Jul 13, 2009

SMALL FACES - SMALL FACES (IMMEDIATE 1967) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve + 21 bonus




Small Faces was the second LP of that name issued by the band in the space of a year, a fact that -- coupled with its release a year later in America in somewhat modified form as There Are But Four Small Faces -- has always confused fans of the group's work. This particular album was the Small Faces' Immediate Records debut, and caught the group in the transition from an R&B-based mod band into a psychedelic-oriented outfit. They were still finding their way along the trail from sweaty, soul-drenched James Brown- and Otis Redding-inspired covers and originals to flower-power trippiness, and the short running time and the relative lack of Steve Marriott lead vocals (Ronnie Lane is out front on three of the 14 numbers, in addition to the presence of an instrumental) reveal that they were still laboring to find a sound and a collective voice with which they were comfortable, amid other activities (lots of gigs plus playing on other artists' work as the unofficial Immediate Records house band). The short running time didn't prevent this from being a pretty imposing album, however, especially in its original British edition. "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me" would probably have been a single but for the fact that Steve Marriott and producer Andrew Oldham gave it away to a quartet of Small Faces admirers called the Apostolic Intervention -- no matter, for it made a strong album opener and a great lead-in to "Something I Want to Tell You" and the ballad "Feeling Lonely," which slides into the heavier-weight instrumental rocker "Happy Boys Happy," which showcases Ian McLagan's keyboards and Kenney Jones' drums. "My Way of Giving" was a superb soul shouter that could have been a B-side in the group's earlier phase, but the real treat is the bejeweled, soaring, spaced-out dream account of "Green Circles," with its beautiful lead piano and exquisitely spacy choruses, leading to a tough, crunchy-textured bridge and finale. Side two opened with "Become Like You," a trippy acoustic guitar-dominated psychedelic ballad, leading to the elegant opening strains of the punchy "Get Yourself Together" and the funny, Cockney-flavored "All Our Yesterdays," with its heavy brass and trumpet embellishment. "Talk to You" was another Marriott soul belter, and "Show Me the Way" was a superb harpsichord workout for McLagan, who got an even better break on "Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire" amid Marriott's acoustic guitar strumming, all closing on the delightfully trippy, upbeat "Eddie's Dreaming" (which featured Georgie Fame's band supporting the quartet)....
.............................................
[I'm sorry...Rapidshare deleted the link (see comments) & I don't dare to upload it again...Also "goodbye" to their masterpiece "Ogdens'NutGone Flake" mono & stereo versions, I was planning to post as a SF epilogue these days...]

20 comments:

Tarkus said...

Wonderful!
It's a Mod Mod World.

mckee said...

Darn - missed this one. Rapidshare isn't going to let it loose.

The wonderful Small Faces music you shared with us on the other posts were much appreciated.

Thanks for your terrific taste in music and for all the quality music and quality downloads.

Great Great site

thanks again,

McKee

Anonymous said...

Link is gone.

Possible to upload again please.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Can you reupload, please?

Lapiedra52

Georgie Hirezola said...

"This file is suspected to contain illegal content and has been blocked. After the file has been blocked for 7 days it will automatically be deleted, if the block is not removed by RapidShare. For this reason, a download of this file is currently not possible"....
.............................
Sorry guys!!!!! I can't do anything!!!!

Anonymous said...

No sweat, Georgie, you're the best - thanks for everything.

McKee

Jaime said...

The Small Faces master piece. Sure.

Thankx for this edition.

hakoach said...

tnk u
great blog
but why you not upload to megaupload - the best server on the net
again u make a wonderful job
continue

laclasedetercero said...

it's my first comment on your marvelous blog.
great work (special of covers)
sorry about rapidshare
remember redtelephone66
we are with you.
bye

vincent the soul chef said...

I have to agree with hakoach... but whatever you do, know that your efforts are certainly appreciated. Keep on fighting the good fight :)

Peace and blessings.

coates said...

It's a pity for all of us but surely for you because you give so much of your time to upload all these wonderful CD's.
But....I'm sure that somebody downloaded it and can re-up it with a new link. It would be great.
Thanks for the one that will do it!

Anonymous said...

You can't do aything? Jeezuz, what are you afraid of - you're paying rapidshit money to do this, aren't you? But I suggest you don't use rapidshit because they suck anyway. Use megaupload (1000 time better than rapidshit) or one of the 700 other hosts, or use a multihoster like flameupload.com or multiupload.com, which puts you file on 10 different hosts.

Trust me - as the old time bloggers have learned, there is life beyond rapidshit deletions!

Anonymous said...

I apologize for the previous post.

I was already upset with rapid**** because of deletions I had just experienced and then found your marvellous blog and was so excited to find this post. Then I saw that they deleted it and I became more upset.

But my anger was with rapid****, not you.

Please consider the alternatives mentioned - there are dozens of ways to host that do not involve rapid****.

Again, my aplogies... your blog is wonderful and you deserve my respect. I will live with the disappointment of not getting this great download as my punishment.

Georgie Hirezola said...

you were absolutely right with the rap*****...but this happpened only one time (here) & I don't mind at all...I know I could repost the file in another hoster.
After all the original post still exists!!!...lol
The big problem for me is not the rap*** but the "Big Boss", (if you know what I mean!!) who deleted several of my posts (Georgie Fame, Creedence, Graham Gouldman ...bla..bla..) because of the copyrights!!!!
that's the main reason I'm worrying of...
anyway thnx for your nice words & infos
Georgie+++++

Rob Gronotte said...

So are any of you guys who downloaded this before it was deleted going to make it available? I'm not going to find this Japanese version with bonus tracks anywhere else, please help!

Anonymous said...

Please Could you repost?
Fantastic Blog!

Anonymous said...

Please re-up but give the file a fake name to avoide deletion.
Call it 'Small Steve' or something.
fantastic blog

Anonymous said...

Please re-post. I can't find this anywhere else.

Markus

hooch said...

Thank You!

Anonymous said...

fantastic blog!!!
Please re-post.
I can't find this anywhere else.

again u make a wonderful job
continue!

It's a Mod Mod World...