Faces

After Steve Marriott exited the Small Faces in 1969, the three musicians who stayed behind recruited guitarist Ron Wood and singer Rod Stewart, adopting the name the Faces because the new lineup barely resembled the earlier mod-pop outfit. The Faces instead operated as a loose, unpolished rock & roll unit that could deliver an uptempo rocker such as "Had Me a Real Good Time," a blues ballad like "Tell Everyone," or a folk piece along the lines of "Richmond" on the same album. Already emerging as a solo star, Rod Stewart cut loose completely with the Faces, attacking both covers and originals with unrestrained energy. Bassist Ronnie Lane may not have matched Stewart’s vocal strength, yet his own compositions proved just as striking and wide-ranging. Ron Wood’s rhythm guitar produced a rich, thick tone whose drive and influence stood alongside Keith Richards’ signature style.

The Faces earned a reputation for their hard-partying, alcohol-soaked tours and frequently ragged live shows, living the rock & roll lifestyle without restraint. Once Stewart’s solo work began to eclipse the band’s success, the Faces gradually fell under his personal dominance; after issuing their final studio album, Ooh La La, in 1973, Ronnie Lane departed. Following a 1974 tour the group disbanded. Ron Wood joined the Rolling Stones, drummer Kenny Jones eventually became a member of the Who, and keyboardist Ian McLagan turned into a sought-after supporting musician, while Rod Stewart rose to superstardom without ever recapturing the Faces’ straightforward charm.

Although the Faces never moved large quantities of records and never ranked alongside the Stones in stature during their existence, their music later proved highly influential. Numerous late-’70s punk rockers learned their instruments by studying Faces records, and guitar-based bands of the ’80s and ’90s—from the Replacements to the Black Crowes—took cues from the Faces as readily as from the Stones. The band’s reckless, loose, and joyous spirit continued to animate much of the strongest rock & roll of later decades.