Small Faces - 1960's Peacock Style Icons

Small Faces photographed by Gered Mankowitz in 1968

For some reason, I've never devoted much space to Small Faces in here, so it's about time I did a little post about them. Not only they were one of the best British bands of the 1960's, but they were also one of the best dressed bands of that era. Although undoubtedly the mod icons - Steve Marriott deserves a nickname 'Modfather' much more than Paul Weller - they remained a great-looking band even after Mod style went out of fashion. It is rumoured that during their existence, the band would spend roughly about £12.000 on clothes each year. Although this figure  simply must be an exaggeration - £12.000 in the mid-Sixties was an equivalent of around £270.000 today - Small Faces certainly were very frequent visitors to Carnaby Street and King's Road. Here, I've put up some of my favourite photos of Small Faces as well as some original ads and articles from 1966 - 1968 period, when Marriott and co. abandoned Mod fashions and 'went psychedelic'. 

Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane shopping in Carnaby Street during last days of Mod in 1966

Covers of Rave magazine from 1966-1967 featuring Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and female friends

Kenney Jones circa 1966

Ronnie Lane in 1966. I love that double-breasted jacket he's wearing..

Shot from FAB 208 magazine, April 1967

Small Faces poster in Record Mirror, 1967

Small Faces in Jackie, 1967

TV performance, 1967

1967

Small Faces in Top Pops, 1967. I love Ian McLagan's shirt.

Press ad for Small Faces' first album

NME article about Small faces shared house in Pimlico, 1966

Small Faces performing 'Tin Soldier' on German TV show The Beat Club in 1967. I love Steve Marriott's frilly shirt..

Small Faces in their psychedelic gear, 1967

Marriott and Lane onstage, 1967

Happiness is a Small Face - article on Small Faces in Mirabelle, 1967

Pop Romance - Article in Rave magazine about Steve Marriott's short-lived affair with Chrissie Shrimpton - younger and prettier sister of Jean (and Mick Jagger's ex), 1967.

Steve Marriott and Chrissie Shrimpton, 1967

During a photoshoot for a cover of There Are But Four Small Faces, 1967

Press ad for There Are But Four Small Faces, 1967

Ronnie Lane, 1967

Steve Marriott, 1967

Ian McLagan marries Ready Steady Go dancer Sandy Sargent, 1968

Small Faces on the cover of NME during the release of the single 'Lazy Sunday', April 1968

Steve Marriott's Diary.....

Small Faces photographed by Gered Mankowitz, 1968

I'll end with my favourite Small Faces song - 'Understanding'. It's an ultimate 'feelgood' song. There's so much power in Steve Marriott's vocals...why was this song only a B-Side to 'All Or Nothing', I will never understand..

Source of the photos:  Paolo Hewitt, Small Faces - The Young Mods' Forgotten Story,London, Acid Jazz, 1995
 Uncut Magazine, Mojo Magazine

Thane Russal And Chrissie Shrimpton, 1966

Chrissie Shrimpton and Thane Russal photographed in 1966 by Richard Avedon.

Thane Russal, whose real name was Doug Gibbons, was an Australian singer lived and recorded in Britain in the mid-1960's.His most memorable song is the dynamic version of Otis Redding's 'Security' recorded in 1966. In my modest opinion, Thane Russal's version is FAR superior to the original, which sounds pretty generic by comparison (Sorry, Otis Redding's fans..). The brass section from Otis's version is here replaced by melodic guitar riff, and instead of Otis's soulful vocals, we get angry, Mick Jagger-esque snarl of Thane Russal. Indeed, this version could almost pass for a lost Stones song...

'Security' was a minor hit in Britain in 1966. John Peel was a fan of the single and played it often on his radio show Perfumed Garden. Thane Russal And Three, as his backing band was called, toured with P.J. Proby, The Searchers, and fellow Mod bands - The Who, The Sorrows and The Action. They also supported Pink Floyd in Italy. Today, 'Security'  is a cult classic for Mod/Psych fans. 

Intersting piece of trivia - 'Security' was produced by certain Paul Raven - real name Paul Gadd - who would later achieve fame (and infamy) as Gary Glitter.

Here are some photos of Thane Russal and Three from 1965-1966..

The Three: (from left) Mick Brill, Martin Fisher, Allan Collins and Pete Huish (that's four, surely). Evidently the boys were customers of I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet boutique.

 Martin Fisher

 Martin Fisher

Mick Brill and Martin Fisher

     And the man himself - Doug Gibbons A.K.A. Thane Russal

Source of the photos - Italian page Beatssesanta.

Girlfriends of The Rolling Stones modelling for Ossie Clark, 1967

Swinging London royalty modelling clothes from 1967 winter collection by Ossie Clark and Alice Pollock (who at the time ran Quorum boutique on King's Road). From left: Linda Keith, Chrissie Shrimpton, Suki Poitier and Annie Sabroux. Three of these lovely ladies: Keith, Shrimpton and Poitier were famous for having dated a Rolling Stone. Chrissie Shrimpton, who,of course was Jean Shrimpton's younger sister, was Mick Jagger's girlfriend between 1964 and 1966. The disintegration of their relationship around 1966 was visible in Jagger's lyrics - "Out Of Time", "Yesterday's Newspapers" and "Stupid Girl" were all rumored to be about Shrimpton (Mick eventually dumped her for Marianne Faithfull).

Chrissie Shrimpton and Mick Jagger in February 1966

Linda Keith dated Keith Richards in 1966.She had played small, but important part in Jimi Hendrix's career - she introduced him to Chas Chandler, his future manager (and former bass player in The Animals). The story goes: Linda had accompanied The Stones and The Animals on a trip to the US in 1966. One night, she has accompanied Brian and Keith to The Cafe Wha, a seedy back streeet dive in Greenwich Village, New York, where the three had sat mesmerised as the young, left-handed virtuoso known as Jimi Hendrix had laid waste to his audience. Days later Linda revisited the cafe, this time accompanied by Chandler who, disenchanted with his life as an Animal, was on the lookout for pastures new. Linda suggested to Chandler that managing new acts could aid his departure from playing, and, if so, then young Jimi was the best place to start.

Having already made Jimi's acquaintance, Linda set about securing the guitarist's attention with more than just a buisness proposition. Her overtures to Jimi triggered the end of her liaison with Richards. It was finally extinguished when she repeated her suggestions to Hendrix some months later following his triumphant introduction to England (Terry Rawlings, Brian Jones: Who Killed Christopher Robin?, p 92).

When Richards started dating Brian's ex - Anita Pallenberg, Brian hooked up with....Linda Keith. But he didn't stop there. To complicate matters, he simultaneously started an affair with Suki Poitier - one-time girlfriend of Tara Browne.

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Brian Jones and Suki Poitier, 1967 (Photo from a collection of Ms. Jayme Franklin).

Considering the circumstances, I wonder whether Linda Keith and Suki Poitier were even on speaking terms during that Ossie Clark photoshoot...