features in: Album Chart of 1968 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1960s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |
The fourth LP from the increasingly complex East Londoners, now more psychedelic than ever before. The front-cover was a parody of Ogden's Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco that was produced in Liverpool from 1899 onwards by Thomas Ogden. And so begins the trip. Side one mixes up the heavy rockers with jaunty music hall capers: “'allo Mrs. Jones, how's your Berts lumbago?' …'mustn't grumble'.” Things get proper weird on side two, a concept affair, which begins with the startling spoken-word narrative: “Are you all sitting comftybold two square on your botty? Then I'll begin…” The voice belongs to Stanley Unwin, famous for his “Unwinese” gobbledegook. Stan's monologue appears between-tracks to tell the tale of “Happiness Stan” who goes in search of the dark side of the moon, a journey which brings him into contact with talking flies and a hermit called John and ends in a dance party. With a little help from his new hip pals, Unwin adds plenty of modern slang into his routine, for a truly surreal experience. By this stage, I'm looking again at that front cover. A wacky baccy affair methinks…
The Jukebox Rebel
30–Nov–2015
Tracklist |
A1 | [02:26] Small Faces - Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan) Psychedelia |
A2 | [03:31] Small Faces - Afterglow Of Your Love (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Rock |
A3 | [02:35] Small Faces - Long Agos And Worlds Apart (Ian McLagan) Psychedelia |
A4 | [04:29] Small Faces - Rene (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Pop |
A5 | [03:15] Small Faces - Song Of A Baker (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Rock |
A6 | [03:05] Small Faces - Lazy Sunday (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Pop |
B1 | [02:35] Small Faces - Happiness Stan (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Psychedelia |
B2 | [02:50] Small Faces - Rollin’ Over (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Rock |
B3 | [02:15] Small Faces - The Hungry Intruder (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan) Psychedelia |
B4 | [04:12] Small Faces - The Journey (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan) Psychedelia |
B5 | [02:48] Small Faces - Mad John (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane) Folk Rock / Americana |
B6 | [04:17] Small Faces - Happydaystoytown (Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan) Pop |