Faces (band)

Faces are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. They formed after Small Faces lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie, and the remaining Small Faces – bassist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones, and keyboardist Ian McLagan – recruited lead singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood, both formerly of the Jeff Beck Group, and shortened the band's name to Faces.

Their first two albums, First Step (1970) and Long Player (1971), were modest successes, while their third album, A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse (1971), bolstered by the success of Stewart's parallel solo career, became a worldwide hit, peaking at number 2 in the UK and number 6 in the US, and spawning a hit single with "Stay with Me". After releasing their fourth and final studio album Ooh La La (1973), Lane was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi on bass. This line-up released two non-album singles - "Pool Hall Richard" (1973) and "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything" (1974) - and a live album, Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners (1974), before the band officially split in 1975, with a greatest hits album, Snakes and Ladders / The Best of Faces, appearing the following year.

Stewart continued his successful solo career, while Wood joined the Rolling Stones. Following a short-lived Small Faces reunion, Jones joined the Who in 1978, while McLagan went on to work as a session and touring musician with a number of acts (including his own bands) throughout the 1970s until his death in 2014. Lane's activities in the music business were severely curtailed by 1980 due to the onset of multiple sclerosis, which forced his eventual retirement by the early 1990s. He died in 1997.

A number of partial reunions of the Faces were rumoured throughout the 2000s, with various one-off performances involving surviving members occurring. In 2010–11 a brief reunion tour occurred with Mick Hucknall and Glen Matlock on vocals and bass respectively. The Faces and Small Faces were jointly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Stewart was scheduled to perform with the rest of the band, but was unable to do so at the last minute due to illness; he was replaced by Hucknall. Since 2021 Jones, Stewart and Wood have periodically reunited to record tracks for a new album under the Faces name.

The first collaboration among the future Faces was in a formation called Quiet Melon, which also featured Wood's older brother Art Wood and Kim Gardner; they recorded four songs and played a few shows in May 1969, during a break in Ronnie Wood's and Rod Stewart's commitments with The Jeff Beck Group. Later that summer Wood and Stewart parted ways with Beck and joined Lane, McLagan and Jones full-time. Prior to any releases by the new Faces line-up, Wood and McLagan appeared on Stewart's first solo album in 1969, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (known as The Rod Stewart Album in the US). The rest of the backing band on the album included drummer Micky Waller, keyboardist Keith Emerson and guitarists Martin Pugh (of Steamhammer, and later Armageddon and 7th Order) and Martin Quittenton (also from Steamhammer).

With the addition of Wood and Stewart, the "small" part of the original band name was dropped, partly because the two newcomers (at 5'9" and 5'10" respectively) were significantly taller than the three former Small Faces. Hoping to capitalise on the Small Faces' earlier success, record company executives wanted the band to keep their old name, however, the band objected, arguing the personnel changes resulted in a group very different from the Small Faces. As a compromise, in the US their debut album was credited to the Small Faces, while subsequent albums appeared under their new name.

The group regularly toured Britain, Europe and the USA from 1970 to 1975, and were among the top-grossing live acts in that period; in 1974 their touring also encompassed Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They toured the United States and Canada in 1975. Among their most successful songs were "Had Me a Real Good Time", their breakthrough UK hit "Stay with Me", "Cindy Incidentally" and "Pool Hall Richard". As Rod Stewart's solo career became more successful, the band became overshadowed by their lead singer. A disillusioned Ronnie Lane left the band in 1973; one reason given later for his departure was frustration over not having more opportunities to sing lead vocals.

Lane's role as bassist was taken over by Tetsu Yamauchi (who had replaced Andy Fraser in Free). Released just months before Lane left the band, the Faces' final studio album was Ooh La La.