Small Faces (1967 album)

In 1966, the Small Faces managed to chart a top-5 album and four consecutive top-10 singles on the UK Singles Chart, including their number one hit "All or Nothing" which peaked in September 1966.[5][7] The band had now developed a notable fanbase in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. In a notable incident, fans of the band had, after a performance at the Boundary Park stadium, attempted breaking into the band's vehicle, even climbing on top of it.[8] Of the occurrence, Ian McLagan stated the following:

"The pitch was already soggy and fans started to surround the car in their hundreds. Kids were climbing on the roof. "The ground was pretty soft and the car just wouldn't move. It was right in the middle of the pitch and it just started to go down and down and down. The four of us and the driver were getting the real horrors. The kids' faces were getting mashed up against the windows and I remember seeing one little kid being pushed down and her head disappearing out of sight. We were shouting "Look out for that kid" and then the roof of the car started to bow inward under the sheer weight of the kids on top. We were holding the roof up which was really starting to cave in and there wasn't much air in the car 'cos we couldn't open the windows which really set a panic in."

— Ian McLagan

Demand for a new album had increased towards the end of the year, and by late 1966, the Small Faces had slowly started to abandon their rhythm and blues roots, in favor for more psychedelic direction. The Beatles manager Brian Epstein held a party at their residence on 22 Westmoreland Terrace in Pimlico, London, and introduced them to LSD for the first time after serving them spiked orange pieces served on the plate.[9] Most tracks on the album were conceived and written by December 1966 and the earlier parts of 1967 by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. Ian McLagan wrote his first solo-song for the band, titled "Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire"; This is the sole composition on the album that was not written or co-written by the Marriott/Lane partnership.

During the later parts of 1966, their affiliation with Don Arden and Decca Records had strained, due to several aspects, including the fact that the band received barely any royalties from their records, and that "My Mind's Eye" had been released without consent by the band. After a messy confrontation with Arden who tried to face down the boys' parents by claiming that the whole band were using drugs, they cut their ties with Arden and Decca.[10] They were almost straight away offered a deal with the newly established Immediate label, formed by ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, which they stayed on until their breakup in 1969.[11]

The album was released in both monaural and stereophonic versions on 23 June 1967 (IMLP 008[15] and IMSP 008,[16] mono and stereo versions respectively) in the United Kingdom, and later, it was released in mainland Europe and Oceania. Even though it was a success, it failed to breach the top 10, peaking at number 12 on the UK Album Chart.[1] This is most likely due to the lack of a hit single accompanying the album.[lower-alpha 2] Ultimately, it became the group's only studio effort to fail charting within the top 5 on the UK albums chart, as both their debut and Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake peaked at number 3 and 1 respectively.[17][18]

The tracks recorded in the sessions from August 1966 ended up in assorted ways; "My Mind's Eye" was issued as a single in November 1966, peaking at number 4.[19] The remainder of the tracks ended up on From the Beginning, an album compiled of singles and unreleased material released by Decca on 2 June 1967.[20] Of these tracks, only "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me?" and "My Way of Giving" were issued (in their re-recorded versions) on Small Faces. "Talk to You" was released as the B-Side of "Here Come the Nice" on 2 June, it managed to reach number 12 on UK Singles chart.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Classic Rock	8/10[21]
Mojo	[22]
MusicHound	[23]
Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992)	[23]
Martin C. Strong	7/10
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[23]

The vinyl was well received and reviewed upon its release. In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it 5 out 5 stars, praising the album for its sophisticated songs, and its pop melodies, stating: "there may be some harpsichords but no outright psychedelia -- but it is bright, colorful, and concentrated, its very brevity playing like snappy pop art. No song runs over three minutes and many clock in under two, a direct contrast to the somewhat extended grooves of their 1966 LP, and an aesthetic that lends this an exceptionally modern feel: all the tunes are sharply cut and precisely tailored, with no wasted moments."

The Classic Rock magazine gave it 8/10 stars, while Mojo granted it 4 stars.

LP reissues became the standard format for many years, until it finally became available on compact disc in Japan in 1989. Further CD remasters would reach mainland Europe, UK and the United States, where the album had been unavailable since 1967. Tracks from the album has since been included within compilations, most notably in The Darlings of Wapping Wharf Launderette, a 2-CD compilation of their work on Immediate Records, in which all tracks from it were included.[24] Remasters of the album with a blue tint were sold exclusively at various Sainsbury's locations during 2018.[25]

However, the most prevalent and well-known of these reissues is the 2012 Deluxe Edition, which features several previously unreleased tracks, along with various A-sides and B-sides of the group's 1967 singles.[26] On this remaster is the track "Don't Burst My Bubble", recorded in February 1968. Paul Weller cited it as an inspiration for the title track of the Jam's 1982 studio album The Gift.[27]

The album was completely remastered in 2012 and reissued as compact discs with previously unreleased material, along with various A-sides and B-sides from 1967.

• Steve Marriott – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, guitars, piano on "Things Are Going to Get Better" and "Show Me the Way"
• Ronnie Lane – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, bass guitar
• Kenney Jones – drums, percussion
• Ian McLagan – lead, harmony, and backing vocals, keyboards, bass guitar on "Show Me the Way", guitar and bass guitar on "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire"

• Glyn Johns, George Chkiantz and Eddie Kramer – studio engineers
• Stephen Hill – cover design
• Stephen Bobroff – photography