Small Faces

In the works for years, the Small Faces 2014 box set Here Come the Nice is unapologetically one for the devoted. Spanning four discs, the first containing newly remastered Immediate mono single mixes from the original masters, the rest rounding up tracking sessions, alternate mixes, backing tracks, Italian versions, live cuts, and other assorted ephemera, the box's allure lies in its packaging…

Limited four disc (three CDs + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) set. This 60-page hardback book edition contains mono and stereo versions of the album plus a disc of rare bonus material, together with a DVD containing The Small Faces' legendary feature on an episode of the BBC's TV show "Colour Me Pop" in June 1968, with the highlights being their performance of "Happiness Stan" and Peter Whitehead's promotional film for 'Lazy Sunday'. It will also feature a deluxe booklet loaded with material, including in-depth sleeve notes by Small Faces authority and Mojo contributor Mark Paytress, interviews, rare photos and memorabilia…

Somewhat overshadowed by Decca's rush-released From the Beginning, appearing just weeks before this 1967 LP, and often confused with their 1966 debut by virtue of its sharing an identical title, the Small Faces' eponymous debut for Immediate Records is one of the great British pop albums of the '60s. The Small Faces were breaking away from their R&B roots, dabbling with LSD and psychedelia, and tightening up their songwriting, emphasizing pop melodies in a way they never did on their debut. Sonically, The Small Faces doesn't get as far out as the abandoned Decca cuts that surfaced on From the Beginning - there may be some harpsichords but no outright psychedelia - but it is bright, colorful, and concentrated, its very brevity playing like snappy pop art…

There was no shortage of good psychedelic albums emerging from England in 1967-1968, but Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is special even within their ranks. The Small Faces had already shown a surprising adaptability to psychedelia with the single "Itchycoo Park" and much of their other 1967 output, but Ogden's Nut Gone Flake pretty much ripped the envelope. British bands had an unusual approach to psychedelia from the get-go, often preferring to assume different musical "personae" on their albums, either feigning actual "roles" in the context of a variety show (as on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album), or simply as storytellers in the manner of the Pretty Things on S.F. Sorrow, or actor/performers as on the Who's Tommy. The Small Faces tried a little bit of all of these approaches on Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, but they never softened their sound…

The Autumn Stone was the only double LP in the history of Immediate Records, and it came out as the company was entering its death throes, a desperate effort to cash in – or, to use a term that's become popular in the 21st century – "monetize" their library of tapes on the Small Faces…

Small Faces were an English rock band from East London. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston. The band is remembered as one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the 1960s with memorable hit songs such as "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", "All or Nothing", and "Tin Soldier", as well as their concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. They later evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic bands until 1969. The Small Faces never disbanded; when Marriott left to form Humble Pie, the remaining three members recuited Ronnie Wood as guitarist, and Rod Stewart as their lead vocalist, both from The Jeff Beck Group, and carried on as Faces, except in North America, where this group's first album (and only their first album) was credited to Small Faces.

This 36-song double-CD set covers most of the group's released songs from Decca, minus one song ("I Can't Make It") that they lost the rights to, and augmented with a handful of solo tracks by Steve Marriott and songs by Jimmy Winston's band…