Formed in summer 1969 from the ashes of the defunct UK mod act the Small Faces, this much-loved rock band originally comprised Ronnie Lane (b. Ronald Frederick, Lane, 1 April 1946, Plaistow, London, England, d. 4 June 1997, Trinidad, Colorado, USA; bass/vocals), Kenney Jones (b. Kenneth Thomas Jones, 16 September 1948, Stepney, London, England; drums), Ian McLagan (b. 12 May 1945, Hounslow, Middlesex, England; organ/piano), Rod Stewart (b. Roderick David Stewart, 10 January 1945, Highgate, London, England; vocals) and Ron Wood (b. Ronald David Wood, 1 June 1947, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England; guitar). The latter two members were originally part of Jeff Beck’s group. Faces’ 1970 debut First Step reflected their boozy, live appeal in which solid riffing and strong gutsy vocals were prominent, but also found room for McLagan and Stewart’s poignant ‘Three Button Hand Me Down’. The excellent follow-up, Long Player (1971), enhanced the band’s appeal with its strong mix of staunch rock songs and well-chosen cover versions, including Paul McCartney’s ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ and ‘Big’ Bill Broonzy’s ‘I Feel So Good’.
Throughout this period, Rod Stewart had been pursuing a solo career that took off in earnest in the summer of 1971 with the worldwide success of the chart-topping single ‘Maggie May’. At that point, the Faces effectively became Stewart’s backing unit, much to the annoyance of the other members. Although they enjoyed increasing commercial success with the albums A Nod’s As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse (1971) and Ooh La La (1973), and a string of memorable good-time singles including ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Cindy Incidentally’, there was no doubt that the focus on Stewart unbalanced the unit. Lane, the most prolific writer in the band and whose contributions included the magnificent ‘Debris’ and the wistful title track of Ooh La La (sung, unusually, by Wood), left in May 1973 and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi (b. 21 October 1946, Fukuokoa, Japan; ex-Free). Despite further hits with ‘Pool Hall Richard’, ‘You Can Make Me Dance, Sing, Or Anything’ and a desultory live album to commemorate their Stateside success, the band clearly lacked unity. In 1975, Stewart became a tax exile and by the end of the year announced that he had separated from the band.
Following the break-up of Faces, Wood went on to join the Rolling Stones while the remaining members briefly teamed up with Steve Marriott in an ill-fated reunion of the Small Faces. Jones also replaced the deceased Keith Moon in the Who. Faces unexpectedly reunited for a one-off appearance at the BRIT Awards in February 1993. They performed with Rod Stewart, and with Bill Wyman taking over the seriously ill Lane’s role on bass.
