Small Faces
Posted by: joerand on 04 February 2014
From what I can gather this UK pressing that has just been released in the US. Has anyone heard it?
I have no Small Faces music and have never come across any used vinyl. Thought this might be a good start. Any other recommendations welcome.
According to Soundstage Direct "For the first time ever, all the correct single versions are included, newly remastered to vinyl from recently discovered original mono master"
I have pre ordered it here in UK from Diverse Vinyl. According to their website it is due to be released on 24th Feb.
I have a few of their albums on vinyl. My personal favourite is Ogdens Nut Gone Flake which has an english psychedelic feel to it.
I like Ogdens too, still have a mint circular lp with the fold out cover. Apparently they used to roll off shop shelves and get damaged. Their first album 'Small Faces' is good; includes 'Whatcha gonna do about it' and 'Sha-la-la-la-lee'. Plus a cover track you might recognise called 'You need loving', later misappropriated by a band that included the man Homer Simpson called 'one of the greatest thieves of American black music ever to walk the Earth'.
Thanks for the responses so far. I just called a local shop in Seattle and The Immediate Years is on shelf here already, which is interesting since it is a UK pressing. My local shop also has the Ogden's Nut LP. Not sure which I'll get.
@Komet,
I like the Homer Simpson reference, is Led Zeppelin the band?
I just got my copy but apparently I was very lucky as diverse vinyl only received a couple of copies. Apparently only 200 copies were available in uk and Eire due to some sort of copyright issue!! Elsewhere it is readily available apparently!! Madness.
I got my copy of the LP shown above in blue vinyl last week. It is very engaging musically and generally a good pressing. However, it does have some vagaries in sound quality that I suspect are due to the age of the source tapes. Some tracks sound very good, others have more of a sizzle than a shimmer to the cymbals. Others have some volume fluctuations. Quality issues are most apparent to me on the final two tracks of side two.
That said, I am pleased overall with the product. The music is very engaging and it is enjoyable to listen to. I understand that this project probably has a limited budget for tape restoration and remastering. I like the cover photo and the pictures on the inner sleeve. The blue vinyl is heavy and flat.
Most of the songs are new to me as Small Faces never reached the popularity in the US that they enjoyed in England. So for me it is fun to hear this 45 year old music for the first time.
I just played my copy and am pretty pleased with the sound in general. Mine is also blue vinyl and lies perfectly flat also. The same re issue company has also released the album Small Faces which also originally came out on the immediate label. I also have that on vinyl and sound quality is also pretty good. There are approx 4 or 5 tracks that appear on both albums but probably still worth getting if you can find it at a good price.