(The Hits of) Small Faces

Small Faces was a band that I have quite high on my list of favourite U.K. 60s bands. Although I have never been interested past the band's hitsingles -I can't get through the critically acclaimed 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake' to be honest. The singles though are excellent for the most part. So like I did with another, more poppy 60s band to be sure, Dave Dee, etc. recently, I'm going to take you through my appreciation for Small Faces.

When I was in London somewhere around the turn of the century I encountered a Small Faces t-shirt in the window of a totally music and clothing unrelated shop. I thought 15 quid a bit steep at the time. I still regret it.

What strikes me is how the band developed from a mod R&B band to a psychedelic powerhouse where everything seemed to go and brains and studios were turned inside out to produce the sounds needed. At the same time the signature ending to a song like 'Stay With Me', Faces' greatest hit, is already well explored in Small Faces hits. Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, the two principal songwriters, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones. The first three are not among us any more. The first hit was with original member Jimmy Winston who was replaced by McLagan in 1966.

Two of the songs below were not hits in The Netherlands but were in the U.K. The rest matches 100%.

Whatcha Gonna Do About It (1965)
This song is a fairly straightforward affair. The two chords go up and down. If it is true that Marriot had never played a guitar before joining the band, he sounds quite proficient already. Jones plays a nice drum pick up before the band joins. Marriott's voice already sounds like he's been tarred all over. The influences of Stax and Motown soul on the band are over obvious. The music fits the singing quite nicely. The lyrics aren't by the band Wikipedia tells me, just like the information that the band's manager assisted the single into the chart by spending thousands of pounds to get it in there. It's not a great song but quite good for a starter and fitting in with bands like The Spencer Davies Group and Steve Winwood's voice.

Sha-La-La-La-Lee (1966)
I got to know this song through taping a radio show on Small Faces somewhere in 1976. Many of the hits were played and one of them was this one. I immediately fell for it. The start is so forceful, the melody so positive and strong. A cowbell has a prominent part as does the organ, McLagan's first recording with the band. They can do miracles it seems. This song is so easy to sing along to. What it also shows is that the songwriting skills grew considerably in a short period of time, were it not that manager Don Arden hired songwriters and producers Kenny Lynch and Mort Shuman to write the song. Apparently the band never liked the song, as being to poppy, but I know a good song when I hear one. In fact there are a few song elements that would find their way into the band's song writing from then on. Just listen to the end, the solo organ part, the guitar that chimes in. So the song was not that bad. Poppier? Yes, for sure, but inspiring for both Marriott and Lane.

Hey Girl (1966)
The last song not to become a hit over here but certainly in the U.K. It was on my tape, now long lost and one that I liked a lot as well. Hey Girl has a vibrant side and a loud rock side. It mixes pop with rock and a spruced up R&B. The band obviously had learned from the Lynch/Shuman outing. Marriott and Lane have come up with a great pop single that I love listening to. The bouncing rhythm makes the song go forever forward without holding back for one second. I can't understand that this song did not make the charts over here, unless it wasn't released as a single. They do not come much better in the first phase of the band.

All Or Nothing (1966)
The big splash came with All Or Nothing. Finally a big (no. 2) hit in NL and a no. 1 in the U.K. All Or Nothing brings Small Faces to another level of songwriting and playing. The band has learned the importance of dynamics and works the concept out in a great way. The warm use of the Hammond organ, the extra thumping on the drums providing great accents, working with the rhythm, the sensual way Marriott sings. I have played the song myself for years and it is a joy to play and sing harmonies. Again there's a drum pick up that's becoming something of a signature thing for the band. It is also the first song by the band that can be described as pure rock. The pop element was chucked out and a much harder element added to the band's sound. In several ways All Or Nothing is a major breakthrough.

My Mind's Eye (1966)
The final single of 1966 spilled into 1967 and again is a departure of what went on before. The first hints at psychedelia move in but also of a kind of pop that many bands explored around that time. Especially over here in the Netherlands. Band's like Sandy Coast, Golden Earrings all played music like this around the time. They must have listened very attentively to this single. I never really liked this song a lot, but listening today I notice that I have changed my mind totally. Why? Because the song has an inner pop feel that is much better than I had heard so far. Just listen how the band members sing together and the changes in the melody. If anything this evening's listening session has opened my ear to My Mind's Eye.

Here Come The Nice (1967)
The first hit of 1967 is not the best of the band's efforts. By then they had a reputation that they could afford a somewhat lesser song in between. It is also an inbetween song of sorts. The pop element is brought back but also a psychedelic sheen is laid over the song. It still is not complete. The band sounds, in hindsight, like it still has to make its mind up whether it is going off the deep end. The result is a nice song but not a great song.

Itchycoo Park (1967)
That greatness is achieved with the next single, another major hit. The band allows itself to go off the deep end and the studio has become an instrument with the flanging of the sound. Whatever and wherever Itchycoo Park is things are too beautiful and the flowers wind up in the air of all while enjoying a substance of whatever sort. At the same time it is a little love song about expanding minds together while laying about in that park. The music isn't even that wild or far out. Except for the psychedelic parts it is a fairly straightforward (love) song, with a typical Small Faces ending.

Tin Soldier (1967)
And then the next level. The intro is the precursor to 'Stay With Me'. A blue print even in my book. Tin Soldier is one of the great songs of the 60s. It combines hard rock and psychedelia with pop and soul. It somehow all blends so organically. The female voice that is added is a total surprise showing the band was expanding ever further. P.P. Arnold is singing her heart out. Marriot had written the song for her but kept it for himself and quite rightly so. It may be his best song. Just the way it starts, the piano then the organ, then the guitar, while the drums override it all at a certain point. Again dynamics are an important part and major strength of the song. The combination of the different parts of the song are simply staggering. It all keeps coming together. I simply love it, there's no other word for it.

Lazy Sunday (1968)
This is the song I remember best from the days as a young boy. This was a big hit and I somehow knew it was. Until I got to know the other songs better, this was always my favourite and in a way still is. Lazy Sunday still sounds so adventurous. The band dared to go all out and bring the psychedelia back in in the strongest of ways. But it's not just the strangeness of it all, no, this is all about the inventiveness of the band. There are so many details in this song, where all the strengths of later 60s come together. Small Faces sucked it all in and produced it's first and only no. 1 hit in The Netherlands. If anything this song always brings a huge smile on my face and has done so for well over 50 years by now. In fact I still discover new things in it. This time how the organ sound changes near the end underneath the bells and bird sounds. Funny isn't it?

The Universal (1968)
The Universal sounds to me like some of the songs on The Doors' 'Waiting For The Sun'. It is elementary and different from all the band did before. There was not much after, as this was the final Small Faces endorsed single. In part it is a home recording, as can be heard through the dog's barking in the background. The Universal is a good song though. The fact that Steve Marriott decided to strip everything down may have been a reaction to the overly psychedelic 'Ogden's Nut ...'. It reflects what the Beatles would come with on 'The Beatles' and The Kinks on 'The Village Green Preservation Society', back to basics. Except that for Small Faces it was the end of the road, for the other bands it was not (yet).

Afterglow Of Your Love (1969)
The record label hastened to release a final single after the band broke and Steve Marriott started Humble Pie with Peter Frampton and Greg Ridley. Afterglow Of Your Love is not the best Small Faces single but it is a befitting goodbye. The song sums up the strengths of the band and brings together what it did before in 'Tin Soldier'. On the whole the song holds some great twists that can only be called signature Small Faces. The B-side is one of the last songs the band recorded and is the loudest rocking Small Faces song I've heard to date. What an energy 'Wham Bam Thank You Man' has. Sounds familiar? Yes, Bowie quotes it.

In the second half of the 70s the band reformed but never got back to this level. I have one of the two albums. I think I have not even played it once as a whole. I am going to keep my eye on second hand albums from the 60s though. There must be more where this came from.

With thanks to Wikipedia for some background information used here.

My top 5:
1. Tin Soldier
2. Lazy Sunday
3. All Or Nothing
4. Hey Girl
5. Sha-La-La-La-Lee

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g