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When Steve Marriott left the Small Faces to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton in 1969, the remaining members (Ian MacLagan, Ronnie Lane and Kenny Jones) enlisted the singing talents of up-and-comer Rod Stewart and the guitar chops of Ronnie Wood, both freshly swiped from the Jeff Beck Group. The revamped lineup, dubbed the Faces, was in fact an entirely different band. Embracing the sloppy, drunken r 'n' r that the Stones had brought into vogue, the Faces cut four excellent records before collapsing as a result of their own good times. The band was a huge success in England, but only managed to crack the U.S. Charts once, with the still-popular "Stay With Me," a raucous rock and roll blueprint of a song. While still in the Faces, Stewart became a sensation as a solo artist, releasing his own smash hit records concurrently with the Faces output. The Faces' music is among the most essential of the 1970s, and anyone who's into the Stones, guitars, drums, singing, breathing, living, you name it, should listen to any of their studio records. By way of modern comparisons, basically everything the Black Crowes do well can be traced directly back to the Faces. |
