Book Review: Happy Boys Happy by Uli Twelker & Roland Schmitt

May 1999

Uli Twelker and Roland Schmitt's excellent book is now available in English. The German version has been available for a couple of years and those who could not speak the language were attempting to learn it. Part of the philosophy of the book is that the Small Faces and subsequent careers are poorly covered in print. Happy Boys Happy rectifies this by covering the evolution of the groups following the Small Faces in reasonable detail. The chapters are as follows:

• From the Beginning
• The Small Faces
• Humble Pie I
• The Faces
• Ronnie Lane
• Steve Marriott (All Stars and studio parties)
• Small Faces II
• Humble Pie II
• Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan
• Peter Frampton
• Packet of Three
• The DTs and beyond
• Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (What has happened since the German version was published)

Uli and Roland have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject and a love for the music that comes across well. There is an immense amount of detail included so any questions about the groups can be answered which reference to Happy Boys Happy. The book means that far more will be known about Steve, Ronnie, Mac and Kenney as well as Peter Frampton. Ronnie Wood, Dave "Clem" Clempson and the other "personae dramatis" in the Small Faces circle.

Roland Schmitt is the editor of the Itchycoo Newsletter. This is in German and is available free (SAE required) from Roland at the following address:

Note: This review previously appeared on Room for Ravers, the Small Faces' Web site.

• Add your comments
• Bookstore
• Book Review Index

Details

ISBN: 1-901309-01-0

Published 1997 by Handbook Publishing

[ Home | Groups | Indexes | Add Groups ]