Before Rod Stewart and Ron Wood came along, the Faces were Small and lead by future Humble Pie screamer Steve Marriott. Their four year career is typically split in half, defined by the labels they were. From 1965 to 1967, they called Decca home: from 1967 to 1969, they were signed to Immediate. It was during this second phase of their career, where things got psychedelic and they recorded the songs “Itchycoo Park” and “Tin Soldier,” and their classic concept record, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. But before all that happened, Small Faces were part of the British Mod scene, churning out a mix of R&B and rock and roll that produced two albums and seven singles. Listening to the five-disc The Decca Years box set, it seems like they did a lot more in their first two years than you may think.
The first disc is filled with the band’s greatest hits, including the early UK hits “What ’Cha Gonna Do About It,” “Sha-La-La-La-Lee,” “Hey Girl,” “All Or Nothing,” “My Mind’s Eye” and “I Can’t Make It.” The group’s two studio albums — Small Faces and From The Beginning — fill the second and third CDs, so you get the hits, plus the deeper cuts like “E Too D” and “That Man.” Like most career-spanning box sets, there’s a fair share of unreleased versions — mono, early, different, instrumentals, alternate, various takes, sessions, and backing tracks — and most of those fill the fourth CD. The fifth disc comprises various BBC appearances, plus five separate interviews with Marriott. If you’re curious about the early years behind Small Faces, one of Britain’s coolest (that the “Faces” part) bands of the 1960s — diminutive in size, big in sound and soulfulness — The Decca Years has it all.
~ Shawn Perry
