After the first song, ‘Miss Judy’s Farm’, a
great fat slab of Rock ‘n’ Roll from the combined pen of
Stewart/Wood, giving the band a chance to stretch their wings, next up
is one of Ronnie Lane’s most amusing and rascally songs, ‘You’re
So Rude’, basically just a cleverly played twelve bar stomper, but for
this dog it is the lyrics that steal the day, opening up with...
“My Mum She likes you, she thinks your swell,
Got the makin’s of a Dance Hall Girl,
Your low-cut frock and your Bird’s nest Hair,
Stiletto heels and the way that you swear,
She says to take you back to see my folks again on
Sunday,
Why it looks as though there’s nobody in,
They’ve all gone out to see my Auntie Renee.”
I say be fair. Does that not bring a smile to the old
laughing gear? Beautifully the band follows this with an emotional
ballad ‘Love Lives Here’. The haunting organ chords from Ian McLagen
prove that he knows exactly when to stick to the piano or when to bring
out the Hammond Organ. About knocking down old homes and the memories
that go with them, Rod Stewart has never sung better.
‘Last Orders’ by Ronnie Lane is a cruising,
bluesing pub song about the misunderstanding between the sexes.
Then it is ‘Stay With Me’ time. The hit single
from the album is about as Faces as you can get. One of the best lads
songs ever written. The entire band plays their collective hearts out,
with everybody being given solo space as the song is brought to a
thunderous conclusion at the end of its four and a half minute run. The
sort of thing head banging was invented for. But still it is the lyrics
that add wit and soul to the proceedings. Just before the band goes
wild, Rod sings out...
“So, in the mornin’, please don’t say you love
me,
‘Cause you know I’ll only kick you out the door,
Yeah, I’ll pay your cab fare home,
You can even use my best cologne,
Just don’t be here in the mornin’ when I wake
up.”
Pace-wise, the foot is taken off the peddle for four
and a half minutes for Ronnie Lane to sing his classic homage to growing
up and becoming famous while leaving others behind, and to the duties
that come with it.
But from here on out it is pure barnstorming Faces
style good time music. A romp through Chuck’s ‘Memphis’ with some
truly magnificent slide from Woody, the delights of being evicted from
your own party ‘Too Bad’, and the perfect closer in ‘That’s All
You Need’. The latter two Stewart/Wood compositions bring it all round
in a circle in the style of ‘Miss Judy’s Farm’.
Of course it couldn’t last. After one more chart
topping album (‘Ohh La La’ April 1975) Ronnie Lane left. Although he
was replaced, it was never the same. As Rod Stewart gained more and more
of the spotlight, tension mounted, but it was the other Ronnie who left
first. He joined ‘The Rolling Stones’ as Mick Taylor’s
replacement, and eventually took Ian McLagan with him. Kenny Jones went
on to the unenviable position of replacing Keith Moon in ‘The Who’,
and, of course, Rod Stewart went onto solo superstardom. However, to
these old ears none of them ever reached this peak again.
As they say ‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink To A Blind
Horse’. And if that is not enough for you, you could try their
greatest hits album, which was released in 2001 ‘Good Boys Whilst We
Are Asleep’. It collects the best from all four albums plus assorted
hit singles, but fortunately nothing from their dreadful live album
‘Coast to Coast’, which was recorded on their last tour of America,
and did not find the Band on a good night. A dreadful shame really, as
the period that this album comes from they were one of the best live
Rock ‘n’ Roll band in the world.
Stephen
Leather’s latest book is out. Hard Landing (ISBN 0-340-73411-6, Hodder
and Stoughton, 2004) has a cover with the author’s name in larger font
than the book title, showing the fact that author Leather has 14 previous
books in the last 12 years to his credit, and by now his name is the
drawcard, rather than a catchy book title or attractive cover.
Mott’s CD review: The Faces - A Nod Is As Good As A Wink To
A Blind Horse
5
Stars *****