The latest issue of UNCUT magazine is a must for any FACES fan, here’s what editor ALLAN JONES had to say.
‘When Rod Stewart played Twickenham Stadium last summer, I was inclined to attend, and not only because I live down that way. No, there was rather more to me going than mere convenience. There was, for instance an abiding affection for those first four great solo albums he did ā An Old Raincoat Wonāt Ever Let You Down, Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells A Story and Never A Dull Moment ā that down the years has remained undimmed, and survived even the most cringe-inducing episodes of Rodās subsequent career.
The show, as it turned out, was better than I could earlier have imagined, once Iād got over the shock of realising that Rodās audience these days largely seems to consist of alcoholic divorcees, who arrived by the coach-load, squeezed into clothes that wouldnāt fit their children and were determined to treat the entire evening as a mass karaoke session.
He did all the solo hits, of course, as youād expect, but the showās unilateral highlight for me came at the end of the first half, with a raucous version of the old Faces favourite, āStay With Meā, which was accompanied by hilarious archive footage of that band, in all their rowdy glory.
It was a brilliant reminder that at their peak in the early ā70s, The Faces were nigh-on unbeatable ā a fantastic mix of swashbuckling bravado, reckless living, ribald humour, great musicianship, fantastic songs and impeccably dishevelled showmanship.
As David Cavanagh points out in this monthās cover story, for a time The Faces were the only band who could truly give the Stones a run for their money. And who knows? If the Stones hadnāt nicked Ronnie Wood, thus effectively bringing down the curtain on The Facesā riotous career, they might even have gone on to eclipse them…’
THE FACES plus free CD!
Boisterous boozers, committed hotel-wreckersā¦ Rod and the boys were one of Britainās most underrated bands. But who really killed off the loveable shock-haired rockers, and will they reform for that one last round? And this oneās on us: Ooh-La-La!, a 15-track, 100% goodtime selection of rockānāroll in the spirit of The Faces, with Howlin Rain, Drive-By Truckers, The Hold Steady and moreā¦
