Small Faces. Big Sound. There
were but four Small Faces.



   First, they were the sharp little mod
fourpiece of the ‘All Or Nothing’ Decca years, Carnaby Street, Ready Steady
Go! and Rave magazine. Then they were the irreverent freakbeat
experimentalists of the Immediate years, with ‘Tin Soldier’, ‘Lazy Sunday’ and
classic album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. Their hits were praised, covered
and imitated by subsequent rock musicians such as Paul Weller and Noel
Gallagher.



   When The Small Faces split, Steve Marriott
formed Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and the rest of the band became The
Faces with the addition of future Rolling Stone Ron Wood and vocalist Rod
Stewart. The Faces became one of the biggest rock bands of the seventies via
albums such as A Nod Is As Good As A Wink… To A Blind Horse and Ooh La La or
worldwide hit ‘Stay With Me’. When those bands came to a natural end, and with
‘Itchycoo Park’ returned to the top ten, The Small Faces reformed for two more
albums. Were they ill-advised  or are
they ripe for re-evaluation? The evidence is laid out here. For this is the
full story song-by-song, from the very start, to the end …