''Small Faces'' is the debut album of

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 band w ...

, released in May 1966 by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. It includes the hit singles "

Whatcha Gonna Do About It "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" is the debut single released by the English rock group Small Faces, released in the UK on 6 August 1965. The song peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, and stayed on chart for a total of 14 weeks. It reached ...

" and "

Sha-La-La-La-Lee "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" was the third song by English R&B-influenced group Small Faces, recorded in December 1965 and released on 28 January 1966, reaching number three in the UK Singles Chart. It was also the first single by the group to feature ...

". The album was well received by music critics and was popular with the public, rising to number 3 on the

UK album chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

remaining at the top for several weeks. It also reached number 8 in Finland.

Album profile

The album was recorded at

IBC Studios The IBC Recording Studios were independent recording studios located at 35 Portland Place in London, England. In the 1960s and 1970s, the studios become internationally famous after being used by recording artists like the Kinks, the Who, Bee Gee ...

, Portland Place, London between June 1965 and February 1966.

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer. Biography Early history Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...

was the studio engineer. In 1966, Small Faces became the eleventh biggest selling artists of the year.

Jimmy Winston James Edward Winston Langwith (20 April 1945 – 26 September 2020), known professionally as Jimmy Winston, was an English musician and actor. He was the original keyboard player with Small Faces. Winston had apparently previously worked under th ...

was asked to leave after the band's second single "

I've Got Mine "I've Got Mine" was the second official song released by the English rock band Small Faces in 1965. The song failed to chart despite receiving favourable reviews in the British music press. "I've Got Mine" is a hard-hitting, moody R&B song and ...

", released on 5 November 1965, failed to make the charts. He still appears on many tracks on this album, including joint writing contributions to "It's Too Late" and providing keyboards and vocals on various tracks. Winston's replacement,

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 in ...

, appears on the album cover and plays on various tracks as well. In 1962,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

recorded "You Need Love", written for him by peer

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

. "You Need Loving" is a thinly veiled cover of " You Need Love". Small Faces were never sued by Dixon, even though "You Need Loving" only credits Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott as writers. Guitarist

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

(initially of

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

and later of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

fame) has claimed to have been disappointed when, after coming up with a wicked guitar riff and requesting Robert Plant pen some lyrics, the singer returned with those of "You Need Loving", a tune Plant, a big Small Faces fan, had, according to Small Faces singer Steve Marriott in early 70s Canadian rock newspaper Beetle, said he had longed to record. Thus, "You Need Loving" became the basis for lyrics of Led Zeppelin's hit song "

Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, ''Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was r ...

" in 1969. Three of the tracks had been released prior to the album. These are the two aforementioned singles "

" and "

", along with the track "It's Too Late" which was issued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

", the group's second single, released in 1965. The band's fourth single " Hey Girl" was released around the same time as the album; ultimately it was not included and can instead be found on their 1967 compilation album From the Beginning. "Own Up Time" was incorrectly titled "Own Up" on initial pressings from 1966, on newer issues of the album the initial name has been reinstated.

Track listing

2012 Deluxe edition

The album was completely remastered in 2012 and reissued as

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

s with previously unreleased material, along with various A-sides and B-sides from 1965 to 1967.(*

wrote the lyrics for "You Need Loving", on the album the song is credited to

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 po ...

and

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 in ...

)

Singles

For more information on the single releases please see their respective pages.

Personnel

;Small Faces *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(all but 1, 8),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

– bass, backing vocals, lead vocals (1) *

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 A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12) –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals with: *

(2, 4, 6, 10, 11) – keyboards, backing vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

Kenny Lynch Kenneth Lynch, OBE (18 March 1938 – 18 December 2019) was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was app ...

(3, 7, 12) – backing vocals

Additional releases

The album was first released on CD in 1988 by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. This edition included four bonus tracks taken from three singles B-sides and one A-side; "What's A Matter Baby", "I Got Mine", "Grow Your Own" and "Almost Grown". 15 of this CD's 16 tracks were in mono, the exception being a stereo mix of "Sha La La La Lee". It was first remastered for CD in 1997 by

Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings w ...

, and this time the bonus tracks were alternative versions of "Shake", "Come on Children", "What'cha Gonna Do About It", "Own Up Time" and "E Too D". In 2006 a "40th anniversary edition" with 23 tracks was released by Decca. Included were the Singles A-Sides and Singles B-Sides from that period, "What's A Matter Baby", I've Got Mine", "Grow Your Own", "Hey Girl" and "Almost Grown". In 2012, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition was released featuring outtakes, non-album singles and alternate versions and mixes, and the remastering and overall reissue was overseen by surviving band members Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones.

Notes

External links

Room for Ravers (unofficial Small Faces website)
{{Authority control 1966 debut albums Decca Records albums Small Faces albums Albums produced by Ian Samwell Albums recorded at IBC Studios