All Things Are Too Small

The Small Faces split from manager Don Arden to sign with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and, in retaliation, Decca and Arden rounded up the remaining recordings the group made for the label and released them as From the Beginning. Appearing just months before their Immediate debut - entitled The Small Faces, just like their first album for Decca - From the Beginning includes early version of "My Way of Giving" and "(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me," and it reprises songs that were on the 1966 Decca LP ("Sha La La La Lee," "What'cha Gonna Do About It"), moves that muddy an already confusing situation. And From the Beginning really doesn't play as a cohesive album by any stretch of the imagination, as it opens with a burst of burgeoning psychedelia then doubles back to the group's early R&B, flaws that matter less as years pass by because, on a track by track basis, there is a lot of wondrous material here…

Johnny Smith - The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions (1952-64) {8CD Box Set Mosaic MD8-216 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.55 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.29 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 67 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1952-64, 2002 Roost / Mosaic Records / EMI | MD8-216
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Johnny Smith is an exquisite jazz guitarist known mostly to fellow musicians and serious jazz fans. This beautifully packaged and expertly annotated eight-CD limited-edition boxed set from Mosaic includes his complete small-group recordings for Roost, most of which have languished out of print for decades. Smith's unique voicings on his instrument set him apart from other players, yet he maintains a lush, crystal-clear tone no matter the tempo or setting.