''Mahoney's Last Stand'' is an album by
Faces bandmates
Ronnie Wood and
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73).
Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...
, recorded in 1972 (with sessions overlapping with the early rehearsals for the Faces' final studio album ''
Ooh La La''). It is the music soundtrack album of the low-budget 1972 Canadian film ''Mahoney's Last Stand'' (original US title: ''Mahoney's Estate'')
starring
Alexis Kanner (who also produced the film),
Sam Waterston and
Maud Adams. The film itself, little seen at the time of its release and even less so since, charts the progress of city-dweller Mahoney (Kanner) who abandons his urban existence to become a
homesteader, and the drama that ensues.
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...
, who guests on guitar on some tracks on the album, also receives a credit in the film for providing 'special electronic effects', alongside Wood and Lane's musical score.
For various reasons the film's release was delayed until 1976, and consequently the soundtrack album suffered the same fate (and to further confuse matters the film has since also been re-released under the title ''Downtown Farmer''). However, due to the relative fame of Wood (and to a lesser extent, Lane), the soundtrack album has remained far more readily available than the film itself.
Background
Ronnie Lane was initially approached to produce a soundtrack for the film through his acquaintance with lead actor and producer Alexis Kanner, and Lane, at a loose end between Faces recording commitments, soon involved his bandmate Ronnie Wood. Lane and Wood were already an established songwriting team within the Faces (and would soon go on to write one of the group's best-remembered numbers, "Ooh La La", together), although by 1972 their partnership had begun to take a back seat to Wood's more commercially-driven writing alliance with
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
. The ''Mahoney'' soundtrack album is a mostly laid-back affair, strongly influenced by folk and country styles in line with the bulk of Ronnie Lane's later solo work, and in keeping with the themes of the film itself. Half of the tracks are instrumentals but one of the others, "Mona (The Blues)", is a re-arrangement of an instrumental Faces outtake from 1970 with a new lead vocal by Wood. Another vocal number, "Just For a Moment", is one of Lane's most tender ballads, recently rehearsed with the Faces but set aside for this project.
For such a seemingly small-scale project the album attracted an all-star guest cast of 1970s musicians (see below), and fellow Faces
Ian McLagan and
Kenney Jones also guest on "Tonight's Number", one of the more
uptempo rock-oriented tracks. In some ways the album offered a tantalising glimpse of the musical direction the originally intended Faces lineup might have taken under Lane and Wood's leadership without Rod Stewart in the group, while also demonstrating how crucial Stewart was to their commercial - if not necessarily artistic - success (Stewart was the last member to join the band in mid-1969 despite the misgivings of Lane and Ian McLagan, who were still smarting after being summarily abandoned by their previous lead singer
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English actor, musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and appeared in the West End, before taking a r ...
only a few months earlier, in their previous formation as
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English Rock music, 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 ...
).
Although it was recorded in 1972 the album remained unfinished and unreleased until 1976, by which time the Faces were defunct, Lane had established a modest but creatively fulfilling solo career, and Wood had joined the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
. The album was released to little fanfare and the lack of information on the original release initially led fans (and reviewers) to believe the work was a reunion for the two bandmates rather than an extracurricular project recorded while Lane was still an active member of the Faces (he left the group in 1973 and they dissolved in 1975). This false assumption remained uncorrected until the album was reissued on CD nearly thirty years later with new, more detailed recording notes (although even today some reviewers seemingly still remain ignorant of the facts).
Track listing
All tracks composed by
Ron Wood and
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73).
Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...
.
# "Tonight's Number"
# "From the Late to the Early"
# "Chicken Wire"
# "Chicken Wired"
# "I'll Fly Away" (Traditional; arranged by Wood and Lane)
# "Title One"
# "Just for a Moment" (Instrumental)
# " "Mona" the Blues"
# "Car Radio"
# "Hay Tumble"
# "Woody's Thing"
# "Rooster Funeral"
# "Just for a Moment"
Personnel
* Ron Wood – vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica
* Ronnie Lane – vocals, guitar, bass, banjo, percussion
*
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...
– guitar on "Tonight's Number", percussion on "Car Radio"
*
Ric Grech – bass on "Chicken Wire", drums on ""Mona" the Blues", violin on "Rooster Funeral"
*
Benny Gallagher – bass on "From the Late to the Early"
*
Ian McLagan – piano, harmonium, keyboards on "Tonight's Number", "Car Radio" and "Chicken Wire/d"
*
Ian Stewart – piano on "Woody's Thing"
*
Bobby Keys – saxophone on "Tonight's Number", "Title One" and "Car Radio"
*
Jim Price – trumpet on "Tonight's Number" and "Title One
*
Kenney Jones – drums on "Tonight's Number"
*
Bruce Rowland – drums
*
Micky Waller – percussion on "Hay Tumble""
* The Wood/Lane Vocal Ensemble (
Billy Nicholls, Bruce Rowland,
Glyn Johns, Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane) – vocals on "I'll Fly Away"
References
External links
*
{{Ronnie Wood
Ronnie Wood albums
Ronnie Lane albums
1976 soundtrack albums
Drama film soundtracks
Albums produced by Glyn Johns
Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios
Atlantic Records soundtracks