Six decades on, Small Faces’ first album Small Faces remains a defining document of British mod culture and the launchpad for one of the UK’s most influential bands.
by Paul Cashmere
On 6 May 1966, Small Faces released their debut album Small Faces through Decca Records, a record that would cement their status in the mid-1960s London scene and deliver early hits including Whatcha Gonna Do About It and Sha-La-La-La-Lee. Sixty years later, the album stands as a pivotal moment in British rock, capturing the urgency and identity of the mod movement at its commercial peak.
The significance of Small Faces lies in both its timing and impact. Released during a surge of British R&B-influenced pop, the album reached No. 3 on the UK charts and remained a consistent seller, later charting internationally including a Top 10 position in Finland. It also marked the arrival of a band that would evolve rapidly, from sharp-suited mod leaders into one of the UK’s more adventurous psychedelic outfits within two years.
Recorded between June 1965 and February 1966 at IBC Studios in London, the album documents a transitional period for the group. The original line-up of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston was already shifting. Winston departed after the second single failed to chart, yet his presence remains across several tracks. His replacement, Ian McLagan, appears on the album cover and contributes to the evolving keyboard textures that would become central to the band’s sound.
From a production standpoint, the sessions were overseen in part by engineer Glyn Johns, whose later career would include work with major rock acts. The album’s sonic character is rooted in American rhythm and blues, filtered through a distinctly British sensibility. Tracks such as Shake and You Need Loving draw directly from soul and blues traditions, the latter closely aligned with Muddy Waters’ You Need Love, written by Willie Dixon.
That connection would ripple into rock history. You Need Loving later informed the lyrical framework of Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin, highlighting how Small Faces’ early catalogue fed into the next wave of British hard rock. The lineage underscores the band’s broader influence beyond their immediate chart success.
Commercially, the album consolidated momentum built through singles. Whatcha Gonna Do About It had introduced the band in August 1965, followed by Sha-La-La-La-Lee, which strengthened their chart presence. By 1966, Small Faces were among the UK’s biggest-selling acts, reflecting both record sales and a growing live reputation forged in clubs across London and beyond.
Within their catalogue, Small Faces represents the foundation. It predates their more experimental work, including Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake in 1968, but establishes key elements, Marriott’s powerful vocal delivery, Lane’s melodic bass lines, and a tight rhythm section anchored by Jones. Songs like Come On Children and E Too D also point to the band’s songwriting partnership, which would mature significantly in subsequent releases.
The broader cultural context is equally relevant. As leaders of the mod scene, Small Faces helped define a youth identity centred on fashion, music and attitude. Their name itself reflected both their physical stature and their status within that culture, a “face” being a figure of influence and style. The album captured that moment before British rock diversified into psychedelia and heavier forms.
There are, however, complexities in reassessing the record. Questions around songwriting credits, particularly with You Need Loving, highlight the era’s often blurred lines between homage and appropriation. While no legal action was taken at the time, retrospective analysis places the album within a wider industry pattern where American blues artists were not always fully credited or compensated.
Looking forward from 1966, the trajectory of Small Faces would shift quickly. By 1967 they were producing more ambitious material, and by 1969 the departure of Marriott led to the formation of Humble Pie, while the remaining members regrouped as Faces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. That lineage further extends the debut album’s importance as the starting point for multiple influential careers.
Sixty years on, Small Faces remains more than a period piece. It is a precise snapshot of British pop at a moment of transition, grounded in R&B traditions while pointing toward the evolution of rock music in the late 1960s and beyond.
Tracklisting: Small Faces (1966)
Side One
Shake
Come On Children
You Better Believe It
It’s Too Late
One Night Stand
Whatcha Gonna Do About It
Side Two
7. Sorry She’s Mine
8. Own Up Time
9. You Need Loving
10. Don’t Stop What You’re Doing
11. E Too D
12. Sha-La-La-La-Lee
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