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Every picture tells a story, and the cover photo on this sumptuous new Small Faces box set is a prime example. It’s a 1966 black-and-white shot of the band on Westmore Terrace in a smart area of London, outside the house the band’s manager Don Arden (Ozzy’s father-in-law) rented for them.
Arden’s idea was to keep them away from the rough East End and under his control. But look at them, dressed to kill, all unbridled energy; they know what they want to do. Among the Decca Singles are some of Small Faces’ greatest songs – and also a battle to the death with their manager and label for control of them.
First up is Whatcha Gonna Do About It, a cool, cocky R&B mod classic. It made the charts, and when the follow-up, I Got Mine, didn’t, Arden had them record the commercial Sha-La-La-La Lee. Maybe in an attempt to be treated as grown-ups, Hey Girl was the first to credit the band’s Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane as writers.
The fifth Decca song was their masterpiece All Or Nothing, a piece of perfection and their first No.1. Their next single, My Mind’s Eye, classic 60s pop, made the top five. But it also made Marriott furious, because their manager had released a demo he hadn’t approved.
The band broke with Arden and Decca and moved to Immediate Records, but there was a big mess going on with their manager and old label. The last two singles in this collection were released without the band’s permission: I Can’t Make, a fine soulful R&B ballad, which the band refused to promote, and Patterns, with Ronnie Lane on lead vocals and which also had the craziest B-side of any of the singles here, E Too D.
Hats off once again to Kenney Jones, the Small Faces drummer and last one standing, who since 2021 has been doing a great job of keeping the band’s legacy alive. This latest release on Jones’s Nice label is a limited edition (500 copies) of the eight seven-inch singles that the band released on Decca, sides A and B, pressed to vinyl from the master tapes. Their picture sleeves are copies of the rare Dutch sleeves in Jones’s archive. Other odds and ends from the archive, such as music magazine clips and photos, fill the bright, busy 16-page booklet.
