Album Essentials: Small Faces – "Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake"

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Perhaps the Mod-est of all the Mod bands of the era, the Small Faces embodied the true essence of not only the Mod aesthetic, but of rock and roll in general! Led by the formidable force of nature known as Steve Marriott, Small Faces had the energy, the attitude, the style, and the chops to take on the world. With all members -- shall we say -- less than tall, their stature wasn't the slightest hinderance to a fully rocking existence.

Super-charged rhythm section, slashing guitars, driving Hammond organ and a vocalist to rival them all, Small Faces couldn't help but make an impression on the London club scene. Following a batch of high grade singles throughout 1965 and 66, they released their debut in the spring of 1966. Full of big beat bashers and proto hard rock, people took notice with four of their first five singles landing in the UK Top 10. By the release of album number two in the first half of 1967, the band was changing course with the times: still rocking, but merging with other sounds and styles.

As the psychedelic era became surrounded with lofty ambitions, the Small Faces tried their hand at a more conceptual work. Mind you, this was not a 'concept' album, but the way it was put together, and the way the songs flowed, was certainly not an afterthought.

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake was released in May of 1968, originally in a round, die-cut sleeve unlike anything released to that point. As for the music inside the fancy sleeve, it was a culmination of the Small Faces past and present. Hard rocking soul stompers sat beside acoustic whimsy, and pop perfection with a slight psychedelic glow. They were smart enough to know a full blown cosmic trip was just not them but they were still able to use some of the readily found colors of the era to make it all shine.

"Lazy Sunday" was a #2 UK hit while tracks like "Afterglow" and "Song Of A Baker" are as powerful rockers as anyone was delivering at the time. Side two was where the concept sat, with narration between tracks provided by British comic Stanley Unwin. The close-knit combo of Marriott on guitar and vocals, Ronnie Lane on bass, Ian McLagan on keyboards and Kenney Jones on drums unfortunately didn't survive long after the album's release. Marriott was off to form Humble Pie while the others would recruit Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood to replace Marriott and become simply the Faces. But, that's another story for another time. This is all about the classic 1968 offering from the Small Faces, and if you are not familiar with the Small Faces, you really should be! Thanks for listening!

Tune into The Summit FM all day Thursday, June 15 to hear tracks from Ogden's Nut Gone Flake as our Summit Album Essential of the week!