THE SMALL FACES
READER COMMENTS SECTION
Become a Certified Commentator today by following this link!
!!Before adding new comments, please check the GUIDELINES. Don't say I didn't warn you!!
<Nicolafrood@aol.com> (27.02.2006)
The small faces are a great band one of the best and theres a lot of great songs not on any of these albums for instance,itchycoo park,tin soldier,here come the nice,i feel much better,call it something nice,wham bam thank you mam,dont burst my bubble,im only dreaming,i cant make it,patterns,donkey rides a penny glass,the autumn stone,the universal,give her my regards and just passing off the top of my head are all essential to any one who likes this band the only drawback for me is theres a bit too many instrumentals but thats.And what i like about the small faces is the varaity in singers theres three different ones,mclagan sings two songs.long agos and up the wooden hills,lane sings a good few of the songs backing vocal and handles lead vocals on call it something nice, just passing,song of a baker,happy days toy town,the journey... etc. i like the variety, the beatles are my favourate band ever followed by the doors and dylan,those two only had one but the beatles had three,so did the small faces and i thats why i love the libertines for example they were great catchy band with two singers and merit a listen from anybody even with only two albums'up the bracket' and the self titled masterpiece.anyway the small faces,great, wonder full a pleasant surprise they rival any sixties band.
sakal <sakal@btinternet.com> (11.06.2006)
Again we find that, to George, British music only exists to be an export to the USA. So Stevie Marriott is thought to " cash in on the band's Britishness by assuming that phoney cockney accent". Now, I shall refrain from expletives. It is, in a sense, refreshing, and amusing in another sense, to hear, for instance, that "Love ripped off the Moody Blues" for example. But then again it is perhaps better all around if the site approaches accuracy and perspective. Soon the innocents abroad will be contending that he must have ripped off Dick van Dyke after seeing Mary Poppins! So let us see now.
Steve Marriott (the best voice of the 60s?) was a child actor in Britain (like Herman and Davy Jones). In fact he was "The Artful Dodger" in Lionel Bart's "Oliver", one of the most successful shows of the period. In Britain. It was written in Britain by British people, the actors were British, British people went to see it, little knowing that they did not matter at all. And it was based on "Oliver Twist" by a man called Charles Dickens - the same one who invented Sam Weller, that loveable cockney character invented purely with the intention of exporting him to the US a century later - a process known as "the Britnovel invasion". That is, the British only made it famous so they could export it to the people that really matter. Now, Oliver Twist is set in London. And so poor Steve had to sing likeA COCKNEY!
which he was able to do after a lot of phoneyness because he was in fact
A COCKNEY!
However, Stanley Unwin on Ogden's, for some reason referred to on the site throughout as
"A COCKNEY"
was in fact
NOT A COCKNEY AND VERY HARD TO MISTAKE FOR ONE.
He is from the North. Yorkshire. That's why he sounds rather more like
THE BEATLES
than
A COCKNEY!
He sounds, in fact, about as much like a cockney as (eg)
GW Bush (or Dick van Dyke, come to that) He is a famous Yorkshire comedian. So - look, this must be hard to understand, but those British records were made by British people for British people in Britain. The rest of the world likes them a lot, of course. Very perceptive of the rest of the world. And there must be many people who think that any English accent is COCKNEY (including the Beatles, I assume). But there you are - just like the Beatles sing in their local accent sometimes (Maggie May, "Penny Lane, the barber shaves another COOSTOMER" etc etc) silly old Stevie chose to sing the way he spoke. He did it because; 1) that was the way he spoke 2) He was famous for it 3) It amused der British Thanx. My love is at the foot of your hand, come what May
No reader comments yet.
No reader comments yet.
<Nicholas16220026@aol.com> (15.01.2006)
im sure its lane that sings 'something i want to tell ya' i might be wrong but it seems obvious to me.
<RAILGUITAR@aol.com> (12.12.2001)
I happened upon this gem in the local district library and grabbed it straight away. The CD version ended with a bonus live cut of the SFs doing "Tin Soldier" which is a very strong cut. I'm struck by how close Marriott's voice was to Rod Stewart's (especially on "Afterglow") at least when Marriott wasn't indulging his Cockney side.
I believe "Lazy Sunday" was actually a hit, though released over Marriott's strong objections, since he'd been joking around when he was recording it. The Cockney stuff is way over the top, and you have to take away a point for that. Oh, and Mac was (is?) one of the best organ players in rock, ever. 12.Mark Koenigsberg <MKoenigsberg@DCMDE.DCMA.MIL> (07.03.2002)
How could you not mention that this was a ROUND album cover. Unheard of. It just didn't fit in your collection. You had to put this album separately, and thus it always stood out.
Sergey Zhilkin <veetas@mail.ru> (14.11.2002)
Yeah, I agree with Mark Koenigsberg, the cover rules! I saw this LP for ten pounds in London and decided to buy just because of cover in the very last day of my two week visit. And imagine my frustration when I found someone bought it few hours before me! Grr... That's why the first Cd I put into my player when I was back in Moscow city was Ogden's nut gone flake. Probably, this was the moment I managed to 'get' this album. Surely, I've enjoyed "Lazy sunday", "Afterglow of your love" and some others before that but this time it was different - I managed to catch the typical English feeling coming from the album. And the cockney vocals sound so great here! It's a shame that Small faces had to disband soon afterwards - neither Humble Pie, nor Faces could reach the peaks of Ogden's nut. 12 rating from me and a 2 rating to Small faces as to a band (I also have their singles compilation, btw). Low 3 isn't out of question, of course.
Stephen Rutkowski <a_saucerful@hotmail.com> (15.01.2004)
I suppose that George has to regard me as perverted considering I really like this album and I listen to it on a consistent basis. The spoken cockney of Stanley Unwin is indeed overdone and while being entertaining for the most part, can get tiresome when you listen to it many times. However, the cockney accent that Marriot delivers ‘Lazy Sunday’ is incredibly amusing and is probably what drew me to the song (and the album) in the first instance. The only weakness on the album is on the second side in the form of the back to back songs of ‘Happiness Stan’ and ‘Rollin’ Over’. As seems to be the case with concept albums (or concept sides in this case) musical quality is traded for the storyline. ‘Happiness Stan’ has somewhat of an oriental flavour at the beginning, but the track is really dull. ‘Rollin’ Over’ seems like a rock-by-numbers song with nothing too spectacular. If you want something harder, ‘Song of a Baker’ is a much better bet. This song features a majestic sweeping (and heavy) riff. If I was armed with the ability to highlight tracks in red I would do it to every track on the first side except ‘Afterglow of Your Love’, and ‘The Hungry Intruder’ and ‘The Journey’ from the second side. Yes, I really like this album…
The true highlight on this album is ‘Lazy Sunday’. I remember liking this song when I was really young listening to it on the radio. The entire song is so catchy that you can’t help but sing along to it, and the cockney accent adds the delightful ingredient of humour. ‘Rene’ is the next obvious highlight with another catchy chorus. I even like the way the song merges into the psychedelic jam. However that jam can’t compete with ‘Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake’. The track contains the great organ effect, pleasing drum fills that indicate the change in channel and ambitious orchestration (that really works). I’m not big on ‘Afterglow of Your Love’. I quite like the silly and slightly disorganised intro but after that the song becomes a rather tedious pop song. That leaves ‘Long Ago and World’s Apart’ from the first side. Apart from being too short, this is another delightful pop song. As for the second side ‘The Hungry Intruder’ and ‘The Journey’ are the highlights for me. I’m not sure how to explain ‘The Hungry Intruder’ as it is little more than a simple acoustic track, and ‘The Journey’ is actually overlong. The long repetitive bass coda is unnecessary. ‘Mad John’ isn’t too bad and ‘Happy Days Toy Town’ is quite funny. “Life is just a bowl of All Bran/You wake up every morning and it’s there”. However I would liken this song more to ‘Rene’ than ‘Lazy Sunday’. All things considered, you can say what you like about the second side, but the first side contains five great mostly pop songs. This album isn’t for the average person I suppose but I really like it.<Nicholas16220026@aol.com> (02.01.2006)
i love nut gone flake, i picked it up a couple of years ago for £5, i didnt really listen to it at first but have started playing it recently, i like 'afterglow', 'the hungry intruder' and all them appart from the journey which is rather annoying, im going to buy another small faces album shortly and hope its as good.