The Small Faces



A British mod group that started up in London back in 1965, the Small Faces were Steve Marriott (lead guitar, lead vocal), Ronnie Lane (bass guitar), Ian McLagan (organ, piano) and Kenney Jones (drums). Their sound was rooted in American R&B, Blues and Soul music and overall they sounded not dissimilar to The Who. Indeed, if any band was ever "number two to the Who" in the mod scene, it would be this one.

With the Concept Album Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, the band introduced psychedelic elements to their music, resulting in their most memorable song and biggest American hit, "Itchycoo Park". However, their success didn't last, and the band disbanded in 1969, and Lane, Jones and McLagan joined up with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart of the Jeff Beck Group to form a new combo called Faces, while Steve Marriott teamed up with future superstar Peter Frampton in Humble Pie. Both groups became successful in The Seventies and are now counted as important innovators in the Blues Rock genre.

Like The Beatles and The Who, a major influence on the late seventies/early eighties Mod Revival and the Britpop genre in The Nineties.

This group has examples of:

 * Always Second Best: Thought of as this in relation to the Who, although their number one hit "All Or Nothing" is noteworthy for holding "Substitute" off the top spot in Britain.
 * Black Sheep Hit: "Itchycoo Park", which was one of their less bluesy numbers.
 * Also "Lazy Sunday" which was probably influenced by The Kinks, and was a probable influence on Blur's "Parklife".
 * Concept Album: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.
 * Genre Shift: Started off as a beat group, then switched to Psychedelic Rock at the end of the sixties.
 * One-Hit Wonder: In America, "Itchycoo Park" was the band's only notable hit.
 * The Rival: The chief rivals to the Who in the British mod scene.