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Making Time August 2006
The power of
the opening number is indicative of what follows on this, the
debut album by the Small Faces. The Small Faces were all genuine
Mods and so a cover version of Sam Cooke’s Shake
represented the true sound of the band and gave an impression of
what they were like live. Much of their live set consisted of
R&B and soul classics. This was the music the band listened to
and their own songs, mostly written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie
Lane, followed a similar direction. E Too D and Come
on Children sound like they were sung by a black Stax
artist, not a couple of young lads from the east end of London.
Marriott, in particular, would emerge as one of the greatest
English vocalists of his generation. Ian “Mac” McLagan is
present on around half of the tracks with the remainder
featuring original keyboard player Jimmy Winston. However, it is
Mac who is shown in the cover picture.
The first hit
single is one of the album’s stand-out tracks. What’Cha Gonna
Do About It remains a firm favourite with Small Faces fans.
It was based on the two-note riff of Everybody Needs Somebody
to Love, effectively with new lyrics. This established the
Small Faces as one of the most exciting groups of their day.
The second
single, I’ve Got Mine, did not appear on the original
album but is included here. This is a Marriott/Lane composition
which failed to chart despite being featured in the film
Dateline Diamonds. The follow-up single Sha La La La Lee,
written by Kenney Lynch and Mort Schuman returned the band to
the charts. Hey Girl, included here as a French EP track,
put the Marriott/Lane writing combination into the charts for
the first time and the group never looked back after that.
The album has a
very cohesive feel and is probably very representative of what
the band sounded like on stage at the time. Jamming on Booker T
numbers was a feature of the live set and some of their own
compositions on this album reflect that. The aforementioned E
Too D and Come in Children are certainly in that
vein. Own Up Time, Grow Your Own and Almost Grown
feature Mac on keyboards doing his best Booker T Jones style.
Robert Plant was certainly listening to this album. Steve
Marriott may have been influenced by the likes of Willie Dixon
when writing You Need Loving but Led Zeppelin’s Whole
Lotta Love is almost a word-for-word copy. Alongside the R&B
covers, the group’s own songs had the same power with Steve
Marriott and Ronnie Lane belting out their vocals.
The Small Faces
completed three official albums during their brief existence.
While Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake and Small Faces on
Immediate Records may usually gain more of the plaudits, the
first album on Decca Records is certainly a gem as it
represented that the band sounded like live. It was very true to
their Mod influences and must rank amongst the best debut
albums.
This is the
second time that this album has been issued on CD and it marks
the 40th anniversary of the original release in 1966.
The 1996 release included a number of additional tracks that had
appeared on French EPs and were not previously available in the
UK. This new version has had all the tracks remastered as well
as more French EP tracks included. There is a total of eleven
extra songs. This is complimented with a 20-page booklet. |
