Small Faces - Debut LP

Released in Britain 60 years ago today: the debut LP by Small Faces. The London ‘Mod’ hard-driving R&B group already had two UK hit singles “Sha-La-La-La-Lee” + “Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” both included on this album, which charted to #3 there. Fun facts: The band name plays on their sub-average stature, all between 5’5” & 5’6”; they were just 17 to 20 years old. In England they became big stars with a dozen Top 40 hits within their four years as a band, but remained nearly anonymous in the States until their only hit single (psych-pop classic ‘Itchycoo Park’) here in ‘68. Leader Steve Marriott (left) then split to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, while the others recruited Rod Stewart & Ron Wood and became simply Faces. Drummer Kenney Jones (right, replaced Keith Moon in The Who from ‘78-’88) is the only survivor. Small Faces were finally inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. More in Comments.

May 6 Birthdays: Charlie Irvis b.1899; Cliff Carlisle b.1903; Martha Boswell (Boswell Sisters) b.1908; Denny Wright b.1924; Leon Hughes (The Coasters) b.1930; Hasaan Ibn Ali (Max Roach Trio) b.1931; Herb Cox (The Cleftones) b.1938; Eddie C. Campbell b.1939; Sandra Tilley (Martha and the Vandellas) and Mike Ratledge (Soft Machine) b.1943; Robbie McIntosh (Average White Band) b.1950; Larry Steinbachek (Bronski Beat) b.1960; Colin Earl (Mungo Jerry) and David Friesen are 84; Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Bob Seger are 81; Mary MacGregor is 78; Davey Johnstone (Elton John band) is 75; John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) is 66; Stan Cullimore (The Housemartins) is 64; Tony Scalzo (Fastball) is 62; David Narcizo (Throwing Muses) is 60; Mark Bryan (Hootie & the Blowfish) is 59; Lætitia Sadier (Stereolab) is 58; Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and Sarah Blackwood (Dubstar / Client) and Till Brönner are 55; Mark O’Connell (Taking Back Sunday) is 45; Robin Davies (Tar Babies) is ??

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Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Just when the first-generation British Invasion bands galloped ahead into pop art in 1966, the Small Faces worked a heavy R&B groove on their 1966 debut. That's not to say that this pack of four sharp-suited mods were unaware of the times. If anything, no other British band of the mid-'60s was so keenly tuned into fashion, the four Small Faces capturing the style and sound of dancing pilled-up mods better even than the Who, possibly because the group could carry a groove better than the Who, as this tightly propulsive debut amply illustrates. Like many '60s debuts, The Small Faces is split between covers, songs the label pushed on the band, and originals, some clearly interpolations of songs they'd been covering in clubs. "Come on Children" echoes James Brown's "Think," and "You Need Loving" is based on Willie Dixon's "You Need Love." Later, Led Zeppelin would rework the Small Faces' "You Need Loving" into "Whole Lotta Love," and while it's easy to hear how Steve Marriott's raw-throated howl influenced Robert Plant as much as Marriott's heavy shards of guitar influenced Jimmy Page, what's striking about The Small Faces is that there is very little blues or rock & roll here: it's all hard-charging, driving R&B and soul, the emphasis all on the groove. By stressing the beat, the Small Faces carry themselves over some slight songwriting -- the band's energetic interplay carries them over the rough spots between "It's Too Late," "What'Cha Gonna Do About It," and "Sha La La La Lee," and that concentration even pushes them into trailblazing territory, as on the lean, ominous pulse of "E Too D." Such moments keep The Small Faces sounding fearless and fresh even when by other respects it is very much a record of its time.

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