The Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968)

The Small Faces were a highly influential English rock band active from 1965 to 1969.

The Small Faces' move to Immediate Records had started the most artistically creative era of their career, first with the #12 hit "Here Come The Nice" and a brilliant self-titled album. They then released three of their best singles, the first of which was the psychedelic pop tune "Itchycoo Park", which was a #3 UK hit in 1967. It also gave them their first (and indeed only) US hit, getting to #16 on the other side of the Atlantic. This was followed by "Little Tin Soldier", a soulful rocker which got to #9 and is surely one of their finest songs. The third hit was "Lazy Sunday", a rowdy knees-up which saw Steve Marriot singing in an exaggerated cockney accent. Originally recorded as a joke, it actually got to #2 and became one of their biggest hits.

Their next album saw them fully commit themselves to the new psychedelic pop sound with 1968's Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. "Lazy Sunday" was featured, as was another similar cockney-rock song ("Rene"). The entirity of side two was taken up by a bizarre, whimsical fairy tale told through song, with narration between each track from comedian Stanley Unwin spoken in his own self-crafted 'Unwinese' gobbledegook. The album turned out to be a critical success, the band's very own Sergeant Peppers', and it made it to #1 on the UK album chart. Due to the complexity of the material they only ever performed it live once, on the BBC.

Small Faces (1967) <|> The Autumn Stone (1969)
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The Small Faces - Small Faces (1967)

The Small Faces were a highly influential English rock band active from 1965 to 1969.

In 1967 the Small Faces signed with Immediate Records, after splitting with Decca. They were at that point progressing rapidly, leaving their R&B roots behind and moving into more psychedelic and pop orientated sounds. This was clearly evident on their first Immediate single, "Here Come The Nice", which got to #12, and managed to escape censorship despite its obvious drug references. 

Their first album on Immediate (confusingly another self-titled one, like their Decca debut) came out in the summer of 1967. However at the same time Decca released a compilation album (From The Beginning) to try and cash in on the band one last time, meaning they had two albums on the market side by side. Perhaps this is why Small Faces only made it to #12 on the album chart, whilst their debut had hit #3. It's a shame, as it turned out to be a brilliant album, definately one of their best, with a diverse range of sounds and styles. Of note were four songs with lead vocals by bassist Ronnie Lane rather than Steve Marriot, and even one sung by keyboardist Ian McLagan. McLagan's keyboard sounds were also vastly expanded beyond just the organ. Overall the album was a great artistic success, representing a massive leap forward in the band's creativity.

From The Beginning (1967) <|> Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968)
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The Small Faces - From The Beginning (1967)

The Small Faces were a highly influential English rock band active from 1965 to 1969.

1966 saw the Small Faces rise to become big stars, with a series of successful singles, appearances on TV shows such as Ready Steady Go! and Top Of The Pops, and touring across the UK and Europe to great acclaim. Their popularity peaked with the release of the single "All Or Nothing" in August, which got to #1. However they didn't actually have much to show for it all financially, and so broke with Decca Records and their manager Don Arden, and were signed to the new record label Immediate (founded by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham).
However at the same time as they started recording for Immediate, Decca released an album to try and cash in on the band one last time. It featured "All Or Nothing", plus another two Top 10 hits ("Hey Girl" at #10 and "My Mind's Eye" at #4), as well as their earlier breakthrough hits "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" and "Sha-La-La-La-Lee", which had already appeared on their self-titled debut. The rest of the album was made up of loose ends recorded whilst they were with Decca, including some fantastic covers of Del Shannon's "Runaway", Smokey Robinson's "You've Really Got A Hold On Me", Don Covay's "Come Back And Take This Hurt Off Me" and Marvin Gaye's "Baby Don't You Do It" (featuring ex-member Jimmy Winston on vocals). Some of the other songs first released here they were in the process of re-recording for Immediate, and they would also appear on their next album.
Though its pieced-together nature and the circumstances of its release makes From The Beginning's place in the Small Faces canon a bit unclear (even more so due to the fact that it repeats songs found on other albums), it actually comes together fine as a record in its own right, showing the band's move from their R&B roots into more of a psychedelic pop direction.

Small Faces (1966) <|> Small Faces (1967)
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The Small Faces - Small Faces (1966)

The Small Faces were a highly influential English rock band active from 1965 to 1969.

Guitarist Steve Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane met in London, and after finding a musical connection they recruited their friends Kenney Jones (on drums) and Jimmy Winston (first a guitarist, but persuaded to move to organ) to form a band - the Small Faces. They started playing in pubs around London, and soon started to earn themselves a strong mod following. Their sound was heavily influenced by American soul and R&B, and Marriott's powerful voice proved perfectly suited to the cover material they were performing. Before long they had got themselves signed to Decca Records.
Their first single was the fantastic "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", which unashamedly borrowed its riff from Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love". It got to #14 in 1965. However its follow up, "I've Got Mine", failed to chart. After this they fired Winston, who was replaced on keyboards by Ian McLagan. In 1966 the new lineup released "Sha-La-La-La-Lee", written for them by Kenny Lynch and Mort Shuman, which got to #3. Their first album came out that same year, featuring both hit singles (some songs featured Winston, and some featured McLagan). Musically it fused their R&B roots with catchy pop sensibilities into a big, loud and powerful rock sound.
The band had soon become a considerable success, and were among the leading mod groups of the 60s.

|> From The Beginning (1967)
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