"The Universal" is a UK single released by English
R&B influenced group
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
on 28 June 1968 and reached number 16, staying in the top 40 for a total of 10 weeks.
Song profile
"The Universal" was originally titled by composer
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...
as "Hello the Universal", but because of an error early in the single's production and manufacture the title was instead printed as the shorter "The Universal". Due to the costs involved in doing so, the error was never corrected.
A densely-lyrical song largely performed in an acoustic 'busking' style, the basic track of Marriott alone with an acoustic guitar was originally recorded by him 'on-the-fly' onto a portable tape machine, outdoors in the garden of his
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
home, Beehive Cottage. The lo-fi recording also picked up various ambient background noise such as birdsong, distant voices and car horns, and even the sound of the wind rumbling through the microphone. Marriott's dogs can also clearly be heard barking in the background (one of Marriott's dogs, Seamus, was also recorded howling in the studio for the
Pink Floyd track of the same name, from their 1971 album ''
Meddle
''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...
''). The Universal's lyrics involved complex wordplay and the vocal were delivered by Marriott in an uncharacteristically offhand but still tuneful singing style. The basic track was enhanced later in the recording studio with various overdubbed instruments that slowly gain prominence as the song progresses, particularly a loud bass drum and percussion whose persistent thud and crash during the latter half of the song add to the recording's '
one-man-band' atmosphere.
Unusually for a Small Faces song of the period, keyboardist
Ian McLagan
Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was i ...
was absent from the recording, having briefly fallen out with Marriott before the session.
Following the success of the Small Faces' previous chart-topping single "
Lazy Sunday", a song Marriott himself was dismissive of, he was especially disappointed that The Universal only reached number 16 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, Marriott was quoted at the time as saying that he thought "The Universal" was the best song he had ever written.
[
] He said of the song:
"The Universal" was the final authorized single released by
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
before they disbanded in 1969. Almost a year later, their record label
Immediate would release a version of "
Afterglow of Your Love
"Afterglow of Your Love" was released as a single in 1969 by the English rock group Small Faces. The song managed to reach No. 36 in the UK Singles Charts. The song was originally simply titled "Afterglow" on the album on which it first appea ...
" as the unauthorized final single by the group.
It has been suggested that Britpop band
Blur's song
of the same name was so titled in homage to this track. The band were said to also have been influenced by the Small Faces "
Lazy Sunday" with their song, "
Parklife
''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After disappointing sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence i ...
", further adding to the speculation.
Personnel
Small Faces
*
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...
– acoustic and electric guitars, lead vocals
*
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of Small Faces (1965–69) and subsequently Faces (1969–73).
Lane formed Small Faces ...
– bass guitar
*
Kenney Jones
Kenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones (born 16 September 1948) is an English drummer best known for his work in the groups Small Faces, Faces, and the Who. Jones was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces/Faces ...
– drums, spoons, percussion
Other musicians
* Don Fay – clarinet
*
Derek Wadsworth – trombone
See also
*
Small Faces discography
References
External links
The Small Faces Official websiteThe Official Steve Marriott websiteThe Official Ronnie Lane website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Universal, The
1968 singles
Small Faces songs
Songs written by Ronnie Lane
Songs written by Steve Marriott
1968 songs
Immediate Records singles