THE FACES - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

I've thought that The Faces have been overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for years, I'm glad that they are finally getting in. They've kind of been overshadowed by singer Rod Stewart's solo career: he's been in the Hall of Fame for over a decade.  With all due respect to Rod's solo career (his early LPs, recorded while he was in The Faces, were incredible), I prefer The Faces.

It's too bad that Rod hasn't participated in their recent reunion shows: guitarist Ronnie Wood (already a Hall of Famer as a member of The Rolling Stones), drummer Kenny Jones (who is a former member of The Who, but wasn't inducted with them) and keyboardist Ian McLagan have been doing concerts with Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols on bass, and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red singing. (Original bassist/singer Ronnie Lane passed away in 1997.)

The Faces are being inducted along with their precursors, The Small Faces, which featured Jones, McLagan and Lane along with the late singer/guitarist Steve Marriott. Honestly, I'm not that familiar with The Small Faces, if anyone would like to contribute something about them to my blog, please let me know in the comments. My understanding is that their best album is 1968's Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. But I love The Faces, and here's my primer:

The Compilation: The Best Of Faces: Good Boys... When They're Asleep. It's got their one big hit, "Stay With Me," but some other great performances: their cover of Bob Dylan's "Wicked Messenger," "Sweet Lady Mary," "Had Me A Real Good Time," and "Ooh La La" (sung by Ronnie Lane).

The Classic Album: 1971's A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Dead Horse.  It's just a blast.  It has some of Rod's best vocal performances ever (including the aforementioned "Stay With Me") and yet Ronnie Lane's "Last Orders Please" is still a highlight.

The Box Set: Five Guys Walk Into A Bar... is a hell of a lot of fun. It has almost everything you'd want, including lots of great covers (part of the magic of Rod and Ronnie Wood is that they know when to write a song, and when to do someone else's).  John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," The Temptations'  "(I Know) I'm Losing You" as well as the band's take on solo tunes by Rod ("Maggie May") and Ronnie Wood ("I Can Feel The Fire").

THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME'S BALLOT

Well, today the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the artists on this year's ballot.  If I were a voter, of course I'd be writing in KISS on my ballot, as they were passed over again.  That said, there are some cool artists on the ballot as it stands, and I'd have a hard time voting for just five.  But if I was a voter, I'd go with:


The Beastie Boys: no other band has jumped from style to style like them and done it all well.  Hardcore punk, hip-hop, hard rock and instrumental funk.  Add in one of the funniest phony phone calls of all time, and the fact that they introduced a generation to the plight of Tibet and the concept of non-violent protests, these guys absolutely deserve to get in.  I just hope that they do... and that Adam Yauch is healthy enough to perform at the ceremony.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: When they started out in the '80s, I doubt many people would have expected this band to last twenty five years, or to be able to age so well.  I love their early albums with drummer Jack Irons and the late guitarist Hillel Slovak, but they really came into their own when drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante joined for Mother's Milk.  Of course, the followup, Bloodsugarsexmagik, is a classic, as is lots of the band's second era with Frusciante (Californication is one of the best comeback albums ever). I imagine Anthony Keidis, Flea, Iron, Slovak, Smith and Frusciante will be included if the band is inducted.  I wonder if they'll include Dave Navarro and current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

Eric B & Rakim: I was impressed to see them included on the ballot (while being disappointed that LL Cool J, on the ballot in the past but as of yet not inducted, wasn't included). Ask any MC who knows what he's talking about: Rakim is one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest.  I don't know if their influence on rock and roll is as obvious as that of LL, Run-DMC or Public Enemy (who are not eligible until next year).  But a lot of rock artists were listening to hip-hop during the golden era of the late '80s and early '90s, and if you were listening to hip-hop at that point, you were definitely listening to this incredible duo.  I wonder if they'll perform together if inducted.  Rakim has been doing their music in concert, but is never that cool when talking about Eric B.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: Every few years there's someone who comes along and kicks everyone's ass and reminds them what rock and roll is about. That's what Joan Jett did in the '80s.  She can do gigs with indie punk bands, then do the county fair with Meat Loaf or someone, and then tour with a metal band. She's respected by everyone and rightfully so.  I would vote for her if only for her song "Bad Reputation," it's just righteous.  I should also mention that she's a great music fan, and anyone who heard her former radio show on The Underground Garage would agree.  I wish she still did that show.

The Cure: as long as there as moody kids into weird dark music, there will be a place for The Cure.  They have a pretty incredible body of work, and they really developed over time.  I mean to go from "10:15 Saturday Night" to "Fascination Street" to "Just Like Heaven," that's a lot of ground and they don't really get credit for their diversity.  I wonder which members would be inducted (other than Robert Smith, of course).

I'd have a hard time not voting for The Faces/The Small Faces.  I love The Faces, they are one of the greatest pure rock and roll bands ever.  I always thought that they deserved to be inducted more than Rod Stewart did for his solo career. I think his best vocal performances were with them. I have to confess though, I don't really know much about their precursor, The Small Faces.

I'd also like to see Guns N Roses inducted. Like anyone else who was alive in 1987, Appetite For Destruction rocked my world, and they deserve to get in just for that album. And of course, who wouldn't want to see who shows up for their induction? They shouldn't get in before KISS though.

Heart is a great group, I don't know if I'd vote for them, but I certainly wouldn't object to it if they got in. I wonder which members (other than Ann and Nancy Wilson) would be included? Ann Wilson is one of the great classic rock singers.  Freddie King is a great blues guitarist, a huge influence on Clapton (as well as Beck and SRV). Definitely wouldn't object to his induction, I'm not a huge expert on the guy beyond "Hideaway." Rufus with Chaka Khan is a cool funk group, but I wouldn't vote for them. The Spinners were a great Philly soul group, I wouldn't object to them either. I've discussed Donna Summer as a Hall of Famer with Larry Flick: I don't mind a disco diva being in the Hall of Fame, especially because I think "I Feel Love" is pretty radical and badass.  But if disco is going to be represented, I'd lean more towards voting for Chic (not on the ballot this year). I think War is actually a really underrated group, I'd like to see them get in at some point. The two artists on the ballot I would object to: Donovan (I just can't take his music, its way too hippie for me) and Laura Nyro (great songwriter, but not a rock and roller).  

RON WOOD TO TOUR THIS YEAR

I read that Ronnie Wood is considering a solo tour this year. Supposedly, he was hoping for a Rolling Stones tour, and since (he thinks) that that isn't happening, he wants to hit the road, and focus attention on his music rather than his personal life. He supposedly has been working on a solo album for a while, and now he wants to get it out there. I wonder if the Stones are really not touring, or just that they are going to tour without Ronnie.  I hope that they can work things out. Whatever he does, I hope he's OK.  And I hope that he doesn't do a Faces tour without Rod Stewart.

ROD STEWART: A HOPEFULLY HELPFUL GUIDE TO RECENT RELEASES

It seems like there's been a deluge of Rod Stewart releases over the past decade or so.  I'm here to help!  I've gone through a lot of the recent stuff to give you the low-down. I have mixed feelings about Rod. On one hand, he is one of the greatest singers in rock or pop music in the past fifty years, no question. On the other, he also seems like one of the laziest. He just doesn't seem to try hard anymore -- just my opinion.  I can't think of many artists with a farther gap between their classic stuff and their worst stuff. And it's not even like Bowie, where at least he is ambitious. Of course, Rod has a better voice, and probably like Sinatra and a lot of singers of that era, sometimes just stepping up to the mic and singing is enough.

I recently picked up The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971 - 1998, a 4 CD box set from Rhino that ostensibly gives an "alternate" history of what might have been in Rod's career, and also posts the theory that there isn't as much of a difference between the Rod of 1971 and the Rod of 1998. I gotta disagree with that. I have no doubt that Rod always wanted to be the biggest star in the world, and that's what he was aiming for -- not some kind of credibility that would please music critics. There are some real gems in this box set, spanning the entire '71-'98 period. A lot of it is stripped down versions of songs that made his albums, like his cover of The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart Of Mine" and The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody." And other stuff like his cover of Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" which was previously unreleased, as well as his version of Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" (also covered by The Yardbirds). It also has a previously unreleased version of Bob Dylan's "Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar," from a previously unreleased 1992 album Once In A Blue Moon (which was shelved in favor of his MTV Unplugged... and Seated album. Incidentally, that album has just been released this week, exclusively at Rhino.com. My verdict is, I probably shouldn't have spent $60 on this because I'm not a big enough fan, but if you are, you'll like it. If you're just starting out with Rod, I would recommend instead the 1990 4-CD box set Storyteller, which has most of his biggest hits, plus some Jeff Beck Group and Faces material, and some lesser known stuff as well. If you don't want to dive in that deep, The Definitive Rod Stewart is a more recent 2 CD set. If you really want to hear Rod rocking, get The Faces career spanning 4 CD box set, Five Guys Walk Into A Bar. A shorter version is the single CD best-of Good Boys... When They're Asleep.

Rod's latest album, Soulbook, also released late last year, is the latest in a series of thematic covers albums. Of course, there is his Great American Songbook series, which yielded four volumes between 2002 and 2005 and saw him singing Sinatra-esque standards. It also saw him returning to multi-platinum sales, in an era where few of his peers could pull that off. I can't say that I'm very familiar with these albums, as I'm not a fan of the material. I did check out his 2006 album, Still The Same... Great Rock Classics Of Our Time. It probably should have been called "great SOFT rock classics.." because most of the songs were middle of the road mid-tempo songs. I'm not mad at that though: he's so great at singing that kind of thing. Even though he doesn't sound like he's breaking a sweat, he still does a great job on some of the tunes, like Bob Seger's title track and Van Morisson's "Crazy Love."

Soulbook is a bit like Motown or soul night on American Idol. Fine, but nothing you'd really want to buy, and the versions don't add anything to the original versions. The backing band, produced by Steve Jordan, sounds very L.A. There are a few guests on the album: Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson, but it's not a duets album. If's fine, but it's hard to see the point. On one hand, it would be phony for Rod to record these songs like it was 1960-whatever, but on the other hand, it's just a bit (or more than a bit) too smooth. If you want to hear new takes on Motown classics, I suggest the Standing In The Shadows Of Motown soundtrack, which features MeShell NdegeOcello, Ben Harper, Bootsy Collins and Joan Osborne re-interpreting the label's classics (backed by the surviving members of the original house band, The Funk Brothers).

What's next for Rod? It seems like a Faces reunion isn't going to happen - I doubt Rod wants to deal with Ronnie Wood 's antics. I've read that he might be interested in working with Jeff Beck again. Beck actually told Rolling Stone that he'd be interested, but only if it was a serious album, not "a weekend blues album" (which is probably how Jeff would rate a Rod blues album in 2010). I've also heard that Rod would love to collaborate with The Black Keys, which is probably the coolest thing that he could do at this point. He should listen to Buddy Guy's Dirt Floor and B.B. King 's One Kind Favor, and then get with the Keys and make an awesome album. For now, we have the recordings of when he actually was awesome.

RON DON'T GO: HAVE THE ROLLING STONES FIRED RON WOOD?

As you know, I don't write about rock star gossip, and it's been hard to avoid it in Ronnie Wood's case. The short version is he was in rehab (again), bailed, went to a bar, hooked up with a very young waitress, left his wife for her, and has seemingly been on a bender since then.

Without getting too into the details, England's Daily Mail is reporting that Mick Jagger may have had enough of Ronnie's nonsense and may fire him from The Rolling Stones. I think the Mail is a gossip publication, but they are reporting that Ronnie's wife Jo has always been like his caretaker, and without her he's out of control, and Mick doesn't want to deal with it (which is understandable). Realistically speaking, the Stones can't have many tours left in them, and probably just one. And I don't think Mick wants to stress through the tour wondering what is up with Ron. While I would never go and see the Stones if, say, Charlie Watts quit (as he was rumored to have done earlier this year), I could accept the Stones without Ronnie, although it would be a shame.

I wonder if this is why Rod Stewart has avoided reuniting with The Faces: at this point in his career, he probably doesn't want to deal with someone who doesn't work for him, especially if that person  is out of control.

I should stress, again, that The Daily Mail is (I believe) a very gossipy publication, but its no secret that Ron has been erratic lately, and if Mick wants to do a Stones tour in 2010, it's not hard to imagine that he'd be willing to cut Ronnie if he can't get his shit together. Ronnie missed out on some of the sessions for the last Stones album, A Bigger Bang, because of an earlier stint in rehab.

YOUR NEW SOURCE FOR ROLLING STONES INFO: RON WOOD'S TEENAGE GIRLFRIEND

I don't consider Britian's The Sun (their equivalent of The National Enquirer and/or Fox News, I'm told) to be a credible source of info. And I've been avoiding writing about Ron Wood's personal life, it's been well documented. But supposedly his new, very young, girlfriend, has been blabbing that The Rolling Stones will be touring in 2010. Well, I hope it's true. Although I'd love to see Ron tour with The Faces (but only if Rod Stewart is on vocals, otherwise it would be bogus). Speaking of bogus, The Stones without Charlie Watts would also not be cool. So hopefully if this is true, it means that Charlie is still in the band. And although The Stones have been asked at every tour announcement event since nineteen-sixty-whatever if this will be "the last tour," I'd have to think that this actually would be the last tour.

THE LATEST FACES RUMOR

Longtime No Expiration readers know that I don't like to bring the negativity, there's too much of that in the world. But this is a stupid idea: Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones are now talking about doing a Faces reunion in 2010, with or without Rod Stewart. The Faces without Rod Stewart is as weak as Aerosmith without Steven Tyler. I don't blame these guys for wanting to play together again, and of course they'd do Faces songs. But if Rod Stewart is still walking this earth, and they're calling it The Faces, it just comes off as totally bogus. Ronnie: would you do a Rolling Stones tour with a different singer? Billboard reports that they may actually use, of all people, former Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall. I wonder how Mick Hucknall would feel if Simply Red toured without him? Hucknall recently played with Ron, Ian and Kenny at a charity gig. That's cool for a charity gig, not a tour. I understand how annoying it must be for the guys, especially Ian and Kenny, to watch Rod do lame solo album after lame solo album and not reunite the band. But I don't think calling it The Faces is going to go over well.

HEY, I HAVEN'T WRITTEN ABOUT THE FACES IN A WHILE

Last night, three of the four surviving Faces (but not Rod Stewart) reunited for a benefit gig in England, according to Music News Net. Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones, with Wood's former Rolling Stones bandmate Bill Wyman on bass, performed with a few different singers, including Mel C. from The Spice Girls, Kiki Dee (Elton John's duet partner on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") and the dude from Simply Red. OK, but it's still pretty exciting anyway! Apparently Rod was in the U.S. promoting his new album Soulbook, where he covers soul music classics (I'm curious to hear it). Apparently Kenny Jones was saying that the reunion may be in the cards for 2010! The benefit was for the PRS For Music organization, by the way.

YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FACES FOREVER

Ron Wood clearly wanted The Faces reunion to happen, but thanks to Rod Stewart, it seems like it won't. So, with The Rolling Stones still enjoying downtime, Ron is working on a solo album. A year ago, he was talking about doing an album of duets, and now it looks like he has landed Eddie Vedder for his next album, which is being produced by Bob Rock of Metallica fame. Ron has actually done some really cool solo music, you should check out his Crossexion compilation and his Slide On This album.

A FACES UPDATE

Ian McLagan has been doing some press around his solo tour for his new album Never Say Never (which came out today and which I hear is great) and says that he, Ron Wood and Kenney Jones are waiting to hear back from Rod Stewart about a Faces reunion. C'mon Rod, we know you're a zillionaire, but there's generations of kids who know you as a lame-ass adult contemporary geezer who was (supposedly) once cool. Come out and rock one more time.

THE FACES REUNION: IT'S OFF

Despite lots of hype about a Faces reunion tour and album, and the fact that Flea's name was being thrown around as the bass player, Billboard says that a rep for Rod Stewart says that there are no plans for a reunion in 2009, and a rep for Flea says he knows nothing about it. What a bummer. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ

Two weeks ago on OutQ, I planned on talking about some reunions to look forward to in 2009, but I didn't get to it. So, I'm making up for that this week. I'll be talking about as many reunions as I can get to, including The Kinks, The Faces, Mott The Hoople, The Specials, Faith No More, blur, Pavement, Phish and No Doubt (who never broke up, but lots of people probably thought Gwen Stefani wouldn't return to the band after her solo success). I don't know if I'll get to all of those bands though.

FLEA TO JOIN THE FACES

According to the NME, The Faces' reunion really is on, and they are going to be using Flea as their bass player. Of course, their original bass player was the late Ronnie Lane, who quit the band towards the end of their run, and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi. I don't know why they aren't going to use him, but Flea is a cool choice. It's weird though: he sort of comes from the anti-blues-rock, anti-rock star punk scene, so it's interesting that he would play in a blues rock band of huge rock stars (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood). Still, I'm looking forward to seeing The Faces, and having Flea only makes it a cooler situation. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ

I'm glad to be returning to the OutQ airwaves tomorrow. Since I usually go on the air on Thursdays, and the last two Thursdays were New Year's Day and Christmas Day, it's been three weeks.

I don't have a theme, per se, but here's what I will be talking about:

• The late great Ron Asheton of The Stooges who died earlier this week.
• How cool a subscription to (RED)wire is. I just got my third issue, which inlcuded a new Joseph Arthur song, and a live mashup between Elvis Costello & The Imposters and The Police of "Watching The Detectives" and "Walking On The Moon," which was recorded for Elvis' new TV show.
• Some great releases that I didn't get to talk about on the air last year (and some I still need to write about): The Drive-By Truckers' Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs, Lucinda Williams' Little Honey and the Lu In '08 EP, Mavis Staples' Live: Hope At The Hideout, the deluxe reissue of Steve Earle's classic Copperhead Road and Neil Young's Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968.
• And stuff to look forward to in 2009: new albums by U2 and Bruce Springsteen, and possible reunions by The Kinks, The Faces, blur (who I don't care about but I'm sure a lot of people do) and one of my favorite bands ever, Faith No More (more on that as I find out about it).

THE FACES: IT'S ON!

Well, it looks like The Faces reunion is closer to being a reality. Rolling Stone interviewed Ron Wood who said that the surviving members of the band - Ron, Rod Stewart, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenny Jones - rehearsed last week and "sounded great." (They used Rod's bassist Conrad Korsch, not Tetsu Yamauchi, who originally replaced the late Ronnie Lane when he quit the band). Wood mentioned that a number of bass players offered to sit in, including Flea. No matter who is on bass, this promises to be an awesome tour, as long as Rod Stewart can still sing rock and roll (and remember how to be cool). 

THE FACES TO REUNITE?

Yes, I'm a reunion-watching junkie. I've been hoping for The Kinks to get back together. I was holding out hope that Bill Berry would rejoin R.E.M. (although they did fine without him).

Right now, it looks like there's a good chance that The Faces might get together, and that's pretty exciting. I think it's been close before - either Rod Stewart wants to do it and Ronnie Wood can't make it because of The Rolling Stones' schedule, or Rod doesn't feel like it. But now it might happen: supposedly, Rod, Ron, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenny Jones had a rehearsal this week. That's a show I'd love to see.