THERE WAS NO SAVING FACES

Ooh La La was an album that divided and conquered

The Beacon Herald
15 Apr 2023
IAN WINWOOD

**Ronnie Wood, left, and Rod Stewart were members of the Faces before the band broke up in 1975. Both went on to have great careers; Wood as a Rolling Stone and Stewart as a solo artist.**

For the Faces, the process of formally falling apart began at the Roanoke Civic Center, in Virginia, on May 12, 1973. As the group waited in the wings, bassist Ronnie Lane informed bandmate Ian Mclagan he was quitting the group. Much profanity ensued.

“Things took a nastier turn onstage that night, when he came over to the piano and swore at me in the middle of a song,” Mclagan recounted in his book All The Rage. “I ran after him, kicked him up the ass and chased him off the stage. I'm not proud of it, but he asked for it.”

The Faces should have been on the summit of the world. That same spring, the English quintet's fourth album, Ooh La La — the title track of which has recently been revivified by the Amazon miniseries Daisy Jones & The Six — became their first and only LP to top the British chart. Out in the New World, its svelte form (top-to-tail, barely half-an-hour's worth of music) cracked the top 10 in Australia, as well as the top 30 in the United States.

For all its comedic inarticulacy and slapstick violence, the events in Roanoke were nothing less than a coup mounted by Lane against their popular singer Rod Stewart. In accepting the bassist's resignation, the Faces effectively passed a vote of no confidence in a man they would later identify as representing the soul of the group. From this point on, all was lost.

As Mclagan duly noted, “(Lane) wanted to take the power away from Rod but by leaving the band he gave it all to him, and the balance was off.”

The problems faced by the Faces, wrote Stewart in his autobiography Rod, “were political, and slow-burning, and mostly arose as a result of the success I was having with my own records, which created all sorts of complicated tensions and anxieties. Ronnie and Mac were clearly asking themselves suspicious, vexed questions: what was I giving more time to? Where were my best energies going? Was the band my priority, or me?”

As well as being the band's frontman, “Rod the Mod's” increasingly successful career as a solo artist saw him employ fellow Faces as backing musicians on hits such as Maggie May and You Wear It Well. Defying the group's stipulations, concert promoters would adorn marquees with the words `Tonight: Rod Stewart & The Faces.' Back at the hotel, the man with the microphone would often find himself booked into a suite while the musicians with whom he was supposed to share equal-billing were given single rooms.

“Of course, I could have refused the key and insisted on downgrading,” the singer once said. “But then ... well, I wouldn't have had a suite, would I?”

The Faces had come into being only as the result of the fracture of their original selves, the Small Faces, in 1969. By drafting in guitarist Ronnie Wood, along with Stewart, as replacements for Steve Marriott, the quintet added the swagger of American-style rock 'n' roll to their once trenchantly English sensibilities. But as the singer himself would later note, audiences were often “suspicious of us because they couldn't quite make out what our connection was with the Small Faces, whose chart hits in the 1960s had left them with the image ... of a `teenybop' act.”

They were also adept at spiking their own guns. As Ooh La La hovered into view, Stewart told the New Musical Express the group had made a “stinking rotten album.” Rowing back while still plowing on, speaking to Rolling Stone he claimed what he'd meant to say was the Faces were “capable of doing a better album than we've done. I just that don't think we've found the right studios, or the right formula.”

The singer later admitted “recording sessions with the Faces always started out in the pub” and “quite often we were in the pub longer than we were in the studio.” Or that Mclagan took the view that “ever since we'd formed the band, getting Rod in the studio for a Faces session had been difficult enough, but when we started Ooh La La it was worse” because — and, ouch — “Rod has always been mean with his money, but he was even meaner with his time.”

Upon the release of Ooh La La, one judicious reviewer warned listeners “if you are interested in this month's great record, the one that will be reviewed and broadcast ... this isn't it. Nor is it a classic.”

Stewart's decision to absent himself entirely from three of the LP'S 10 songs suggests an inattention to detail that is close to a dereliction of duty. Elsewhere, his bandmates sound as if they're pulling in different directions.

Informal to the point of anarchy, the Faces were a band that snorted cocaine from behind their amplifiers between drinks served to them from a bar on the stage staffed by a waiter in full livery.

To circumvent a worldwide ban from a leading chain of hotels, they pretended to be Fleetwood Mac when checking in to Holiday Inns.

But it was “drugs, coke specifically, (that were) the real issue,” according to drummer Kenney Jones.

“Rod wasn't interested, and neither was I. But Mac and Woody, they were all over the white powder, which would keep them up for days, with barely any sleep at all.” In what might just be the most incongruous rock 'n' roll story I've ever heard, the morning after one notable gig at the Locarno Ballroom, in April 1973, Stewart and Wood joined an AFC Sunderland training session at Roker Park at which the guitarist discovered that powdered drugs had burned a hole in his septum.

“In a private moment, beside the pitch, ostensibly while watching what was going on, Woody pushed his face toward me, with his head slightly tipped back, and said, `Here, have a look at this, would you?'” Stewart recalled. “And by adjusting the angle of my head and looking up his nose, I could make out a small ray of sunlight where, in the conventional way of things, it really shouldn't have been, passing through his septum.” The band's solution to the problem of nasal decay was to start imbibing cocaine anally.

Cocaine made the group brittle and edgy, while drinking to excess encouraged the kind of sloppiness that only an exceptional leader can corral.

Upon joining the Rolling Stones in 1975, Wood got just this in the form of Mick Jagger. The Faces, meanwhile, failed to record another album.

“Right to the end, right until it became clear that Woody was off, I wanted to be in the Faces — wanted to continue to be part of it,” was their singer's poignant protestation.

Stewart did get to record his own version of Ooh La La.

Released in 1998, this younger but somehow older take sounds like a song designed to last forever. Maybe it will — he's still performing it live.

Faces Are Subject of New Book

1970s rock legends Faces will be the subject of a new book, Tell Everyone – A People’s History of the Faces, that tells their story in the words of over 500 fans. The title, written and compiled by music author Richard Houghton, arrives June 2, 2023, via Spenwood Books. It’s available for pre-order in the U.S. here and the U.K. here.

Formed in 1969 from the ashes of the Jeff Beck Group and the Small Faces, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood along with bassist Ronnie Lane, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones went on to play over 500 concerts worldwide as Faces before their break up in 1975. There has been talk from Jones that the surviving members—Stewart, Wood and Jones—were working on new recordings and a possible tour. In a 2021 interview, the drummer said the trio had recorded 14 songs, describing them as “a mixture of stuff we never released which is worthy of releasing and… some new stuff which is really wonderful.” In 2022, Jones said, Ronnie and I have been working on lots of the old stuff together and we’ve re-recorded a couple of those songs with a more modern feel. . . The new songs are coming along, too. We’re definitely going in the right direction.” At the time, there was even talk about booking arena dates at London’s O2 and New York’s Madison Square Garden. But things have quieted down on that front.

“The Faces are one of those bands whose reputation as a live act has only grown as the years have passed,” says Houghton. “The words ‘best gig I ever saw’ pop up time and again in the accounts in this book, because for rock fans of a certain age there simply was no one better than the Faces.”

Faces News, Info & Natterings...

Faces Book Available for the First Time in 10 Years

30 Sep 2021

Ten years following the release of Faces, 1969-75, the first ever book by one of rock music's most-loved supergroups, Genesis are proud to be releasing the final copies from this classic edition. From a limited run of only 1,975 copies worldwide, just 300 remain available.

The book features over 200 images sourced from many of the world's greatest rock photographers, as well as the band's own private archives, presenting a stunning mix of iconic and previously unpublished photographs. Faces tour memorabilia are also reproduced: setlists, call sheets, concert tickets, programs, posters and backstage passes.

These images are accompanied by an original text written by Ronnie Wood, Kenney Jones, and the late Ian McLagan. Together, Faces, 1969-75 charts the band's brief but thrilling trajectory, from their formation in 1969 to their eventual split in 1975.

It captures the chaotic intensity of the Faces' career: the incendiary live shows, the on-stage laughs and off-stage high-lives, the private jets, groupies, drink, drugs, clothes, haircuts and Holiday Inns. The book features contributions from Paul Weller, Slash, Mick Hucknall and Glen Matlock, and is signed by the authors: Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan and Ronnie Wood.

'We looked good and we were having a good time, and the kids liked it. It was obvious that we were having fun.' - Ian McLagan

'It was all parties and rock'n'roll, everything you could think of a rock star should be doing and we did it to the fullest and beyond...' - Kenney Jones

'When you're enjoying yourself, times just goes by. We used to enjoy being together so much that days would go by.' - Ronnie Wood

The last 300 copies, which are now available to pre-order in a special red and gold binding, will be shipping in January 2022. To avoid disappointment, order now.

The Faces have recorded 14 songs since reforming

Faces drummer Kenney Jones has revealed that he and his bandmates Sir Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood have recorded 14 new songs since reforming

Kenney Jones says the Faces have recorded 14 tracks since reuniting.

It was revealed in the summer that the reformed 'Stay With Me' rockers – drummer Kenney, guitarist Ronnie Wood and singer Sir Rod Stewart – were back in the studio laying down music, and now Kenney has revealed that the fresh material is a mix of unearthed previously unreleased songs and new material that they have written.

Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "We've done about 14 songs, it's a mixture of stuff we never released which is worthy of releasing and there's some new stuff which is really wonderful. Rod is writing the lyrics and he's really keen on it."

Kenney has also spilled on the Faces' live plans, revealing that the band intend to play several massive shows and are eyeing up venues such as The O2 in London and New York's Maddison Square Garden.

He added: "Whether or not we're going to go on a big extended tour remains to be seen. What we have decided is to do some really big gigs like The O2, Maddison Square Garden, some other big venues in America,

"Nothing elaborate on stage, just bring back The Faces live."

Before he drummed in the Faces, Kenney was a member of the Small Faces along with Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966.

He has just released 'Small Faces – Live 1966', the earliest live Small Faces concert recording, on his own label Nice Records.

And Kenney has been trawling his musical archive for other lost gems, and he says between him and Ronnie Wood they have discovered almost 100 lost songs.

He said: "Ronnie has found around 90 pieces of music and I've found around 50 pieces of music, some are whole tracks, some are not, some are just bits."

THE FACES REUNION FOR PROSTATE CANCER UK. Sept 5th 2015.

HURTWOOD PARK POLO CLUB, SURREY.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Faces

http://www.theartsdesk.com

Archive discoveries and best-ever sound, but shame about the packaging

Faces: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything… 1970–1975

Faces were always about more than just the music. From the moment they were formed by ex-members of The Jeff Beck Group and Small Faces in June 1969, tension was integral. Their front man and singer Rod Stewart ran a parallel solo career throughout the band’s life and the public image as boozy, cheeky lads was useful for papering over any cracks. The story is worth telling, but it is not one told by this collection of their studio albums and singles – more on that in a few paragraphs.

Sometimes, the tension surfaced. Talking to Rolling Stone in June 1973, Rod Stewart engaged in some half-hearted damage limitation. Caught while touring the US with Faces, he said: “We went through a bad stage about a week ago after I was interviewed by Melody Maker and I put down the group's album. I said Ooh La La was a stinking rotten album. Actually, I'll take that back. That's what was in the paper. What I actually said was I think the band is capable of doing a better album than what they've done. I just don't think we've found the right studio or the right formulas. The misquote really pissed the band off.”

Whether Stewart actually described Ooh La La as “stinking rotten” is moot. That is what was printed and must have, at least, reflected his opinions about the album and his band. Faces were about to begin falling apart. Bassist Ronnie Lane soon left. Stewart himself had already, in 1971 and 1972, topped the US charts with solo albums Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment. That Faces limped on to the end of 1975 is astonishing – from the moment Stewart hit big as a solo act, their in-built shelf life was confirmed. The only surprise was how long they kept it going.

You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything… 1970–1975 collects their full studio works, from their eponymous 1970 debut album through its three successors (the 1974 live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners is not included), to the non-album single “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog For a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or any Other Domestic Short Comings)” – which was issued in the UK in November 1974 and the US in January 1975. The not-quite accurate use of 1975 in the title is in keeping with the band’s slap-dash persona and, it transpires, the lack of care taken with this release.

This five-disc clamshell box is overshadowed by the 2004 set Five Guys Walk into a Bar..., which supplemented the previously released material with outtakes, BBC recordings and live tracks. You Can Make Me… adds 15 otherwise unissued bonus tracks to the four albums, drawn from further BBC sessions, rehearsals and live shows. The fifth and final disc collects nine single-only tracks, including the NME flexi-disc “Dishevelment Blues”. Of the 64 tracks overall, the 15 album bonuses include a handful of otherwise unreleased songs such as the 1970 recording “Behind the Sun” and an inessential 1973 live version of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”. The need for You Can Make Me… will be driven by how the familiar material sounds.

Thankfully, it sounds great. Though the accompanying vinyl edition was not supplied for review, so no like-for-like comparison with original pressings could be made, the CD version is terrific. Faces records often sounded compressed and muddy, as though focused on the rhythm section at the expense of showcasing the whole band. Now, it is possible hear the interplay between each member, especially Ronnie Wood’s guitar and Ronnie Lane’s bass. It can also finally be understood how Ian McLagan's organ – when not soloing – was about much more than filling the sound out. It was as crucial to the band’s forward thrust as Kenney Jones’s complex yet driving drumming and Rod Stewart’s vocals.

Unfortunately, the care taken with both the hunt through the archives and mastering is not reflected in the package itself. This no-frills set has no booklet with an essay on the band and its albums – beyond the CDs, the only other item the box is a perfunctory fold-out with the track listings. For the 1970 debut album and 1971’s Long Player, the US sleeves are used for the card wallets – particularly poor with the first album, as it was credited to Small Faces in the US. Where originally used, gatefold sleeves are not reproduced. How Faces presented themselves has not been borne in mind.

A band of this status needs treating properly. The packaging of You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything… 1970–1975 means Faces have not been. Still, there is the music.

Faces Reunion Charity Concert for Prostate Cancer UK

Here is the video of the Faces concert at Rock N' Horse Power Festival at the Hurtwood Polo Park.

You can watch it online here, and also you can download a DVD Ready to burn file so you can keep it in your vaults - but before you choose to watch the video or to download the DVD file, please take a moment to think about the prostatic cancer cause: we are talking about a disease that kills a lot of men around the world, and the information about it is not as spreaded as the breast cancer information and treatment are. Prostat Cancer UK is an organization that fight to help more men survive prostate cancer and enjoy a better quality of life. Kenny Jones is a survivor of this disease, thats why he supports this organization with everything he can - including the income of the Rock N' Horse Power Festival he organize year after year at his land.

Remember that this fantastic Faces Reunion was on support of Prostate Cancer UK.

If you want to learn more and also donate to this organization, you can do it by clicking their logo right below this line:

We are presenting an amazing edit on multicam mode composed by footage taken by RSFC members and also footage found here and there, with great sound also recorded by the RSFC staff. It is on the best quality available, at real 1080p quality.

If you click the image below these lines, you will be lead to the MEGA server. It is a very safe server which works better with Google Chrome and/or Mozilla Firefox browsers. It might ask you to install an add on in order to download the file, you can perform this action without any worries - it will not imply spam or any other thing to your system.

You will get a .rar compressed file, which contains the DVD Ready folder. You need to have the winrar software installed on your computer, you can get it from clicking on a link below in case you dont have it already on your computer - it works the same as the ZIP files do, no big deal.

Once you have the .rar saved on your computer, you have to extract the VIDEO_TS folder inside it. That VIDEO_TS folder contains all the files needed for a DVD, so just have to drag and drop the folder (do not touch, move, rename or delete ANY file inside the folder!!) into a blank regular DVD and burn it. Remember to set it as "finish" or "close" the disc before burning, or also choose the "Track At Once/TAO" option which is the same. Burn it at 6X speed so it can be compatible with your regular dvd player and enjoy this magnificent piece of history.

If you dont have the winrar software on your computer, you can have it by clicking HERE.

A Faces review. By Ellie Hudson

The Faces

Rock N Horse Power

Hurtwood Park Polo Club

Ewhurst Surrey

Saturday 5^th September

The excitement and vibe for this Faces reunion gig started as soon as the announcement was made on the Rod Stewart fan club site. Not only was it a totally out of the blue announcement but the gig was taking place, when? What’s this? In a month’s time!

From the date the announcement was made in August and tickets going on sale the very next day we had only 28 days to wait for the actual gig which meant there was none of the usual ‘6…5…4…3…2…1 month to go’ count down, it simply added to the adrenalin rush of excitement which for me was off the Richter scale.

Fans have got used to seeing Rod on the stadium/arena circuit with tens of thousands of tickets up for grabs, very often ending up on dubious websites and the touts who we’ve become accustomed to getting hold of them in bulk and shifting at vastly inflated prices. But none of that happened for this gig. For a month I was like a cat on hot bricks!

For me there was an element of specialness that we’d got the nod before the national press were notified and whether that was a deliberate move on the part of Faces drummer Kenny Jones who actually owns the venue or not I have no idea but what I do know is that from the moment I saw the first mention of this event in the press all 5000 tickets were sold out and more to the point, one of them had my name on.

The real fans had been looked after, we got our tickets and so the planning and plotting began….where were we all going to stay? How would we get to this unusual venue tucked away in deepest Surrey? Would there be a post drink get together for friends that hadn’t met up since, well, the last Rod gig!

The month leading up to the gig was chaotic with planning, excitement and a guessing game of what songs would be covered by fans old enough to have grown out of being ‘a fan’ but who against the odds are determined, like Rod himself, to remain forever young.

And so let’s fast forward to Saturday!

A mixed bag of credible and worthy supporting acts came and went (details of which are available elsewhere on the net) and with absolute determination the hard-core fan base took up their chosen positions by the stage barrier, some to the left, some in the centre and some over to the right, there they remained rooted rather like military guards ready to wage battle with anyone who dared to challenge their positions (said with tongue firmly in cheek!) and come rain or shine they were not for moving, they knew they had to stand guard in the same position for up to 6 hours but did that matter to them? No, because when The Faces came on stage later that night they were hell bent on being slap bang in the thick of the action, they were going to be seeing the whites of the band’s eyes, they were going to be making eye contact with Rod, Ronnie and Kenny, a raw and endearing level of devotion no band can buy but is earned over several decades. It takes a level of stamina that I don’t possess but am in awe of, nevertheless!

During the 20 minutes or so lead up to the gig veteran Radio One DJ Annie Nightingale took to the stage DJ-ing and as the anticipation built to near fever pitch after every track she played we hoped The Faces were coming on stage. Then bosh, she made the mother of all cock-ups by putting on the much loved Rod classic In a Broken Dream……but a rap version!

I tell you, never in my 40 odd years of going to see bands have I experienced such a clanger and the vibe around me changed instantly with chants of ‘off! Off! Off!’ reverberating throughout the crowd, it was a horrible moment, a serious faux pas.

But it passed and when she finally announced ‘Please welcome to the stage, after 40 years, The Faces!’ the crowd erupted, clapping, cheering, whistling, the place went wild for what was to become the most amazing and emotionally charged gigs of my entire life.

Ronnie Wood, Kenny Jones and our Rod – together on the same stage - a dream we the fans have had for so long we wondered if it’d ever actually happen.

The atmosphere was electrifying and before they hit the first notes the old banter started and any concerns I had that they’d present us with a sort of upgraded more polished version of The Faces were swiftly wiped aside when Rod laughingly announced "We've only had a few hours rehearsal so there's bound to be a few cock ups," I knew immediately we were in for a good night, for cock ups, bum notes, false starts and the overwhelming expectation that the wheels were going to fall off at any moment became The Faces legacy as the ultimate party rock and roll band.

“It's great to be up here with these guys!" declared Rod as he wrapped his arm around the neck of Ronnie Wood and we got it, we felt it too, it was great for us to see it but we knew it was great for them to be doing it too. Certainly the loss of Ronnie Lane (1997) and Ian McLagan (Dec 2014) was acutely felt with both fondly name checked from the stage at various points throughout the set.

Kicking off the set with a soulful Feel so Good they quickly got the crowd in singing along word perfect with one of my all-time favourites, You Can Make Me Dance followed by a great crowd participator Ooh La La before launching into the jaw dropping tearjerker that is I’d Rather Go Blind, a song that had my face soaked in tears, not sad tears, but tears of pure joy; oh my god, how the power of music can stir the soul and this number sung so beautifully by Rod was heart wrenching.

Ronnie asked ‘”am I in the right key?” before launching into I Know I’m Losing You and Rod teased him with “Ronnie, you want a drink? Oh no, you don’t do that anymore!” Thoroughly wicked and naughty and it felt glorious to be part of this moment watching them rediscover that playfulness on which they once thrived and the camaraderie was infectious, it was genuine, the boys were having a ball

The football-esque chant and big time favourite Stay with Me received rapturous response with many linking arms and jumping up and down whilst others just hugged or held their arms aloft swaying to the beat; the words Stay with Me felt profoundly apt as we indeed wanted this band, this moment, to stay with us as long as possible. Sweet Little Rock and Roller brought the 7 song lively and emotional set to an end.

There was no encore. The band took a bow, soaking up the wild applause with smiles on their faces that spoke volumes, and then they were gone. It was over. Fans waited 40 years for this show and I’d hazard a guess after this performance the boys won’t be leaving it so long to do it all again!

Let’s raise a glass and toast Ooh La La to that!

Track premiere! Hear an unreleased version of the Faces’ classic,”Flying”

http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/faces-track-premiere-hear-unreleased-version-of-flying-70203

On August 28, the Faces release You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (1970 – 1975) – a new box set containing newly remastered versions of all four of the band’s studio albums, plus a bonus disc of rarities.

To coincide with this momentous Faces news, we’re delighted to be able to share exclusively a track from these sets – “Flying (Take 3)”, which is one of the unreleased bonus tracks from The First Step.

We’ll share two more exclusive tracks from the Faces box set over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, this track is only available to UK viewers.

You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (1970 – 1975) will be available through Rhino on CD and digitally and as a limited edition vinyl.

You can pre-order the CD set by clicking here. And you can pre-order the vinyl set by clicking here.

Scroll down for the full tracklisting.

Meanwhile, Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and Kenney Jones are to reunite The Faces to play a show for Prostate Cancer UK.

They will perform at Rock ‘n’ Horsepower at Hurtwood Park Polo Club in Ewhurst, Surrey on Saturday, September 5, 2015.

“This year is the 40th anniversary since The Faces parted ways so it’s about time we got together for a jam,” said Stewart. “Being in The Faces back in the day was a whirlwind of madness but my God, it was beyond brilliant. We are pleased to be able to support Prostate Cancer UK.”

Watch this space for news about Rock's 'Best and Booziest' band ever!

Please contact me with news I might have missed or with requests or questions about the Faces.

YOU NEVER KNOW - ROD MIGHT JOIN THE LADS AND DO THAT REUNION ONE DAY NEXT YEAR...OR MAYBE NOT...

The video below is from 1970 at the Marquee Club in London.

And, in my humble opinion, IT'S BRILLIANT!!!

9th January 2014 - Update on possible Faces reunion...Kenney Jones Tries to Set Record Straight on Faces Reunion: 'We've Been Talking'

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE USA has published comments from Kenney Jones...

The Faces AND the Small Faces may well be active concerns in 2015 -- at least if drummer Kenney Jones has his way. Jones tells Billboard that a Faces reunion tour, with Rod Stewart fronting the group again, is indeed in the planning stages.

"We've been talking; Woody's (guitarist Ron Wood) management and myself, we were talking to Rod's management," Jones says.

Stewart made the news public last month, much to the chagrin of keyboardist Ian McLagan, who hadn't heard anything and responded derisively to Stewart's comment. "Mac didn't realize we were talking because it was in it's early stages," Jones explains. "But he understands full now. (Stewart) probably presumed everyone knew we were doing it, so there was nothing intentional."

Details are still being ironed out, but Jones says that the reunion "would be lovely to do, we've been talking about it (for) long enough. You've got to start talking about it about a year ahead of you're going to do something. The Faces never finished on a good note (in 1975), so it would be nice to finish on a good note, and that would be that."

Stewart has been tough to pin down for the project. The group has played occasional shows since 2009 with Mick Hucknall singing, and illness kept Stewart from attending the Faces' 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

"He's been busy doing the things he's been creating -- Vegas and all the Songbook (albums)," Jones says. "I loved the Songbooks; a lot of people say it's not really rock 'n' roll or this or that, but they're the songs I grew up with, and they're great song. Why not go with them? I think he did a great job, but now he's discovered himself again. He's going back to his roots, a bit more rock 'n' roll, so this is a good time for (a Faces reunion)."

Jones says Conrad Korsch, Stewart's regular bassist, will likely stand in for the late Ronnie Lane.

Jones, who along with McLagan was actively involved in compiling the upcoming Small Faces box set, "Here Come the Nice -- The Immediate Years 1967-1969," says discussions are also under way about also commemorating the 50th anniversary of that group's first hit single, "Watcha Gonna Do About It." Meanwhile, the drummer is continuing to work on a script for an animated version of the Small Faces' 1968 concept album "Odgens' Nut Gone Flake," which Jones says he's had in mind since the album was recorded.

"I fell in love with it straightaway, 'cause the lyrics tell the story," Jones recalls. "While we were writing it you got to know the characters in it -- at least I did. They all came alive to me, and I went up to everybody afterwards and said, 'This would make a great cartoon' -- I didn't know the word 'animation' -- and they just looked at me and carried on talking. But I've carried this idea with me through the Small Faces and everything I've done in my musical career. So I can't wait to get it out of my head and down on and on a film, finished, done."

Jones says he's been through several iterations of a script, including fleshing out the album's characters and adding others to fill out the story, and he's also spoken with animators -- most of whom have advised him to finish the script before moving forward.

Rod & Ronnie talking about Faces reunion in 2015!...?

Daily Express - 5th December 2013

In a new interview with Boston, Massachusetts radio station WZLX, Stewart opened up about the plans to stage a full reunion once Wood's ongoing commitments with the Stones have ended.

Stewart, who fronted the iconic rock group from 1969 until 1975 and rejoined Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones at the Brit Awards in London in 1993, was absent from the group's 2010 and 2011 shows - and guitarist Wood called on Simply Red star Mick Hucknall to replace him as singer.

But after many stalled attempts to get the existing four-piece back together, it's beginning to look like Stewart is making big plans for 2015.

He said, "I think we have got much more of a chance of getting the Faces back together, in fact, Ronnie's office is talking to my people, and we're earmarking 2015."

But the news might be awful for fans of the Rolling Stones, who have just announced dates in Asia, the Middle East and Australasia for 2014 - earlier this year, Stewart said he would only consider a Faces reunion if and when Wood's "other band" decided to retire.

I was glad to come, I'll be sad to go, so while I'm here

I'll have me a real good time...

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/led-zeppelin-faces-hall-of-fame-finals/

THE FACES BEAT MACCA! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR VOTES!...Maybe you're amazed Macca?...

THE FACES BEAT CLAPTON! ROD HAS ALREADY WHOOPED ZEP'S ASS! NOW THE FACES HAVE DONE THE SAME!! THANKS for clicking everyone!

Over the days ahead I'll be adding lots of info about the lads. Look at the individual members' pages for updates about what the guys are doing now.

Faces documentary from 1970

Faces press conference - Sydney 1974

About Face! Rod Stewart's cash demands foil rock reunion

From the Mail on Sunday, UK, 20.10.13

Plans for rock legends the Faces to reunite have broken down over the pay demands of lead singer Rod Stewart – and the fact that Ronnie Wood will be touring with the Rolling Stones.

The hotly anticipated reunion of the group, who split in 1975, was shelved because Rod wanted the lion’s share of any tour profits.

According to a source close to the group, the 68-year-old argued that as the lead singer he remains the most famous member of the band’s original line-up.

‘Rod’s team wanted him to get a larger share of the profits because he was the original frontman of the group,’ said the source.

‘But Ronnie has made a name for himself as a huge star with the Stones since being in the Faces and the rest of the band didn’t agree that Rod should get such a big cut of the money.

‘They couldn’t agree on an arrangement that would suit them all and thought it best to leave it alone to maintain their friendships.’

Another nail in the coffin of the proposed reunion of the influential band – whose hits included Stay With Me – is guitarist Ronnie’s plan to tour with the Stones next year.

‘They are arranging dates around the world,’ a source added. ‘They will also headline the opening of Australia’s revamped Adelaide Oval cricket ground next year.’

Rumours the Faces were planning a reunion started in June with drummer Kenney Jones saying: ‘We all want to do a Faces tour to get it off our chests. We parted in the wrong way and it would put that wrong to right.’

Rod – who famously had six consecutive No1 albums as a solo artist – added: ‘I’d like to return. Ronnie and I talk about it, and when the Stones finish – Mick [Jagger] is several years older than me – we’ll have an opportunity, if we’re not on Zimmers.’

What's that noise Dave!?

"Sit right down if you can spare me a minute...I've got a tale that's bound to break your heart"... Old Mate Bri (aka Wally) here. This is my Faces story...

...Aaah I can still remember the day. Loud, fast, furious, guitar thrashing music was blasting out of an old Roberts transistor radio, "What's that song Dave!? Who's that singer!?"...

Dave is my cousin, two years older than me and I guess it's actually ALL his fault. "Stay With Me by the Faces Bri. The singer is Rod Stewart."

I was a lad aged just 13 and up to then I'd bought singles by Labi Siffre, The Beatles and the New Seekers from Woolworths, my record shop of choice, in Birkenhead. (Though in 1966/67 I made the not insignificant sin as a scouser, of buying a Monkees LP in Brian Epstein's NEMS record shop in Whitechapel, Liverpool. At the peak of Beatles mania).

Within months we were queueing up for tickets to see the Faces at Liverpool Boxing Stadium on 12th December 1972 - accurately described as "a flea pit of place" by John Pidgeon in his book 'Rod Stewart and the Changing Faces'.

My memory of the show is misty - it's a long time ago! - but I can remember it was an absolute riot. I was pretty terrified throughout. There was little or no crowd control and the place was one massive very rowdy party with the old wooden seats getting smashed up in the process. Being only 14, and certainly not tall or concert savvy, I didn't have the best view. I remember the bright light reflections from Woody's Zemaitis flashing around the hall and Ronnie, with the ever present ciggy hanging from his mouth, running crazily around the stage. I remember seeing the shadows of their rooster hairstyles up on the balcony changing area before they came down to play and I remember the "We'll meet again" group hug and all fall over at the end of the show. It was a momentous experience for a young lad - and from that day I was hooked!

(The only similar feeling I can recall from about that time was my first visit to Anfield five years earlier. Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up!).

12 months later I saw the Faces again - this time at the Liverpool Empire. I can remember the queue for tickets went around the block. The Empire remains a wonderful, traditional and quite large regional theatre, and the circle seats we had gave us a great view of the famous palm tree set with the bar to the left of the stage as we looked at it. This time the crowd was controlled and less raucous so I could see the action clearly. Plonk had sadly moved on and Tetsu was on bass. The show was a lot more slick and not quite as exciting as the previous one. I remember them playing Pool Hall Richard and announcing it as the new single.

So it's 1973 and I'm now a BIG Faces fan. Rod Stewart is my hero. It wasn't too cool with my mates at school - but I didn't care. They were into Yes, Genesis, ELP and weird stuff like that. They just didn't appreciate real, good time rock music!

To be continued... But in the meantime please send me YOUR Faces stories, pics and anything else you'd like to share here.