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The album kicks off with a kind of psychedelic instrumental, with plenty of
phasing, which turns out to be a reworking of the backing track to "I've Got Mine", the second ever Small Faces single. "We were never ones to give up on a good idea" said Ronnie Lane.
Then straight into nothing less than one of the great slices of rock
history...Afterglow. Written for one of his girlfriends - some say Pat Arnold -
this is Marriott as his very best....the songwriting is phenomenal, the vocals
are absolutely top drawer, and the Small Faces backing isn't half bad
either. A segue into Long Ago's and Worlds apart features Ian MacLagan, before
the group's ode to Rene Tungate, an East End lady of sometimes ill-repute.
As a young boy, Steve admitted to his mother that he sometimes went to
Rene's house with the other lads. "It's ok mum - she's just a bit dippy,
that's all". "I'll give you dippy" said his mother, clipping him around the ears
"just don't go back to that house".
Ronnie wrote the excellent Song of a Baker after spending time with Pete
Townshend and reading about Maher Baba, before Lazy Sunday rounds off Side 1.
Laxy Sunday was thought by the group to be an excellent album track - but
they were shocked when Immediate released it as a single. Even more shocked
when it became a huge smash, which then kind of positioned the Small Faces,
coming hard on the heels of Itchycoo Park, as a kind of cockney novelty/joke band.It's even thought by some, positioned as it is at the end of Side 1, withthe "close my eyes and drift away" lyrics as a kind of introduction to Side 2.Falling asleep, and going into the dream sequence of Happiness Stan, followedby the wake up call that is Happy Days Toytown.
There's no doubt that the four midgets were pleased with the Happiness Stan
sequence. One night, in the middle of the night, Steve called home and
persuaded his mother and aunt to come to Olympic Studios, right there and
then to hear what a masterpiece they had created. Now it wasn't a case of
jumping into a car - it was public transport, and a long journey to get
there-with work beckoning the next day. But in the studio Steve was absolutely
beaming, playing the just finished Happiness Stan track.
The narration by Stanley Unwin is an absolute stroke of genius, particularly
as he spent time with the band and wove their everyday sayings into his script.
I remember Stanley Unwin telling me that he had also taken phrases like "Deep
Joy", which came from a colleague in the BBC, thinking them appropriate to the
tone of the Small Faces and the story he was telling.
Spike Milligan, who turned down the opportunity to do it, eat your heart out!
Anyway, Stan's narration weaves its way through the songs on Side 2 of the
record - a kind of fairy tale of about the cycles of the moon, before the
album closes with a cockney knees up. "Clap Twice, Lean Back, Twist for
a While" sing the boys. "Don't Worry 'Bout the Moon".
Wonderful record
Background to the Ogdens Story
Ogdens was a year in the making, and done in various studios. Given that
Andrew Oldham was their Manager, and he owned a Record Company, it was easier for him, and in his interest, to send the Small Faces into the studio rather
than onto the road.
Don Arden had been the opposite - but at least that had had the effect of
moulding them into a cohesive unit. Influenced by the now studio-based Beatles,
Glynn Johns, the Engineer, is given a lot of credit for the sound of
the album, not least by Kenney Jones for the drum sound he obtained.
The songs were written over a protracted period too. In January '68, while
on tour in Autralia with the Who, many bits and pieces were written and evolved.
There were many jams and drinking sessions - singing interchanges with the Who,
who wrote lots of Tommy during this period as well. Clearly, both groups
encouraged and influenced each other during this creative period. There was a
lot of friendship between them anyway, and despite the trials and tribulaitons
of the Australian tour. "Rene" and "I'm a Sensation" are two examples of songs
written during this period.
Anyway, as it transpired, the Small Faces eventually ended up with lots of
tracks, but with not a lot of lyrics. After a while Andrew Oldham sent them
out on boat trips on the Thames for inspiration. And while being seen as "the
scum of the river" by the boating establishment, they did find that inspiration
around the fairy tale about half of the moon vanishing.
Editing the album also took a full three months. And after a year in the
making, the band were still struggling to meet the release date. Just a week
before the release Steve Marriott talked about some tracks not being finished,
and about having to include "Be My Baby" and "If You Think You're Groovy"
on the album as they were already in the can !
In terms of the cover, Ogdens sent a catalogue of all their tins, going
back to the previous century. These tins were rectangular, not circular,
contrary to common belief. One was quickly chosen, and the title Ogden's Nut
Brown Flake was changed to Ogdens Nut Gone Flace. The album photo's were done in the Immediate Office, and also in Ian MacLagan's flat, with his banjo, his
cat and Steve as "George the Cleaner".
In the US there were many complaints about the round sleeve falling off the
shelves and racks. However, the cover wasn't altered because of that, but it
was released in Canada in a square sleeve, probably for cost reasons.
Record Details
There are many re-issues and country versions of the record, as you can
read below. For original versions, you can still nab them for $20, but they
are also sold regularly for $100 to $200.
Obviously, the price depends on the condition, it depends on whether mono or
stereo (mono is rarer and has some different mixes), and it depends
on which pressing. The first pressings of the album are generally reckoned
to be exceptionally good....there were both mono and stereo. The first
pressings were on the grey Immediate label, then later on the pink label.
I believe all the mono LPs are on the original grey label. These releases
all said "For amazing results this record should be played at high volume".
PS - there are other sources who claim that the lilac Immediate labels are
the most rare !
Today the most common originals are white label releases. I wonder if the
confusion comes from people mixing up their references to the Immediate white
and grey labels....and maybe even between pink and lilac labels.
Most re-issues of the stereo version are inferior. For example, in the
original master tape, Afterglow is true stereo and segues into Long Ago's.
There are differences in later issues.
The second pressings of the original issue were done in 1970. They featured
the pink label, had no "Amazing results" printed and were much noisier, inferior
pressings.
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