Faces biography

In early 1969, Ronnie Lane crawled from the wreckage that had been the Small Faces. Steve Marriott, his bandmate and writing partner, had just left the band to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton. Although Lane was trying to keep the remaining boys from the Small Faces together, he was also eager to try something new.

Around that time, Ron Wood invited Ronnie Lane to join a band he was forming with drummer Mickey Waller and ex-Blue Cheer guitarist Leigh Stephens. Dissatisfied with the results, the two Ronnies scrapped those plans but pressed on, jamming and writing together. Soon, Ian McLagan found himself sitting in with them, and Kenney Jones later became involved. The three ex-Small Faces were again together as a band, and planned on sharing vocal duties amongst themselves and with their new guitarist.

More than once, while they were rehearsing at the Rolling Stones' complex in Bermondsey, Wood's friend and bandmate from the Jeff Beck Group, Rod Stewart, tagged along to listen. The second or third time this happened, Kenney Jones asked Rod Stewart to have a go at singing with them.

They weren't Faces yet-- they weren't even Quiet Melon, but that's something you'll have to discover for yourself. So, put a pillow under your arse, pour a pint for yourself, and get comfortable as the fracas that were the Faces unfolds before you.

Faces pictures