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Greatest Hits The Immediate
Years (Red Vinyl)
Immediate / Charly
Released: 15 February 2014
Released: 14 April 2023.
Remastered.
Note that this vinyl release has
three fewer tracks than the 2014 CD release.
And the hits just keep on coming.
Following the recent issue of Here Come the Nice - The
Immediate Years boxed set, Charly has now released a
compilation of worldwide A and B sides that is nothing short of
a superb collection of Small Faces later tracks. None of the
tracks are "new" as such but they have benefited in a major way
from the recent remastering of Small Faces material, a long
overdue exercise. Simply put, this is the best that these
classic tracks have ever sounded and are as close to what the
band produced in the studio as possible.
Those who have already purchased
Here Come the Nice will recognise the running order and
choice of tracks. This is the same as disc one of the set.
However, for those who do not have the boxed set then this is
the best way to own some of the best music that came out of the
second half of the '60s. These are not just superb songs but
they are remastered and sounding better and crisper than ever.
Instruments are much clearer than ever before
The Immediate period was the second half of the Small Faces
career. They had previously been recording for Decca while
managed by Don Arden but they were attracted by the artistic
freedom that Andrew Loog-Oldham was offering through his
Immediate label. Recording artists in their own right, the Small
Faces were also intended to be the house band writing and
producing for other artists as well as acting as the backing
group. PP Arnold's (If You Think You're) Groovy is the
prime example of this. However, despite the best of intentions
the greatest tracks, arguably, released on Immediate were the
Small Faces own singles. Many years later songs such as
Itchycoo Park and Lazy Sunday and probably the two
tracks most associated with the group by those with less
knowledge of the group. Amongst Small Faces fans, Room for
Ravers own ongoing song vote shows that there is an
overwhelmingly popular track, Steve Marriott's superb Tin
Soldier.
Alongside these iconic singles there is no shortage of
quality in the other tracks. Here Come the Nice somehow
became a hit while the censors were looking elsewhere. "He's
always there when I need some speed" did little to hide the fact
that the "Nice" was a drug dealer. Likewise, was Itchycoo
Park's line "I get high" really about the swings in the
park? For many artists b-sides were either a throw-away to fill up
space on the 45 or a chance to experiment. For the Small Faces
the b-sides were also extremely high quality tracks. Flip over
the 45 of Itchycoo Park and listen to I'm Only
Dreaming, a simply stunning track and, like Tin Soldier,
one which shows each member of the group playing at their
absolute peak. If anyone doubts just how good a songwriter Steve
Marriott was they should listen to this track or another classic
Marriott love song such as Afterglow of Your Love.
Other tracks point to Marriott's future direction with Humble
Pie and the birth of British heavy rock. Lazy Sunday's
b-side Rollin' Over and the Afterglow b-side
Wham Bam Thank You Mam are heavy rockers that show the Small
Faces had moved a long way from the likes of Sha La La La Lee
and were planting signposts to the future of British rock music.
But it was not all Steve Marriott. The other half of the
songwriting partnership Ronnie Lane was delivering excellent
tracks with quite a different feel. Itchycoo Park was
essentially a Ronnie Lane song despite Marriott taking the lead
vocals. However, Lane's more reflective style comes to the fore
on Green Circles and Something I Want to Tell You.
T he end of the Small Faces
career was marked by two final singles. The Universal is
effectively a Steve Marriott solo track. Recorded initially in
his garden in Marlow the tracks marks the recorded debut of his
dog whose bark is substantially clearer on the remastered
version. The track was finished in the studio. It's a great
track but not really a fitting way to finish one of the 1960s
greatest groups. However, it was followed by Afterglow of
Your Love from the aborted 1862 album. Like All or
Nothing or Tin Soldier this is Steve Marriott at his
best showing that he really knew how to write a long song. The
vocals show why Marriott was rated so highly as a vocalist. The
track changes vocal style throughout while remaining always 100%
soulful. What a way to finish.
This has to be the essential
collection of second half Small Faces tracks. Dedicated
collectors may already have the disc through the boxed set but
for anyone else this is nothing less than essential listening.
Play loud and be amazed at how these tracks have been
transformed. |
