A few weeks back Peter wrote about Humble Pie and their terrific tune, I Don’t Need no Doctor.
Humble Pie was led by Steve Marriott, who not only had among the best and most recognizable rock voices, but was also a founding member of the great Brit pop band, The Small Faces.
Mostly known in the states for their catchy psychedelic hit Itchycoo Park, The Small Faces were far more than the bulk of the states ever appreciated. Their 1968 album Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake broke as many rules as an album could in those days. First, the cover of the album was totally different than anything before. It was released in a plastic sleeve, with a fold-out that surrounded the record. Add to that the entire second side was a fairy story song about Happiness Stan’s search for what he thinks is the missing half of the moon. (BTW, Ogdens Nut Gone was one of my Top 50 essential albums.)
The remaining Faces–Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan, and Kenny Jones–all hung with the departure of Marriott, adding Rod Stewart as their new lead singer (Wood invited Stewart to join after the pair worked together on Jeff Beck’s first album, Truth).
The first album the new quintet produced was a fun, bluesy, and listenable work called The First Step, and the other day, as I was streaming KTKE, my Truckee radio station, damned if they did not play a cut from that album, Three Button Hand Me Down.
The Faces were such a great band, both with Marriott and Stewart, and in a way, they were sort of Triple-A Rock and Roll, to the Majors where the players wound up.
Stewart went on to his sort of over-the-top glam career, while Wood joined the Stones, with McLagan supporting the band at times. Kenny Jones drummed with The Who for a while after Keith Moon’s demise, and Ronnie Lane played bass on all of Pete Townshend’s early solo material.
That is a pretty good resume.
So, here is Three Button Hand Me Down
Good one. This is not a Triple-A band. That they mostly all went on to play for the Yankees shows value, probably.
What strikes me is how Rod the Mod tells a story, again, doesn’t he? Like Maggie May, for sure, and I bet that’s why you call an album Every Picture Tells a Story Doesn’t It?
Sorry to say, I have to remind myself about that. But this is a heckuva tune, plus Rod. Nice
Great post – the repackaged Nuts is a great – looking forward to the massive SF box set coming out next year