Small Faces Posted by b

Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, Lazy Sunday, Happiness Stan From: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake [1968, Immediate] My first exposure to Small Faces was through the liner notes for the CD reissue of Jimi Hendrix's Axis: Bold as Love. During a discussion of the "phasing" effect applied to the stratospheric end section of the song 'Axis: Bold as Love', came this excerpt: "The Small Faces did phasing first" reports Noel [Redding], "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, that's what it's called." Other reports cite 'Itchycoo Park' as the Faces' first "phased" effort, which was done in mono. "I don't think it was used properly through the Faces," claimed Jimi, "except for certain parts. But 'Itchycoo Park', that was great, they used it great. I had to put that at slow speed 'cause it wasn't long enough." This "endorsement", though rather reserved, was enough to peak my curiosity. I picked up the one Small Faces album I could find at the store: a CD reissue of Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. According to the Ogden's liner notes, the album is "a treasure-a gem- a jewel- a diamond in the rough of rock history," and, Small Faces are the best British band to never make it in America. When liner notes are penned by "super fans" such hyperbolic declarations of grandeur can sometimes back-fire and detract from the music. This time, however, I found myself rooting for this underdog of an album. Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is song-writer Steve Marriott [later of Humble Pie fame with Peter Frampton] and company's attempt to break out of the confines of pop singles (like 'Itchycoo Park') and experiment with studio techniques and the long player format itself. Engineered by the great Glyn Johns, the recording process apparently spanned 4 studios and 5 months in early 1968. The album is intended to be a concept record. The first half contains some great, straight-forward rock songs while the second half veers off into a spoken-word story set to music. While this may sound like a poor man's Tommy, Ogden's definitely forges its own identity. In particular, the spoken word reader: comic actor Stanley Holloway really sells the Happiness Stan sections with his over-the-top cockney accent. All in all a very enjoyable listen.