Small Faces Tin Soldier- Room for Ravers

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Tin Soldier / I Feel Much Better

Release date: 1 December 1967

Written by: Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane

Immediate IM 062

Highest UK chart position: 9

2012 Limited Edition 7" Vinyl Reissue

Reissued: 21 April 2012

Supplied with limited edition picture postcard.

It's clearly the favourite song of Room for Ravers readers. However, its popularity is much wider than that. December 1997 Mojo magazine had a reader poll where Tin Soldier was voted number ten single of all time. This placed it ahead of anything by the Who and the Rolling Stones. Wow what a mindblast! Tin Soldier has also been cited by Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher who placed it in his top ten. Room for Ravers now looks at why Tin Soldier is so important.

Tin Soldier was released on December 1^st 1967 and was the Small Faces' 11^th single. The b-side was I Feel Much Better and the song made number nine in the UK chart. It was the group's first top ten entry in Germany but it only made number 73 in the USA. The single followed the massive hit Itchycoo Park and was certainly rockier. The subject of the song was Jenny Rylands, Steve's future wife.

"The meaning of the song is about getting into somebody's mind - not their body. It refers to a girl I used to talk to all the time and she really gave me a buzz. The single was to give her a buzz in return and maybe other people as well. I dig it. There's no great message really and no physical scenes"

Steve Marriott

The song is a superb example of the power of Steve Marriott's lead vocals ranging from the quietness of the verse to the more raunchy choruses. It is also a track that features Ian McLagan at his best with the opening swirls of keyboards. Ronnie Lane provides an incredible bass line and then with Kenney Jones' powerful drumming this is a track that shows all four Small Faces at their absolute best. Add to this the wonderful soul voice of Immediate labelmate PP Arnold on backing vocals and the track is complete and unique.