In a way it is a bit of a shame that my first post on this blog is tinged with a bit of sadness, although on a positive note it gives me a chance to bang on about the Small Faces.
I wasn't around in the sixties but out of all the groups from that era the Small Faces have always been my personal favourites, I had always thought that they were probably the most underrated band of their time, they always seemed to be in the shadow of other's such as the Kinks and the Who. So probably no surprise then that the most underrated sixties group were made up of 4 of the most underrated musicians of all time, Kenney Jones (drums), Steve Marriott (guitar and vocals), Ronnie Lane (bass) and Ian Mclagan (keyboards).
I didn't get into the bands music until the 1990's, in fact I started listening to their stuff and buying their records just before Steve Marriott died in 1991. As soon as I heard Marriott's raw and soulful voice banging out All or Nothing for the first time, I was hooked.
A very good friend of mine at the time introduced me to the bands music, he was a would-be musician himself, a singer and song writing guitarist who had met Steve Marriott a couple of times at a few gigs, one time he went backstage after a gig and jammed with him, Marriott even let him practice Tin Soldier on his own guitar. The same friend found out about Steve Marriott's death at a Paul Weller gig in 1991 when Weller did a cover of Tin Soldier and dedicated it to Steve Marriott announcing that he had died that morning.
The Small Faces music became the bedrock of all the other music I listened to throughout the 90's. Many night's over the local pub were filled with dancing and singing to their music during my 20's. Even now if I make a playlist, there will always be a Small Faces song on it.
I remember many a night in the 90's coming in from the pub and putting 3 Small Faces cd's into my multi disc stereo, getting in bed, plugging in my headphones and waking up in the morning with a splitting headache and nearly pulling off my stereo off the side as I moved back without removing the headphones. On other occasions I used to come in and watch a Small Faces video I had, a compilation of a load of old tv footage of the band and some Humble Pie stuff, I would sit there watching that until my eyes gave in and I fell asleep on the settee. It wasn't long after that I moved out of my Mums.
It's been nice to have a trip down memory lane and no doubt I will write more about the Small Faces in the future, but here is my tribute to Ian "Mac" Mclagan who died yesterday.
Ian Mclagan joined the Small Faces in 1965 as a replacement for then guitarist Jimmy Winston. Winston had been asked to leave the band due to him being taller than the others and according to lead singer Steve Marriott his tendency to hog the limelight. At 5'4 Mac was the perfect fit, he also brought to the band his own style of Hammond organ playing which complimented Kenney's drums, Ronnies bass and Steve's guitar and vocals so well.
When Steve Marriott left the band in 1969, Mclagan, Lane and Jones were joined by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood and The Faces were born. Mac played with the Faces until their split in 1975
In a career spanning almost 50 years Mclagan worked with some of the biggest names in music including Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker and the Rolling Stones.
From 1977 Mclagan fronted his own band the Bump Band, a project he continued with throughout the years whilst working with other artists.
Right up to his death Mclagan was still very much an active musician, there had even been talk of some sort of Small Faces reunion next year, no doubt similar to the Faces reunion in 2009 which Mac was part of along with Kenney Jones, Ronnie Wood and Simply Red front man Mick Hucknall.
He may have had a long and varied musical career but my memory of Ian Mclagan will always be him playing the opening bars of Tin Soldier.
.http://youtu.be/KkgAwQadSHI
Once a Small Face, always a Small Face.
 |
Ian Patrick "Mac" Mclagan12.5.1945-3.12.2014R.I.P |
