Small Faces
Studio album by Small Faces
Released	23 June 1967
Recorded	October 1966 – April 1967
Studio	IBC and Olympic, London
Genre	R&B psychedelic rock psychedelic pop
Length	30:24
Label	Immediate
Producer	Ronnie Lane Steve Marriott
Small Faces chronology
From the Beginning (1967) Small Faces (1967) There Are But Four Small Faces (1968)

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.^[1]

The album is considered to be the artistic breakthrough for the group in terms of songwriting and composition, and marks their transition from a mod-influenced blue-eyed soul/R&B band to a psychedelic studio group, which they were then seen as from this point until their breakup in early 1969. 'Small Faces' was recorded over a lengthy (by the standard of the time) period of nine months, during the band's tenure on both Decca and Immediate Records, at two separate studios.^[2] It is their first LP to contain solely original compositions. Thirteen of the album's fourteen tracks were either written or co-written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, in contrast to the group's 1966 debut, in which only seven of the twelve tracks are credited to the band, with the remaining tracks being written by artists such as Kenny Lynch and Ian Samwell, or being R&B covers that were parts of the group's early repertoire.^[3]

The album incorporates a blend of several different moods and genres of music, ranging from the relatively straight-up R&B of "Talk To You", the blue-eyed soul balladry of "My Way of Giving" and the brass-driven, bouncy soul-pop of "All Our Yesterdays", to the more complex baroque pop of "Show Me the Way" and "Feeling Lonely", and the power pop and psychedelia of tracks such as "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me" and "Green Circles". The album also marks the debut of Ian McLagan as a solo composer, contributing his song "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire" which is the first of two compositions for the group credited to him alone (the second being "Long Agos and Worlds Apart" from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake). It is also the first studio album by the group where McLagan plays on all tracks, whereas on their debut album both he and Jimmy Winston are jointly credited as keyboardist (about half of the debut album was recorded with Winston in June–September 1965, with the remaining tracks being recorded after McLagan joined the band in November 1965).^[4]

The album reached number 12 on the UK charts, becoming their only original studio album to chart outside the top-10 (both their debut album and Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake reached the top-5). Despite not containing a hit single, it was released in between their smash hits "Here Come the Nice" and "Itchycoo Park" and was highly regarded by other musicians, exerting a strong influence on a number of bands both at home and abroad.^[5] The album received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans alike, and has been featured on several best of lists, including Ultimate Classic Rock's list of Top 100 '60s Rock Albums, along with several lists by Mojo magazine.^[6] Many fans consider Small Faces to be the group's best album.^[7]

Background

Recording

The majority of Small Faces was recorded at Olympic Studios, Barnes in London with engineer Glyn Johns.

Tracks recorded specifically for a follow-up album to their debut commenced by August 1966 when tracks such as "My Mind's Eye", "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, "My Way of Giving", "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me?" and "That Man" were taped at IBC Studios, while the band were still signed to Decca Records.^[10] Between 5–7 December of that year, the group cut a song entitled "Picaninny", a three-minute instrumental piece featuring Steve Marriott on harmonica. This track is thought to be a backing track, even though it had received mixes in both mono and stereo. Ultimately it was not included on the album, and got its official release on the compilation cassette Small Faces – Big Music: A Compleat Collection in 1984.^[13]

In early December, work on "Get Yourself Together" had started. By 13 December 1966 the group cut the backing track of the song "Green Circles" at IBC, further takes of the songs were recorded at Olympic Studios on 10 January 1967, with vocal takes attempted by both Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane during that session. The following day, the group recorded "All Our Yesterdays", "Just Passing" and 11 takes of a track dubbed "Doolally", which was eventually renamed to "Things Are Going to Get Better" after recording take 14, which became the master track. At this point, the master take of "Get Yourself Together" had been completed.^[14] By 16 January, "Talk to You" had been recorded.

By February, the group recorded "Become Like You", "Something I Want to Tell You" and "Feeling Lonely". On 28 February, "Eddie's Dreaming" had been recorded. The same day, "Get Yourself Together" and "Green Circles" had been mixed both in stereo and mono, with the definitive version featuring Ronnie Lane on lead vocals.^[15] In March, "My Way of Giving" had been rehauled, and "Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire" had been recorded. The remaining tracks were recorded in April, and mixing had been finalized by May.

Musical content

The album is a huge departure from the sound that made up their previous two albums, their eponymous debut and the compilation From the Beginning. Both albums featured many rhythm and blues covers, alongside originals in order to appeal to the mod audience the group amassed.^{[lower-alpha 1]} For Small Faces, they wrote more material that could be classified as pop or psychedelia, which by 1967–1969 had reached its peak popularity.^[17] Both "All Our Yesterdays" and "Eddie's Dreaming" incorporate brass instruments as focal points, while many other tracks feature the harpsichord played by Ian McLagan. The instrument is most prevalent on "Feeling Lonely" and "Show Me the Way". The album also features influences from folk rock on "Become Like You" and "Get Yourself Together", the latter of which features Marriott on twelve-string acoustic guitar.

It was by achieving this synthesis that Marriott and the band believed they had now met the criteria expected of them. Ronnie Lane's predilection for a softer, pastoral and more psychedelic sound was heavily evident on songs such as "Show Me The Way" and "All Our Yesterdays". It was the first release to feature Lane as a prevalent songwriter.^[18]

During the Decca period most of the self-penned stuff was 99% Steve. It wasn’t until Immediate that Ronnie became more involved. The first Immediate album is made up of 50% Steve’s songs and 50% of Ronnie’s. They didn’t collaborate as much as people thought. In fact, when they did, they often ended up arguing and fighting.'

— Kenney Jones, Steve Marriott: All Too Beautiful... pg 151

The vocal duty on the album is more varied than on their debut album, where Marriott sang ten of the twelve tracks.^{[lower-alpha 2]} On the record, Lane assumes lead vocals on four songs, with Marriott singing lead on six. McLagan sings his sole composition "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire". Marriott and Lane share lead vocals on "Green Circles" and "Become Like You" while the remaining track "Happy Boys Happy" is an instrumental.

Release and reception

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Classic Rock	8/10[26]
Mojo	[27]
MusicHound	[28]
Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992)	[28]
Martin C. Strong	7/10
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[28]

The album was well received and reviewed upon its release. In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it 5 out 5 stars, praising the album for its sophisticated songs, and its pop melodies, stating: "there may be some harpsichords but no outright psychedelia -- but it is bright, colorful, and concentrated, its very brevity playing like snappy pop art. No song runs over three minutes and many clock in under two, a direct contrast to the somewhat extended grooves of their 1966 LP, and an aesthetic that lends this an exceptionally modern feel: all the tunes are sharply cut and precisely tailored, with no wasted moments."

The Classic Rock magazine gave it 8/10 stars, while Mojo granted it 4 stars.

In popular culture

The album is a favourite of Paul Weller, who named the album in his 'Top Ten of All-Time' in 1992.^[32] The Jam had covered "Get Yourself Together" between 1981–1982.

Donovan (a friend of the Small Faces) recorded "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in 1968, a song that both musically and thematically references "Green Circles."

British singer Chris Farlowe released a cover of "My Way of Giving" as a single in early 1967. His version stayed on the UK Singles Chart for a single week, peaking at number 48.^[33]

"My Way of Giving" was also covered by Rod Stewart for his 1970 album Gasoline Alley backed by, as the personnel credits on the LP reveal, The Faces. The Faces featured former Small Faces Lane, Jones and McLagan, alongside Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Lane, Jones and McLagan are therefore effectively covering their own song, albeit it in a quite different, more uptempo 'Motown' style arrangement.

Track listing

All tracks written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane unless noted.

Personnel

Small Faces

• Steve Marriott – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, guitars, piano on "Things Are Going to Get Better" and "Show Me the Way"
• Ronnie Lane – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, bass guitar
• Kenney Jones – drums, percussion
• Ian McLagan – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, keyboards, bass guitar on "Show Me the Way", guitar and bass guitar on "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire"

Technica;

• Glyn Johns, George Chkiantz, Eddie Kramer – studio engineers
• Stephen Hill – cover design
• Stephen Bobroff – photography

Chart positions

See also

• Small Faces discography

References and note

Further reading

• Paolo Hewitt John Hellier (2004). Steve Marriott - All Too Beautiful.... Helter Skelter Publishing ISBN 1-900924-44-7.
• Paolo Hewitt/Kenney Jones (1995) small faces the young mods' forgotten story – Acid Jazz ISBN 0-9523935-0-6

External links

• Small Faces Official Website
• Room For Ravers Unofficial Small Faces Website
• The Darlings of Wapping Wharf Laundrette Unofficial Small Faces Website
• BBC Small Faces Review