Small Faces. Big Sound. Therewere but four Small Faces.First, they were the sharp little modfourpiece of the ‘All Or Nothing’ Decca years, Carnaby Street, Ready SteadyGo! and Rave magazine. Then they were the irreverent freakbeatexperimentalists of the Immediate years, with ‘Tin Soldier’, ‘Lazy Sunday’ andclassic album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. Their hits were praised, coveredand imitated by subsequent rock musicians such as Paul Weller and NoelGallagher. When The Small Faces split, Steve Marriottformed Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and the rest of the band became TheFaces with the addition of future Rolling Stone Ron Wood and vocalist RodStewart. The Faces became one of the biggest rock bands of the seventies viaalbums such as A Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse and Ooh La La orworldwide hit ‘Stay With Me’. When those bands came to a natural end, and with‘Itchycoo Park’ returned to the top ten, The Small Faces reformed for two morealbums. Were they ill-advised or arethey ripe for re-evaluation? The evidence is laid out here. For this is thefull story song-by-song, from the very start, to the end …
