The Faces ‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink’ Turns 50 - Noise11.com
The Faces A Nods As Good As A Wink

The Faces ‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink’ Turns 50

by Paul Cashmere on November 18, 2021

in News

The Faces classic ‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink … To A Blind Horse’ has just turned 50 years old.

‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink’ was the third album for The Faces. It was released in 17 November 1971.

The Faces’ lead singer Rod Stewart had released his solo album ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’ in May 1971. The Faces album came along just as Rod’s ‘Maggie Mae’ was a huge hit all over the world.

The Faces were Rod Stewart (vocals), Ronnie Wood (guitar), Kenney Jones (drums), Ian McLagan (keyboards) and Ronnie Lane (bass). Lane died in 1997, McLagan in 2014.

‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink’ reached no 6 in the USA, no 4 in Australia and no 2 in the UK giving The Faces there first international chart success.

The album was recorded between March and September 1971. The band shared production duties with Glyn Johns who had recently worked with The Beatles on the ‘Get Back’ album (recently released in the Let It Be box) and The Who’s ‘Who’s Next’. He went on to produce the first two Eagles albums after The Faces.

‘A Nod’s As Good As A Wink’ featured ‘Stay With Me’.

The Faces morphed out of the earlier Small Faces with Steve Marriott. Mariott left to join Humble Pie, Wood and Stewart were recruited and The Small Faces became The Faces.

The Faces only released four albums:

First Step (1970)
Long Player (1971)
A Nod’s As Good As A Wink (1971)
Ooh La La (1973)

In 1975 after Ronnie Wood left to join The Rolling Stones, the band split.

In June this year it was reported that Jones, Stewart and Wood were working on new music. There has been no word on that since.

Rod Stewart was on The Graham Norton Show this week performing his new song ‘One More Time’. His new album ‘The Tears of Hercules’ was released last week.

Be the first to see NOISE.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE

Noise11.com

Follow Noise11 on Social Media

Noise11 on Instagram

You’ll discover music news first following Noise11 on Twitter

Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook

Related Posts

Shirley Strachan Skyhooks (photo from skyhooks-music.com)
Shirley Strachan of Skyhooks Left Us 24 Years Ago Today 29 August

It’s hard to believe it’s been 24 years since Australia lost one of its most iconic musical sons—Graeme “Shirley” Strachan, the charismatic lead singer of Skyhooks. Today, on 29 August 2025, fans, friends, and fellow musicians remember the voice that defined a generation, the performer whose presence lit up stages, and the personality who made Australian rock both fun and unforgettable.

2 days ago
Russell Morris at Hamer Hall Melbourne 27 August 2025 photo by Winston Robinson
Russell Morris The Farewell Tour Is A Treasure Trove Of Hits and Rarities

Russell Morris was almost apologetic when he stepped onto the Hamer Hall stage in Melbourne for the first night of The Farewell Tour on Wednesday (27 August 2025). He admitted to his fans that a 60-year career can look confusing from the outside. The truth is, Morris was never one to sit still.

3 days ago
Steve Martin and Alison Browne photo from Compass Records
Steve Martin and Alison Brown Unite for Safe, Sensible and Sane Out October 17

Steve Martin has spent decades balancing comedy, acting, writing and music, but his love for the banjo has always been more than a hobby. On October 17, Martin will join forces with banjo trailblazer Alison Brown for their new collaborative album Safe, Sensible and Sane, a star-studded roots music project set to be one of the year’s most intriguing releases.

5 days ago
Tom Waits supplied by Anti
Tom Waits To Reissue 1975 Classic Nighthawks at the Diner For 50th Anniversary

Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the Diner is being reissued for its 50th anniversary on October 24, with ANTI- Records pressing the landmark album onto three limited-edition yellow vinyl variants. More than just a re-release, this marks a celebration of one of the most unusual and defining recordings of Waits’ early career.

5 days ago
Queen autographed A Night At The Opera
Why Queen’s Quietest Member John Deacon Chose to Become a Recluse Until This Rare Return

For fans of Queen, John Deacon has long been the enigma of the band, a brilliant musician, masterful songwriter, and humble presence behind the scenes. Since the early 1990s, Deacon has shunned the spotlight, retiring quietly after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991. But now, years later, he has quietly resurfaced, lending his signature alongside bandmates Roger Taylor and Brian May on a charity auction item, signalling, perhaps, that even the most private of souls can still make their mark in unexpected ways.

6 days ago
Patti Smith Horses 50th Anniversary
Patti Smith ‘Horses’ Gets 50th Anniversary Reissue With Unearthed Demos and Live Cuts

In 1975, Patti Smith entered Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City with a vision: to fuse the jagged energy of punk with the fluid imagery of poetry. That vision became Horses, one of the most groundbreaking debut albums in rock history. Now, half a century later, Sony has announced the 50th Anniversary Expanded Edition of Horses, a release that both celebrates the legacy of the record and offers fans newly unearthed material from Smith’s early years.

6 days ago
Bruce Springsteen Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run Album Turns 50

On 25 August 1975, Bruce Springsteen released Born To Run, the album that transformed him from a New Jersey barroom songwriter into one of the most important voices in rock history. Fifty years later, the record still stands as a landmark, both for its ambitious sound and for the way it defined Springsteen’s career.

6 days ago