Description

2012 re-issue on black vinyl with printed innersleeve

Somewhat overshadowed by Decca’s rush-released From the Beginning, appearing just weeks before this 1967 LP, and often confused with their 1966 debut by virtue of its sharing an identical title, the Small Faces’ eponymous debut for Immediate Records is one of the great British pop albums of the ’60s. The Small Faces were breaking away from their R&B roots, dabbling with LSD and psychedelia, and tightening up their songwriting, emphasizing pop melodies in a way they never did on their debut. Sonically, The Small Faces doesn’t get as far out as the abandoned Decca cuts that surfaced on From the Beginning — there may be some harpsichords but no outright psychedelia — but it is bright, colorful, and concentrated, its very brevity playing like snappy pop art. No song runs over three minutes and many clock in under two, a direct contrast to the somewhat extended grooves of their 1966 LP, and an aesthetic that lends this an exceptionally modern feel: all the tunes are sharply cut and precisely tailored, with no wasted moments. It’s transitional, still grounded in hard-grooving soul and pointing the way toward the richly textured Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, but by touching upon both extremes, The Small Faces may be the group’s most representative LP and, in some regards, its best as well.

Track list:
1. (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me
2. Something I Want To Tell You
3. Feeling Lonely
4. Happy Boys Happy
5. Things Are Going To Get Better
6. My Way Of Giving
7. Green Circles
8. Become Like You
9. Get Yourself Together
10. All Of Our Yesterdays
11. Talk To You
12. Show Me The Way
13. Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire
14. Eddie’s Dreaming