Born out of the comments section of the underrated Beatles songs post, here we have a small sampling of The Faces contribution to the world. It's a shame I have to ask people if they have heard of The Faces, but I've found that few people have. And that's a shame.
Wikipedia will explain the origins about the band better than I ever will, so click here to learn more.
Back? Ok, now give them a listen and now try to tell me these guys shouldn't have a lot more recognition as being one of the better bands of the 70s.
6 comments:
Take Hornby's argument about whether late-career Top 40 banality diminishes early-career brilliance in High Fidelity.
Now swap Rod Stewart for Stevie Wonder. The argument doesn't lose anything except maybe some mainstream recognition.
Granted, he wasn't the songwriter that Wonder was (*lots* of covers in his catalog), but the drop-off in quality is vertigo-inducing.
Yeah, a lot of people get a blank stare when you tell them Rod Stewart was part of possibly the best bar-rock band of all time. Even his early solo stuff is damn good. You take his voice for granted with all that Do Ya Think I'm Sexy 80s stuff and adult contemporary crap he's doing now.
I might have included Too Bad, Debris, and Had Me a Real Good Time, but that's a good list you put together.
Well, Imeem didn't really give me the whole catalog unfortunately...because i definitely wanted to include Rear Wheel Skid.
Early solo Stew stuff is awesome too - Every Picture Tells a Story is fantastic.
And I'll also admit, I enjoy some later Stew stuff.
I think you guys are giving Stew WAY too much credit as a songwriter. Stew may have become the face of The Faces (pun intended) but that was Ronnie Lane's band. It was his vision during their earliest and most vital records. Stew had a hand in the writing after he joined, but I would bet it was less than 50%.
Even much of Stew's earliest solo work was written by others and (as Cline mentioned) heavily padded with already established covers.
True, but the Faces are definitely more known as being Stew's band (Small Faces are even less appreciated than the Faces) and Stew's voice and histrionics have to be considered. He's had a long ranging career for roughly 3 decades. He's doing something right. Whether it's partnering with talent or simply choosing the right songs to sing.
Oh, no doubt, I'm not disagreeing there. Stew and Wood put the band over the top when they joined and there's no way the band is that good without them. But there's also no way they are that good without Lane's vision and songwriting. And it's questionable if Stew ever becomes the star he is.
Stew has certainly been very savvy in his collaborations and choices over the years. Somehow, he has even recently "re-invented" himself purely by recording three straight albums of all covers. How does that happen?
I guess I ultimately liken him to someone like Sinatra -- not in style, but in terms of a legendary voice who made great choices on what songs to sing. He may pen the occasssional hit himself, but is much more reliant on others for the material. Nothing wrong there ... plenty of artists like that. But Wonder, for example, is head and shoulders above him as a songwriter.
without the faces their would be no black crowes...I love the crowes.
Even now most people's exposure to the Faces is they want to DL that cute song from the health care commercial to their ipod.
Post a Comment