Small Faces. Big Sound. None of them were above five feet six inches tall. But despite being a group of diminished stature, this will not be a short history.
In the sleeve notes to the double CD collectionSmall Faces: The Decca Anthology 1965-1967, respected music writer Paolo Hewitt points out that ‘it all happened in a very short space of time. At the start of 1965, they were complete unknowns. One year later, they were famous.’
Ronald Frederick ‘Plonk’ Lane was born in Plaistow on 1 April 1946, ‘a funny guy too, and even though he could be excitable, he was a lot more relaxed than Steve’ (Marriott, according to Ian McLagan). Why ‘Plonk’? For the same – but opposite – penis-related reason that Tich of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick& Tich was called Tich. To Pete Townshend, Ronnie ‘liked the same music as I did: he liked to drink and smoke a little grass; he was funny, sincere, artistic, creative, gifted and down to earth. In some respects, he was a typical London East Ender.’
After leaving school at 16, Ronnie met drummer Kenney Jones (born 16 September 1948 in Whitechapel) at a local pub. Kenney ‘was quieter, but once he got started, and when he got a word in edgewise, he was hilarious’ (Ian McLagan). The two promptly formed a beat group called The Outcasts. Initially playing lead guitar, Ronnie quickly switched to bass guitar, and when he was prospecting for a Harmony bass, he visited the Manor Park ‘J60 Music Bar’, where he happened to meet bright and sparky employee Steve Marriott.
‘I’d like to have a look at that bass over there’, said Ronnie. ‘Oh, that’s the best bass in the shop. That’s a great bass!’ said Steve. An animated banter about the merits of various instruments ensued, during which they discovered a mutual interest in James Brown, Sue Records and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland. Lane bought his bass and accepted Steve’s invitation to visit his home after-hours, where he was impressed by Steve’s extensive collection of Motown and Stax records. ‘This opened my ears considerably’, recalled Ronnie.
Steve was dark and dynamic, small but ‘larger than life. A cartoon of a person’ (according to Ian McLagan). At that time, he was a member of an R&B group called The Moments. Formed in late 1963 when he was still only 16, The Moments started out as the Frantiks, or sometimes the Frantik Ones, but later became Steve Marriott& The Moonlights until they finally settled on the Moments. With Steve was Johnny Herve, Tony McIntyre, Colin Green and Dennis Thompson. Marriott would sometimes invite girlfriend Adrienne Posta to share vocals with him on duets. They’d met when they were both ‘Italia Conti Academy’ pupils.
The Moments even got as far as recording a revived version of Cliff Richard’s debut hit ‘Move It’… written by Ian Samwell, who would later figure in The Small Faces story. Former Shadows’ drummer Tony Meehan was induced to help with production. Despite the single being hawked around several major record companies, it generated no interest, and the track was never released. When the despondent Thompson and Herve quit, Marriott changed
