The fondly-remembered early 70s rock band, fronted by Rod Stewart. From Keep On Rockin, No. 14, 1996

After Steve Marriott left the Small Faces early in 1969, the remaining three members - Ronnie Lane (bass), Ian 'Mac' McLagan (keyboards), and Kenny Jones (drums) - teamed up with guitarist Ronnie' Woody' Wood, recently fired as bassist from the Jeff Beck Band. Meanwhile Jeff's vocalist, Rod Stewart, had just quit as well ('I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness '), and had just signed a solo deal with Mercury, keen to capitalise on his growing reputation in the US. His first album, 'An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down' was recorded in a mere ten days, with Woody and the Faces as his backing band. But just as he needed a few studio hands, so did they need a vocalist. After Steve Marriott, the Faces were wary of another 'dictatorship', and Ronnie Lane had ambitions about becoming front man himself, but recognized his limitations. He and Mac both had their reservations about Rod, but a strong front man was needed. Musically and image-wise, he fitted the bill perfectly, and in October 1969 his membership was confirmed. Two weeks later they signed a deal with Warner Brothers (the Immediate label, on which the Small Faces had recorded, being about to go down the tubes), which allowed Rod to keep his solo career with Mercury.

In February 1970 the group released their debut album, 'First Step', credited in the US to the Small Faces. Included were the single 'Flying' (which failed to live up to its title, despite a new release spot on 'TOTP'), a cover version of Dylan's 'Wicked Messenger', which was scheduled as a follow-up 45, and a Booker T & the MG's-style instrumental, 'The Pineapple And The Monkey'. A first step it was certainly, for it found the band struggling to capture their live essence on vinyl. A year and a successful US tour later, matters improved with the second album 'Long Player', which boasted a striking sleeve design with an almost plain cardboard sleeve in imitation of the long-gone 78 rpm disc. Highlights were the gritty 'Bad'n'Ruin', and a second single 'Had Me A Real Good Time', which found them beginning to capture the genuine spirit on record at last. On the other hand, on a rather short album an 8-minute version of Big Bill Broonzy's 'Feel So Good' sounded uncomfortably like padding.

Up to this time, The Faces were touring both sides of the Atlantic, selling out arenas stateside and getting tremendous write-ups from the music press which tipped them as 'the next big thing'. The Rolling Stones had recently played a few rather disappointing live shows in the UK and retreated into much-publicised tax exile, and The Faces were being spoken of as the new Stones. As lead vocalist Rod inevitably sang some of the material from his solo albums, neither of which had sold as well as the group LPs. 'Raincoat' never charted in the UK, and 'Gasoline Alley' only managed one week at No.62 in October 1970. Reaction in the UK was still lukewarm. At the dawn of the 70s the rock scene seemed to be too serious for them, with more hip contemporaries like the Edgar Broughton Band dismissing them as 'a bunch of drunken East End yobs'.

"When I first met the band I thought they were impossibly rowdy and vulgar people and then it occurred to me that possibly they were having a much better time than I was,” commented Radio 1 DJ John Peel. ”I liked the noise they made and their attitude to it.”

In the summer of 1971 the situation was transformed for the better, for the worse. Rod's third solo album 'Every Picture Tells A Story' was released in July, and reviews were unanimously ecstatic. A few weeks later the group appeared on 'Top Of The Pops' performing one track, 'Maggie May', which had been relegated to the B-side of his current solo single, 'Reason To Believe' Shortly after the single started climbing the charts, 'Maggie May' was made the A-side, everyone fell for it, and the sky was the limit. A show-stealing appearance at the Weeley Festival on the August Bank Holiday weekend did the rest, and weeks later Rod (as a solo act, not with the Faces, it must be noted) became the first act ever to top the UK and US charts simultaneously. Subsequent appearances on 'TOTP' were unforgettable, with balloons being kicked around as footballs, and a certain celebrity guest. The band wanted John Peel to join them, miming the mandolin part played by Lindisfarne's Ray Jackson on the record, as a thank-you gesture for his having championed them so vigorously on Radio 1 and in the music press. A reluctant Musicians' Union official assented, as long as John did not pluck or strum the mandolin or produce any musical note from it. Even so, John recalled, he felt the cameraman was nervously trying to keep him out of shot.

Although the success was largely Rod's, it gave the group a breakthrough, and ensured that their next records would sell far better. Their third album, ' A Nod's As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse', was released just in time for Christmas and made No.2, helped by the engagingly raucous, unashamedly sexist Top 10 45 'Stay With Me'. It was a great single, but like its predecessors, 'Nod' was a rather inconsistent album. Kenny Jones summed up the main problem: "Although we have a lot of fun on stage, we tend to clam up when we get in a studio. " Nevertheless it had its good moments, including the Stewart-Wood composition 'Miss Judy's Farm', and Ronnie Lane's good-time 'Last Orders Please', as well as a spirited version of Chuck Berry’s 'Memphis' with the almost obligatory change in tempo to give it a suitably mock-progressive twist.

The Faces continued to headline festivals around the UK in 1972, but Rod's megastar status as a soloist, confirmed by another chart-topping single and album in the UK that summer, completely overshadowed them. The group continued to play on his solo recordings, but many critics and contemporaries, among them Mick Jagger (who mercilessly teased Rod about the comparisons), said that he was obviously using his best compositions for his solo work and using the group as a vehicle for his cast-offs. "We're very close to each other, we're going to be together for life, " was Rod's official line if anybody dared to question his loyalties.

But although The Faces had their biggest hit in the UK with 'Cindy Incidentally' in March 1973, the writing was on the wall. Their fourth LP, 'Ooh La La' was a major disappointment. Despite good tracks like 'Borstal Boys' and 'My Fault', and despite giving them a chart-topper '- at last, as reviewers pointed out, thirty minutes playing time was scant value for money. Rod's lack of enthusiasm was blatant. He had angered the band during sessions by not coming to the studios at all for two weeks and continually finding fault with the backing tracks when he did so. He refused to sing on the title track, leaving the lead vocal to Ron. On release he publicly disowned the album, telling 'Melody Maker' that it was "a bloody mess" and "a disgrace". Although he later apologised, claiming not very convincingly that he had been misquoted, the damage was done.

As Ian McLagan angrily pointed out, Rod had two deals and two careers, and every night he went on stage with them he seemed to be giving his records undue priority; "We were promoting his solo albums so he should have been promoting ours. " But Rod had a defender in their arranger Jimmy Horowitz, who thought that the main problem was the band's comparative lack of discipline. If a studio was booked at 6 p.m., Kenny would arrive early to set up his drums, Rod would be punctual, Ronnie Lane a little later, then they would have to go looking for Woody and Mac, who might not turn up till 10 p.m. Rod's patience would be exhausted, especially if there was football on the TV in an hour's time - so he told them they could get on with the backing track, and he would come in and do the vocals when it was ready. Their manager Billy Gaff always thought that the Faces stifled Rod, and regarded Ronnie Lane and Ian MacLagan as terribly jealous of his success. He was massive when they had still barely dented the charts.

Increasingly frustrated, Ronnie walked out in May 1973. According to Ian, he wanted Rod out of the group; " He saw there was a power struggle and he thought that if he said he was leaving that we would agree to throw Rod out and make him leader of the group. " If that was the case, his gambit failed. Despite rumours that he was about to join his old mate Steve Marriott in Humble Pie, he went on to what had all the makings of an excellent solo career himself, tragically cut short by multiple sclerosis.

The rest of the group originally asked Andy Fraser, ex-Free bassist then leading the short-lived Sharks, to join. When he turned them down they invited Tetsu Yamauchi, who had replaced him in Free, then on the point of fragmenting for a final time. Unknown to all concerned, Tetsu had unwittingly been working in Britain illegally without a work permit. When he applied for one, the Department of Employment refused him one as the Musicians' Union would not let him join. For a tantalising few weeks, it looked as if the group would have to base themselves abroad.

After their appearance at the Reading Festival on August Bank Holiday weekend (highlights from which were issued on a various artists album at the end of the year), they held their breath, and he was granted the necessary papers in November. With a genial and cooperative bassist who had no ambitions to lead the group, and moreover who spoke and understood little English, the balancc had shifted even further in Rod's favour. There was one person less to argue with him. The others missed Ronnie's personality as well as his writing strengths which had given the albums some badly-needed depth. Even Rod admitted ruefully that "for me, Lanie was the Faces, once he left it took the ass out of it for me. "

Embarking on a UK tour in the winter of 1973, the group added cover versions of Free's 'The Stealer' and John Lennon's ' Jealous Guy' to the set. At the same time they released what has to give 'Stay With Me' a close run as their quintessential single, the thunderous good-time 'Pool Hall Richard' ("You're breakin' my heart 'cos you're stealin' my tart"). But Rod's decision to feature a string section on tour and recruit another guitarist, Jesse Ed Davis, alienated the others even further.

Early in 1974 they released a live album 'Overture And Beginners', on which they were credited for the first time as Rod Stewart & The Faces, a record company decision which caused further discontent within the ranks. The group were frustrated with criticism of their records and the constant comparison with Rod's solo output. But the album misfired; badly recorded and released in a rush merely for the sake of having a new album to promote, it was savaged by reviewers. Despite initial healthy sales, it did their reputation no good at all.

To complicate matters, Rod's contract with Mercury expired at the end of 1972. They put out a compilation, 'Sing It Again Rod', and claimed that they had an extension to the contract. He completed a fifth new solo album, 'Smiler', which they were planning to release until Warner Brothers claimed that Rod was contracted to them as soon as his Mercury contract expired. The latter claimed they were owed one final album, and were temporarily prevented from releasing it by an injunction from Warner. It finally saw the light of day in September 1974, but was indeed the final Mercury release.

All this legal distraction prevented Rod from involving himself fully in the group, and when Woody made a solo album himself, 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' (with backing vocals from Rod and Mick Jagger among others), coupled with rumours that Keith Richard was planning to quit the Stones to be replaced by Woody, the Faces' future looked increasingly unsteady. In the end Mick Taylor, not Keith, quit the Stones in December 1974, and Woody started filling in for him, although at this stage he was still only their 'temporary' guitarist. With the Faces now only a part-time venture, it was easy enough to hold down both jobs at once.

In May 1974, the US 'NME' correspondent had said "Many American critics believe that, as a solo entertainer, Stewart would not be forced to compromise his position to four other musicians. It is also expected that, if and when the split becomes final, he will then record as a soloist for Warner Brothers with whom he is contracted as a member of the F aces. " Despite their initially-acclaimed live appearances as a live band in the US, the group could not sell records there to save their lives; they were regarded as a spent force, particularly after the live album, and Warners made no secret of their impatience to concentrate on their front man as a solo act no longer held in thrall by half-hearted loyalty to a bunch of undisciplined journeymen.

The group themselves would not be drawn - yet. In August 1974 Rod said that while they were all 'working out their own things', they would eventually come back to the band as stronger individuals. Faces studio albums had never worked out, he was the first to admit. "My albums have always been better than Faces albums, always. We won't make another Faces album, I think we'll just cut singles from now on."

To promote the band's next tour of Britain and Europe at the end of 1974, another single, the more restrained 'You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything' was released. It was intended partly as a trailer for a new album the group were said to have had in the can since spring that year, and according to a statement from their London office a decision to split was to be held over, depending on reaction to the same album. After the tour they went back into the studios and recorded another five tracks. According to Rod, "three were good and two were useless. " No more was heard of the album, or these new tracks - which may still be languishing in a vault somewhere. The Great (or not so great) Lost Faces Album, anybody?

At last Warner Brothers' right to Rod Stewart as a solo artist was beyond dispute, so the label was happy. His first album under the deal, ‘Atlantic Crossing', was recorded in the US, where he was now a tax exile. None of the Faces appeared on the sessions. Ian McLagan dismissed it as "sterile and unemotional, 'Sailing' is just pandering to the crowds. Deep down, Rod hasn't changed at all, but he's into all that Hollywood thing. " Meanwhile Kenny Jones, who had also dipped his toe in the solo-career waters with a solo single 'Ready Or Not' the previous autumn, made no secret of his impatience with the situation and his subsequent lack of earnings while the group was in limbo.

What happened to all the singles they were going to record, Rod was asked in July 1975. "1 got shouted down. They didn't want to know. I've got no idea what's going to happen to the band after this {solo) tour. I don't even know if our guitar player is still alive. " The autumn 1975 US jaunt was in effect a Rod Stewart tour, with no new Faces records to promote (and no likelihood of any for quite some time), and with the atmosphere between group, vocalist and 15-piece orchestra deteriorating throughout.

Three months later the inevitable was confirmed. Rod announced that he was leaving the Faces, as he could "no longer work in a situation where Ron Wood seems to be permanently on loan to the Rolling Stones. " Ian McLagan was particularly bitter. The first he knew about it was when he saw the 'exclusive' splashed on the front of the 'Daily Mirror', 19 December. He was convinced that it had happened because Woody seemed set to join the Stones, and Rod was hellbent on 'one-upping' him. But in truth the Faces had ceased to exist for quite some time.

By coincidence Humble Pie had just folded. The Small Faces' best-loved hit, 'Itchycoo Park' had just been reissued and was on its way back to the UK Top 10 for a second time, thus paving the way for a Small Faces reunion, shortlived though it was. Their final demise occurred in 1978 shortly before the death of The Who's drummer Keith Moon, and a few weeks later Kenny Jones replaced him.

Ronnie Wood was now confirmed as a Rolling Stone, even though twenty years later he is still technically regarded as being 'on a salary', unlike the remaining three founder members. Meanwhile' Atlantic Crossing' turned out to be Rod's biggest-selling solo album ever. The Faces had had their moment - and it had passed. But their singles still sound good today, and a listen to the Quireboys or the Black Crowes is ample evidence that the influence lives on. The group reunited in July 1986 for a few numbers at the end of Rod's Wembley gig, and again in February 1993 at the Brit awards, with - ironically - Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman instead of Ronnie Lane, by then sadly confined to a wheelchair. And, like the Sex Pistols, word has it that a Faces reunion, or at least some more gigs - with Rod (and Bill W?) - is on the cards. Or should it be on the beermats?

* Ronnie Lane died in June 1997, soon after this article was published. One of the previously unreleased 1975 Faces tracks, 'Open To Ideas', was issued on 'The Best of Faces: Good Boys...When They're Asleep...' (Rhino, 1999)