"Had Me A Real Good Time: FACES Before, During and After" by Andy Neill.
A bit long at 420 pages. And maybe a bit TOO much detail. For example, do I really need to know what outtake from what Small Faces session turned up on a compilation 20 years later, what five musicians played on it and who produced it? And there is a LOT of that kind of thing.
Otherwise, if you are a fan of the Faces, it is a very comprehensive history with lots of juicy details. It goes into The Small Faces being formed, The Jeff Beck Group being formed, Beck's moodiness and unreliability. If you are interested, there are TONS of details about drugs and sexual escapades, of which there were many.
Without spoiling the book, I'll just give you a teaser. Rod Stewart was not always real kind to his women. Around 1973 he was in the middle of a U.S. tour with the Faces. He was lonely so he sent for his long-time live-in girlfriend in England, Dee Anthony, to come over and be with him. By the time Dee arrived, Rod had hooked up with Swedish model Britt Eklund who he had met backstage one night. Rod simply told Dee, "This is the way it's going to be." Pretty damn cold is all I can say. Dee caught the next plane home, heartbroken. Kenney Jones' wife Jan said that the other wives/girlfriends didn't like Britt: "She thought she was better than everyone else."
That said, Faces Manager Billy Gaff said that when it came to business, Rod NEVER screwed anyone over and he always made sure that anyone who deserved songwriting credit ALWAYS got it.
This is a revised edition so it goes all the way up to 2015, just a year after Ian McLagan's death which the author goes into. Lots of details about band members solo projects too, including Stewart, Ron Wood and McLagan.
Good book but due to all the detail probably only recommended for the more hard core Faces fan.
[Edited on 9/12/2018 by robslob]
Looks good - recently found a few excellent Faces shows, BBC, very enjoyable, although on one Ron Wood is so hammered it sounds like punk rock, scraping the slide all over the place. A tough listen. The looseness of it all is kinda fun though, makes you feel drunk even if you dont drink. Faces Express Bus, Leave the Drinking To Us. Gotta be some good tales behind all that mess.
Love The Faces, I will take the in-depth stuff, as long as it is accurate! I like the deep stuff. Great band and very underrated!!
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
When I lived in Houston I had friends who were DJ's at KLOL, the biggest rock radio station in the city.
I met Ronnie Lane at a few parties, spent some time with him.
At first he seemed like a decent guy, he had some health issues (MS) but didn't really let it affect him.
A few months & parties later he turned into a raging azzhole, berating his care giver/companion to the point it was embarrassing to everyone else there.
He pretty much had no one to talk to since it was a small group of regulars and we'd all seen his tirades.
Don't know how much was due to drinking, his other health issues, or if it was just the real Ronnie unleashed.
When I lived in Houston I had friends who were DJ's at KLOL, the biggest rock radio station in the city.
I met Ronnie Lane at a few parties, spent some time with him.
At first he seemed like a decent guy, he had some health issues (MS) but didn't really let it affect him.
A few months & parties later he turned into a raging azzhole, berating his care giver/companion to the point it was embarrassing to everyone else there.
He pretty much had no one to talk to since it was a small group of regulars and we'd all seen his tirades.
Don't know how much was due to drinking, his other health issues, or if it was just the real Ronnie unleashed.
Lane had some big time substance abuse issues mainly alcohol. The book goes into the making of the Ronnie Lane/Pete Townsend record Rough Mix. Townsend and Lane argued ALL day long in the studio and at the end of the day Townsend gave Lane a thorough ass-kicking in the hallway of the studio including kicks by Townsend to the head of Lane as Lane lied on the floor. Much of Townsend's rage was due to Lane's out of control drunkenness. Pretty hard to make a record with someone who is drunk EVERY single day............
They ended up finishing the record. If I remember it didn't sell much but got good reviews.
Any you folks interested in these 71-73 BBC recordings, pm me.
The Townsend / Lane "Rough Mix" album is very good. Very soulful and organic, especially considering how into technology Townsend was getting, as shown on "Who Are You." I will take "Rough Mix" and "Empty Glass" over "Who Are You," "Face Dances," and "It's Hard."
I love a lot of Faces songs but I was listening to "Long Player" and "Nod is As Good as a Wink" this summer and they felt very hit or miss to me. One song would be great, the next song would sound like filler, then the next song would be half great and half filler. I feel like Rod's albums at that time were more consistently excellent - "Every Picture Tells A Story" and "Gasoline Alley," which had the Faces appearing on them anyway.
I bought "Gasoline Alley" and "Every Picture Tells A Story." Also bought "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse". All 3 came out in close order and Rod Stewart became a solo rock star then. But you are correct about Rod solo then sounding like the Faces as they played on Rod's records. "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink" when Rod sings sounds like a Rod Stewart album. But one of my favorite tracks on it has Ronnie Lane singing.
When Wood left to join the Stones and replace Mick Taylor, I felt that wouldn't be a good fit. I was clearly wrong.
Just posted a couple Faces shows in Vines forum, great sound FM BBC Paris Theatre 71 & 73
