Ronnie Wood’s slashing guitar, Rod Stewart’s joyful vocal lust, and Ian McLagan’s descending Rhodes line herald the iconic “Stay With Me,” the Faces’ only hit and still a classic rock radio staple nearly 35 years after its original release. There’s more to the story of England’s greatest bar band. Containing the band’s four studio LPs, plus a fifth disc of non-album singles and B-sides, You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything … chronicles the bluesy Small Faces evolving into a no-bullshit rock & roll band rivaling their pals the Rolling Stones. A live surety in the Me Decade, the Faces boasted a knockout performing prowess, but also complementary writing styles: brash raucousness (“Cindy Incidentally,” “Borstal Boys”) and soulful balladry (“Debris,” “Glad and Sorry”), the latter often from bassist/secret weapon (and, along with McLagan, once and future Austinite) Ronnie Lane. From the tentative blues-rock of First Step and exploratory spelunking of Long Player to the streamlined groove & roll of A Nod Is as Good as a Wink … to a Blind Horse and Ooh La La and the rocking funk of final single “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything …,” the tale of one of rock & roll’s most protean acts endures.
This article appears in December 25 • 2015.
