Search - Small Faces :: Anthology: 1965-67 (Mlps)

The Real Steve Marriott Lives Again

BluesDuke | Las Vegas, Nevada | 03/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So you'd like to know the real essence, the real legacy, of the late Steve Marriott? Here it is. Here is the guts of what he'd eventually forget, when he traded real soul for mere whelping and slamming in the nice-try-but-no-cigar Humble Pie. In their era (and in their native England, especially) the Small Faces were well enough renowned for crowd hysteria (Marriott, I recall reading once, was nearly killed when a pack of hysterical fans climbed all over the band's limousing and came oh-so-close to caving the roof in with the band themselves still inside) that it was only too easy to forget that these Mods-once-removed were as good as R and B got on the other side of the Atlantic; and, that Marriott, for three brief but glorious years, made a very strong case that there but for the grace of Van Morrison was he was damn near the best white soul singer in the U.K. Individually, the Small Faces weren't exactly instrumental virtuosi, but as a unit they didn't have to be. They forged an unforgettable sound and attack, from Marriott's grinding guitar to Ian McLagen's thundercrack organ and the diaphragm-driving rhythm section of Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones. (Beware: this stuff is a VERY far cry from the booze-soaked rowdy rock and roil for which the band would become infamous in due course, with half their name and a singer named Stewart.) And riding that explosion just so was Marriott himself, in such complete command of the concept that singing soul involved more than just a physical voice outsizing his pint-sized body. He would never again sound this much as though he meant it. By the time the Small Faces made even a dent on the U.S. charts (with the delightfully flaky, phase-shift-crazy "Itchycoo Park," co-written as were most of their songs by Marriott and Lane), the band had left about half their R and B roots behind in favour of a peculiarly affecting eclecticism which put cracked psychedelia and music hall madcapping into the same can (check out, if you can find it, the goofily charming "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" - you guess it: the legendary round album cover). They had some mad fun with it and were pretty effective with it (especially if you have heard Marriott practically biting his cheek to keep from laughing his head off while singing his "Lazy Sunday"). But the real deal for the Small Faces is nailed down tight shut on this anthology. Grab it. Forgive the compilers for the inexcusable omission of that hormonal masterpiece, "Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am." Then just let it roll. And lament that his preening, over-the-top stage calisthenics and scream-thy-last-scream vocals as Humble Pie's frontman came in due course to obscure the real essence of just what made Steve Marriott - rightly - a star in the first place."

Great Decca Anthology.

Morten Vindberg | Denmark | 02/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 2 CD collections comtains most of the records made for Decca from 1965-67. For inexplainable reasons "I Can`t Make It" has been left out. Besides the Small Faces catalogue there is an early Steve Marriot single and 2 songs by Jimmy Winston and his Reflections.The Small Faces recorded some real great singles for Decca, but it was not until they changed to Immediate that they also became an albums band.Their self penned hitsingles "All or Nothing" and "My Mind`s Eye", "Sha-la-la-la-leh" and "What`cha Gonna Do About" makes the songs highlights too.There are great recordings among the other singles and album tracks. They actually released 2 albums for Decca. From the first album "You Better Believe it", "One Night Stand" and "I`m Sorry, She`s Mine".From their 2nd album "My Way of Giving", "That Man", "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" indicate of what great moments were to come on their later records.The single B-side "Just Passing" is simply charming. A great collection!"

Mod at it's finest

tom sindowski | riverside, il USA | 09/22/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Small Faces are a much overlooked R&B band who were vital to the 60s. Steve Marriot was a great vocalist who was an obvious influence on Robert Plant. For some great 60s mod music, check this band out...and this cd is a great place to start! Who fans will dig these guys. "All or Nothing" & "Green Circles" are great tracks. There are some great covers on here also, "Runaway" "You Really Got a Hold On Me" Enjoy the flashback!!!"