
Ronnie Lane
portrait by Guy Juke
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In early 1969, Ronnie Lane crawled from the
wreckage that had been the Small Faces. Steve
Marriott, his bandmate and writing partner, had just left the band
to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton. Although Lane was trying
to keep the lads together, he was also eager to try something new. Well,
so were Kenney and Mac...
Around that time, Ron Wood invited Ronnie Lane to join a band he was forming
with drummer Mickey Waller and ex-Blue Cheer guitarist Leigh Stephens. Dissatisfied
with the results, the two Ronnies scrapped those plans but pressed on, jamming
and writing together. Soon, Ian McLagan found himself sitting in with
them, and Kenney Jones later became involved. The three ex-SFs were again
together as a band, and planned on sharing vocal duties amongst themselves
and with their new guitarist.
More than once, while they were rehearsing at the Rolling Stones' complex in
Bermondsey, Wood's friend and bandmate from the Jeff Beck Group, Rod Stewart,
tagged along to listen. The second or third time this happened, Kenney
Jones asked Rod Stewart to have a go at singing with them.
They weren't a band yet-- they weren't even Quiet Melon, but that's something
you'll have to discover for yourself. So, put a pillow under your arse,
pour a pint for yourself, and get comfortable as the fracas that were the Faces unfolds
before you.
