Review: Faces- ‘Faces at the BBC-The Complete Concert & Session Recordings (1970-1973)’
By Hal Horowitz
Considering the appreciation of the Faces that has only increased in the decades since the band’s brief existence (1970- ‘73ish), it’s remarkable there aren’t more live examples of their notoriously raw, ragged yet frisky and energized live shows.
Thankfully, that ends with Faces at the BBC-The Complete Concert & Session Recordings (1970-1973), released Sept. 6.
The Rod Stewart/Ron Wood/Ronnie Lane-led quintet only released three and a half studio albums in their brief four-year existence, but that was enough to solidify the UK rockers’ legend as an outfit which, on their best nights, embodied a full-throated embrace of the Chuck Berry-styled music the Stones did, albeit to far less popularity.
Previously, the only official document of a Faces show was 1974s hastily released contact obligation Overtures and Beginners, a set so poorly received it was quickly removed from print and has stayed that way. The Faces’ wonderful, even essential, four CD box from 2004—which remains the best place to start for new listeners—included a handful of concert recordings integrated into a comprehensive collection of their studio work.
As if to make up for lost time, Rhino, who apparently owns the rights to all Faces recordings, delivers this mother lode. Its eight CDs and a Blu-ray contain all known live radio broadcasts from the titular years, remastered for improved audio (although mostly mono) and full documentation of when and sometimes how the shows were performed in a comprehensive 48-page book.
Since Rod Stewart’s early solo career was ongoing simultaneously with his Faces work, and most of the members appeared on those releases, a handful of his non-Faces tunes like a rough and tumble “Maggie May” are scattered throughout these sprawling 91 tracks.
As you’d expect there is a lot of duplication. “Miss Judy’s Farm” appears four times, their rugged take on the Temptations’ “I Know I’m Losing You” (perhaps the band’s finest cover) gets three run-throughs, and all the “Stay With Me” hits, or should have been hits, are repeated on different dates.
But that’s not a problem since, unlike the Stones, each is different enough to make the multiple performances worth hearing. UK BBC radio personality John Peel was one of the first to give the Faces widespread exposure (after Steve Marriott left the Small Faces, they hired Stewart and Wood and shortened their name), something they always lauded him for. Three discs are devoted to live work for his shows. Those include his loose, unrehearsed between song chatter with the band and audience. It has dated but remains charming, displaying how devoted he was to the often scruffy but always rocking and heartfelt approach they took.
The Faces were never musically far from the Stones whose own combination of blues, country and rock and roll often inspired the Rod Stewart-led quintet. Stones’ selections such as “Country Honk,” “Street Fighting Man,” “It’s All Over Now” (Bobby Womack cover) cement that connection. Their version of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain” so closely mirrored the Stones it seemed that Ron Wood was already auditioning for his spot in their lineup.
Bassist/songwriter and occasional singer Ronnie Lane, often considered the soul of the group, gets some solo spotlight too; specifically on his “Last Orders Please” rocker. “Ooh La La” though, his best known Faces contribution, is frustratingly MIA.
There are other rare covers too, in particular a roaring version of Free’s “The Stealer” well worth hearing as Wood sizzles on grimy slide guitar. Keyboardist Ian McLagan gets the limelight on 1970s “Pineapple and the Monkey,” one of their few instrumentals, ripping into a Booker T.-influenced organ solo.
Sure, some of this leans to the sloppy, some might say inebriated, side. But that’s part of the band’s charisma and what helped make the Faces undisputed influences on The Black Crowes and The Replacements among many others.
At its best, which is often, the Complete BBC Concert & Sessions Recordings will make you “Shake, Shudder, Shiver” with the realization that, after the passing of McLagan and Lane, we’ll never get to hear these guys connecting live, like here, ever again. But thankfully, we have the next best thing.
Pre-order the set here
“Stay With Me (Live on Sounds For Saturday, BBC, 4/1/72)”
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