The Rolling Stones are always
labeled as the best rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. But there was
another English band that should have held that title. The Faces were
the standard bearers for everything that made rock ‘n’ roll dangerous
and exciting. They had a sound that grabbed by the crotch and made you
want to do everything your parents said you couldn’t do. You could
tell just by looking at them that they were doing those things and flaunting
them.
They began as the Small Faces
in 1965: guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, guitars
and vocals; Ian McLagan on keys and drummer Kenny Jones. The band specialized
in garage-soul, influenced by Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, backed by Marriotts
crackling guitar. They had a string of hits in England, but the only
thing that sold well in the States was Lane’s ’67 jangly psychedelic
piece, “Itchykoo Park.”
When Marriott left in ’69
to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, the Small Faceseach of whom
stood just a few centimeters above the five-foot markbecame The Faces,
thanks to the addition of tall boys Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. From
1969 to 1973, they cranked out raunchy, in-your-face rock ‘n’ roll
that still stands as some of the best stuff ever to come out of an unruly
genre. 1971s A Nod Is a Good As A Wink to a Blind Horse produced
“Stay With Me” and “Debris,” and 1973’s Ooh La La spawned “Cindy Incidentally” and “Glad and Sorry.”
But they called it quits in
1975. It’s been rumored that Rod Stewart broke the band up, but Ian
McLagan has another take on it. From his home in Austin, Texas, he talked
to the Independent about the break, his new release, Spiritual
Boy: An Appreciation of Ronnie Lane, and all things Faces.
INDEPENDENT WEEKLY:
I always thought you guys were the greatest rock
‘n’ roll band in the world. It’s a shame you guys couldn’t hang
together. Was it because of your management, who you accuse in your
tell-all book, All The Rage, of stealing money from you and then
telling your parents and friends you were drug addicts and had spent
it all?
IAN MCLAGAN: When Ronnie
Lane left in ’73, the heart of the band was gone. Tetsu (ex-Free bassist
Tetsu Yamauchi, who replaced Lane in 1973) was a fine bass player, but
he didnt have the personality that Ronnie did and didn’t have the
songwriting talents. Ronnie was our most prolific writer. So, with him
gone, the band appeared to be Rod’s backing group. The heart went
out of the band, and after that, Woody had to join the Stones and me
and Rod had to go solo.
Is it true that Ian Stewart,
The Stones road manager at the time,
called when he was trying to replace Brian Jones and Ronnie Lane answered
the phone and said that Ronnie Wood wasn’t interested?
I believe that’s true, yeah.
I only found that out some years ago. I think it was actually Stu, Ian
Stewart, who called Ronnie. And Ronnie and Stu were decent pals but
he said, “No, you can’t ‘ave him!”
You were always a big supporter
of Ronnie Lane. What did you most admire about him?
Ronnie Lane? He was my close
buddy in the Small Faces. In fact, before I was even in the band, because
they had one record out before I joined em, my Dad saw them on television.
I was getting ready to go out on Friday night, and [they were on]
Ready Steady Go, this great TV show we had then. He said,
“‘Ere,
‘ere Look! This bloke looks just like you.’” And it was Ronnie [Lane]
he was pointing to, and we did look a bit alike. When I joined some
months later, my dream band, we’d look at each other in the mirror
and just larf. We didnt look a lot alike later on, but it seemed
like we did then. And he became my closest buddy in the band. I always
loved Ronnie. He was a sweet, sweet man. He was a Spiritual Boy. And
also he was a rascal, a character. But I loved Steve and Kenny too,
there’s no getting away from it. Kenny and I are still pals, we’re
brothers, always will be. But I was very close to Ronnie and The Faces,
too. So when he left, he asked me to leave with him and I said, ‘But
Ronnie, this is my band, too, I want to be in this band with you.’
And he said ‘No, I want to leave here. You can join my band.’ And
I said, ‘No, I don’t want to be in your band.’
The two parted ways. Lane
put out Rough Mix, a brilliant album with Pete Townsend in 1976
that also featured Eric Clapton and Stones drummer Charlie Watts. It
had been two years since The Who By Numbers, so fans looked forward
to new material. But it wasn’t what they expected. It sounded nothing
like a Who record, showing a softer
side of Townsend and Lane. It produced the beautiful ballad
“Annie,” which McLagan has redone on his new tribute to Lane.
“Annie” is
such a sweet song. I didnt know a lot of these songs until last year
cause I never heard Rough Mix when it came out. I heard people
talk about it, but he and I had fallen out shortly before he cut that.
We were actually making that for the Small Faces album and he quit the
band. Scrappy Jud Newcomb, who plays guitar with me, and Mark Andes,
who plays bass with me, and Don Harvey, my drummer, they all knew
Rough Mix and loved it for years. So I was the new boy to it. When
I listened to it, I caught on very quickly and loved Nowhere to Run
and Annie, and we just had to do it.
Spiritual Babe, I had
that song since 86. Rod was doing a gig at Wembley in London, and
I think ticket sales werent doing too well so he suggested a Faces
reunion. It was a great idea, except the plan was for Ronnie to sing
a song and we rehearsed Spiritual Babe, but Rod changed his mind
on the day of the show, which was upsetting for Ronnie and me. Its
such a beautiful song. It would have been a nice thing to do, so I kept
that cassette that I had out of it, his demo, and promised myself one
day Id record it. And, as time was flying by and I was making my
own album here, my next release, I thought, Well, blimey , here it
is February and he would have been 60 on April 1 this year. I thought
I could just do it, I could get the album out for his birthday. And
so I did.
Lane, diagnosed with Multiple
Sclerosis, moved to Austin in 1984 to take advantage of hyperbaric oxygen
treatments available there. He performed with Stones sax man bobby Keys
in The Tremors before running a loose knit group he called the Slim
Chance Band, which usually featured Alejandro Escovedo
on guitar. Despite his failing health, he enlisted Mac for a tour of
Japan in 1990. Although he was eager to play with Lane again,
McLagan had one condition he wanted met before he would agree to go.
He did not want to perform the Faces jangly ode to psychedelia,
Itchykoo Park.
I never liked the
song. When he called me up, I said, I hate it. I dont think it
is all too beautiful. I cant sit out here and go, Its all too
beautiful.
The decision obviously hurt
Lanes feelings, and Mac says now he wishes he hadnt done it. Hes
had a change of heart since then.
I wasnt gonna put it on this album because I never liked
it. But, one day, I had a migraine and I went back to bed, took my medication,
laid down and dozed off for about 40 minutes. I woke up and I was thinking
about Itchykoo Park. I didnt really know the lyrics, but I
went to the sheet and looked at it and realized its a different song
than what Id remembered. It s a classic song. Hes talking about
Oxford and Cambridge. Hes talking about seats of learning:
Over bridge of sighs/ To rest my eyes in shades of green/ Under dreamin
spires/To Itchycoo Park, thats where Ive been.
Over bridge of sighs.
Thats Cambridge. Under dreamin spires, which is Oxford,
the two seats of learning. To Itchykoo Park, which is the east
side end of London, thats where Ive been. In other words,
he didnt know anything about education or the countryside of England,
cause hed never been there. All he knew was Itchykoo Park, which
is a nettle patch in the east end of London. What did you do there?
I got high. What did you feel there? Well, I cried. But why? Because
its all too beautiful.
Its a beautiful song. And
I hadnt realized it, so I put a click track down and put an acoustic
guitar and a electric piano and sang the lyrics/ I never changed it,
put a keyboard bass on it and eventually got my drummer in, Don Harvey.
Scrappy Jud Newcomb, my guitarist, put a guitar on the bridge sections.
We had been playing it live on Japan on that tour I did with [Ronnie].
And we did rehearse it, and I went through it and I thought, Aw God,
thats horrible, because we were doing it like the four Faces,
like we recorded it. Which I think is a nice recording and a big hit
for us, all well and good, but it doesnt sell the song.
Macs new version is a
loving tribute to Lane, who passed away in June of 1997. There has been
talk over the years of a Faces revival, but the band is dwindling.
Original Small Face guitarist Steve Marriott, who died in 1991, was
the first to go. Kenney Jones, who replaced Keith Moon as The Whos
drummer from 1978 to 1983 is still around. Ron Wood is still alive and
well as a full-fledged member of The Stones.
And then theres Rod Stewart. But according to Mac, theres no hope
for a reunion with Stewart in the picture
No! Absolutely not.
Tried for years. We had a tour set upironically by Michael Cohl,
who sets up The Stones toursand Rod backed out at the last minute.
We had an American tourlots of money to be earned, lots of fun to
be had, lots of good music. He pulled out because he didnt think
wed get paid for some reason. It was an excuse, a red herring. Michael
Cohl pays the Stones up front. Its the same way Rod goes out with
whomever promotes him. He gets paid up front. He knows exactly what
hes gonna get for tour. He gets it into his bank account, then he
goes on the on the road. So it has nothing to do with tickets. Thats
the promoters job, to then make up the money hes paid out and
make profit. Thats his risk. Michael Cohl did that with us, and Rod
turned it down. It upset me at the time, and Ive tried. When I put
the box set [2004s Five Guys Walk Into A Bar, a 67-song Faces
retrospective on the Rhino label] together, it was partly because we
needed to have our CDs on release, to earn some money.
If it wasnt for the box
set, The Faces are dead. So to have a current release was an excuse
to make some money and to tell the world, Look, this is the band
that I was in, and look how great we are. Also, listen to Ronnie Lanes
songs. Its all about Ronnie and all about maybe we could have
a reunion. Well, Rods manager called me up, said he loved the box
set, he and Rod were so thrilled, and they wanted to get The Faces back
together. And I said, Youre lying. And he said, No, I really
mean it. And you know what? They were lying! They lied through their
damn teeth. And now Rods talking about it.
See, I have Google alert: When
my name comes up in any country anywhere, I get a Google alert. And
heres Rod talking about a Faces reunion, talking about us getting
together to do a charity gig, which is very nice of him to spend my
money. Hes got an album coming out, and its gonna die the death
and he wants to promote and all he can do is rip us off again. There
is no Faces reunion, its just Rod full of wind and using us as an
excuse to sell his records. Its insulting, you know? Id love to
do it, but Im 61 years of age, I have a great band, and frankly,
we could blow The Faces off the stage. Rod couldnt do it, he cant
hack it. Woody can hack it, Kenny could, but he couldnt. He would
not be the strength he used to be. Id kick his ass any day of the
week, so it wouldnt work, you know. Hes had his chance. Hes
had his many chances. Woody and Kenny and I have always been keen to
do it, always put time aside and, at the last minute, hed make a
lousy album and go and promote it and ignore us. So thats my beef
against him.
Its been reported that
Stewart broke up the group, but Mac says its not
so.
I always thought
it, but in fact, he quit, he told the press the band had broken up because
Ronnie joined the Stones. Ronnie joined the Stones out of frustration.
He toured with the Stones, but he knew that Rod was talking about going
solo and leaving, so he said Well, I might as well join The Stones,
might as well get in there first. And got the press on it, typically.
Rod broke the band or said the band was broken up, but you know what?
He couldnt break the band up. Hes not a member of The Faces, never
has been. Hes not. He never signed contracts. Its just the four
of us. So he cant speak for The Faces. He did that as a dig against
Woody.
Well, youve still got
the memory and the sound of The Faces. To hell with him.
Yeah, absolutely.
And the box set did so well, it introduced a lot of people to us and
there ere still little bands starting, I bump into bands all the time
who say The Faces were our inspiration, from The Black Crowes to Georgia
Satellites.
Whats your favorite song
from the Faces?
I love Glad and
Sorry. I love Debris and Stay with Me, of course. That
was us at our blazing best, you know.
How would you like to be
remembered?
Like to be remembered? [laughs]
Good press, bad press, its all press. Id like to have been inducted
into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, but now that Black Sabbath
and Lynyrd Skynyrd are in, I dont care anymore. It wouldnt mean
much. But mind you, when The Four Seasons were inducted, I said, What
about Gene Vincent, for Christs sake? Whats The Four Seasons got
to do with rock n roll? And Miles Davis? I mean, give me a
break. And you know whats gonna be next? KISSll get in. Black
Sabbaths one thing, but KISS? Kiss my ass.
How much can a man take?
Absolutely, they
missed their chance. But Rods in as a solo artist. How did he become
a solo artist? By touring with The Faces and by performing their songs.
Woodys in with the Stones. How did he get in The Stones? Because
he was in The Faces. Ronnie Lanes not in. Steve Marriotts not
in. Kenny Jones is not in. Youd think because hes in The Who he
might have been. Me, Kenny, Ronnie and Steve have been totally ignored.
So, dammit, we dont wanna join now.
But youve still got your
integrity, as well as a catalogue of great sounds.
You know, as my
wife often said, a lot of people say onward and upward. Its not as
good as upward and onward, because youre already going there. And
thats why our upcoming tour is called Upward and Onward.
I saw you guys when you
played the Pour House in Raleigh last year. It was a great show. You
guys tore the place up.
That was the last
show on the tour so we had nothing to lose. I didnt have a voice
the next day. This is gonna be the first day of the tour, so I might
have to take it a little steadier. But well still rock out every
night we play.
Ian McLagan and The Bump
Band play Tir Na Nog in Raleigh on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 10:30 p.m.
