The Small Faces (with singer Steve Marriott) and later version of the band The Faces (with Rod Stewart) are to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, and that news sent me back to reaquaint myself with their music.
Still haven't heard much of The Small Faces, other than "Itchykoo Park", their '60s hit (and one of rock's first uses of phasing.) For starters, there's a great Faces best-of CD titled "Good Boys...When They're Asleep", but I eventually went all in for the 4CD box set "Five Guys Walk Into a Bar...". Great, great collection, all the best songs, plus live versions, b-sides and studio tracks from their last recording session. The box tracks were selected by Ian McLagan, the band's keyboard player, and he does a masterful job of juggling the track listings. Even in their final days, they sounded just fine (Rod dissed the last proper album "Ooh La La" as mediocre, but I disagree, and so apparently does Ian, because the box features 9 of that album's 10 tracks.) And here's the sad part: I'm keeping my copy of said album for that one instrumental track (it's excellent in a Booker T/BarKays way) because it's worth more to me as 1 track than I'd get trading it in. Ah, the market...
So, in a nutshell, the Faces were a rag-tag r&b outfit, tossed with some Stax/Motown sounds, and then an added dose of acoustic singer-songwriter-ish heartfelt soul. As much as they flouted their lad-ish-ness, they so often wore their hearts on their sleeves. They gave Rod Stewart a platform to practice, then launch his stellar career (which grew more successful but less heartfelt as he strayed from his Faces roots.) Ooh la la, indeed! Cheers,lads.
Oh, and just to show off their sense of humor, their box set plays off the band's lack of height by packaging the set in a shorter box -- very clever!
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