This attractively presented five disc box set gathers the entire studio output of the band created when the Small Faces’s Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones joined forces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood (ex Jeff Beck Band) in 1969 to form one of the greatest rock and roll bands of its era. Released as the Small Faces in the US the Faces debut’s title First Step is a reference to the Bluesbreakers pastiche cover showing Ron Wood reading First Step Guitar rather than Eric Clapton’s Beano. It’s a stonking album that kicks of with Dylan’s ‘Wicked Messenger’ and introduces the tight but loose style that made their name. There is a strong rock element that culminates in the Zeppelin esque ‘Around The Plynth’ before the high point ‘Flying’, with Jones’s powerhouse drumming revealing why he was a natural replacement for Keith Moon in the Who a few years later. Among the extra’s the previously unreleased ‘Mona – The Blues (Outtake)’ instrumental has some great slide guitar and classic McLaglan piano, pub rock at its finest.
Longplayer from ’71 has a broader mix of styles with ballads, rocking live tracks and a more mature approach to songwriting. The blues are still a major influence but the presence of a ‘Jerusalem’ on acoustic guitar indicates an appreciation of their roots. Rod’s renderings of ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ and the ‘Sweet Lady Mary’ are stand outs, and ‘On The Beach’ could have come from a Stones album of the period. Bonus tracks include the chaotic ‘Whole Lotta Woman (Outtake)’ cheekily credited to M. Rainwater and ‘Too Much Woman (Live)’ an excellent blues followed by ‘Love In Vain (Live)’, which sounds great in all respects.
The Faces peaked in 1971, as much is obvious from Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse, it contains some of Stewart’s greatest work in ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Miss Judy’s Farm’. The former is also as riff tastic as you could want with doubled guitar lines over the solid yet shambolic backing of Jones and Lane. It’s the latter ‘Debris’ that stands out as the best song in a spectacular set, it lacks Stewart’s belting and has a poignancy that sets it apart from the rambunctiousness elsewhere. If Stewart was the band’s ego Lane was its heart, that much is plain.
Having released his solo debut in 1969 Stewart’s career had overtaken that of the group by 1973 when they recorded Ooh La La, so it was difficult to get him in the studio by all accounts. Nonetheless it includes their finest song in the title track, a Wood/Lane composition that find’s Stewart singing of regret against a peerless acoustic backing. The fifth disc in this set adds to the array of outtakes, session tracks and alternate takes found on each of the albums with singles, B sides and rarities. It fills out what is a comprehensive collection of the short lived glory that was the Faces and serves to remind us that there was more to the band than Rod Stewart.
Jason Kennedy
Track Listing:
THE FIRST STEP
1. “Wicked Messenger”
2. “Devotion”
3. “Shake, Shudder, Shiver”
4. “Stone”
5. “Around The Plynth”
6. “Flying”
7. “Pineapple And The Monkey”
8. “Nobody Knows”
9. “Looking Out The Window”
10. “Three Button Hand Me Down”
11. “Behind The Sun” (Outtake) *
12. “Mona – The Blues” (Outtake) *
13. “Shake, Shudder, Shiver” (BBC Session) *
14. “Flying” (Take 3) *
15. “Nobody Knows” (Take 2) *
LONG PLAYER
1. “Bad ‘n’ Ruin”
2. “Tell Everyone”
3. “Sweet Lady Mary”
4. “Richmond”
5. “Maybe I’m Amazed”
6. “Had Me A Real Good Time”
7. “On The Beach”
8. “I Feel So Good”
9. “Jerusalem”
10. “Whole Lotta Woman” (Outtake) *
11. “Tell Everyone” (Take 1) *
12. “Sham-Mozzal” (Instrumental – Outtake) *
13. “Too Much Woman” (Live) *
14. “Love In Vain” (Live) *
A NOD IS AS GOOD AS A WINK…TO A BLIND HORSE
1. “Miss Judy’s Farm”
2. “You’re So Rude”
3. “Love Lives Here”
4. “Last Orders Please”
5. “Stay With Me”
6. “Debris”
7. “Memphis”
8. “Too Bad”
9. “That’s All You Need”
10. “Miss Judy’s Farm” (BBC Session) *
11. “Stay With Me” (BBC Session) *
OOH LA LA
1. “Silicone Grown”
2. “Cindy Incidentally”
3. “Flags And Banners”
4. “My Fault”
5. “Borstal Boys”
6. “Fly In The Ointment”
7. “If I’m On The Late Side”
8. “Glad And Sorry”
9. “Just Another Honky”
10. “Ooh La La”
11. “Cindy Incidentally” (BBC Session) *
12. “Borstal Boys” (Rehearsal) *
13. “Silicone Grown” (Rehearsal) *
14. “Glad And Sorry” (Rehearsal) *
15. “Jealous Guy” (Live) *
BONUS LP
1. “Pool Hall Richard”
2. “I Wish It Would Rain” (With A Trumpet)
3. “Rear Wheel Skid”
4. “Maybe I’m Amazed”w
5. “Oh Lord I’m Browned Off”
6. “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A Walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The Ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Short Comings)” (UK Single Version)
7. “As Long As You Tell Him”
8. “Skewiff (Mend The Fuse)”
9. “Dishevelment Blues”
* previously unreleased