Small Faces

From page 68 of Classic Rock Magazine November 2009



Cover of November 2009 issue.
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All Or Nothing 1965 - 1968 V - )(ACE DIGrA L MEDIA A story of classic hits, managerial rip-offs and one of the great British 60s bands in all their glory.

F ew bands portray the brash exuberance of the British beat scene in the 60s better than the Small Faces. They blazed a colourful musical trail as they made the transition from mod soul boys to psychedelic rockers with a slew of exhilarating singles, and for a while looked like overtaking the mighty Who.

Unlike The Who there's no legend to get in the way of the Small Faces' ripping yarn. They may have been pop stars in Britain but, as Ian McLagan ruefully points out, in America they were just a minor one-hit wonder, thanks to Itchycoo Park. McLagan is a perceptive raconteur, as is Kenney Jones (behind every hit there's a quip), and 80s interviews with Ronnie Lane and dearly departed frontman Steve Marriott make it a team effort.

Manager-wise, the Small Faces suffered a double whammy, being ripped off first by Don Arden and then by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. But there are no grudges. Arden gave them accounts in Carnaby Street, Oldham gave them the freedom of the recording studio. At the time it was all they wanted.

Musically, McLagan reckons it all peaked with Tin Soldier. Which, ironically, is just about the only weak visual in the show — a bogstandard Swedish TV clip, when there are several better, including a couple with the redoubtable PP Arnold on backing vocals.

That blip aside, this DVD is a grand parade of clips ranging from the band playing live at the Marquee in '65 to the Happiness Stan shenanigans from their Ogden's Nut Gone Flake album (complete with oddball Professor Stanley 1Inwin) on BBC2's Colour Me Pop in 1968, along with studio footage, street scenes, and an Australian TV reporter trying to wind up Marriott as he gets off an aeroplane. There's no great drama about the break-up of

the band, mainly because, as McI,agan says, the culprit, Marriott, is not here to defend himself. But you get the picture. •••••••••

Hugh Fielder

David Coverdale
Blue Cheer






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