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Faces - Five Guys Walk Into A Bar... |
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05 August 2005 |
Faces Five Guys Walk Into A Bar... - (Rhino) We had the weirdest variety store down the street where I grew up. What made it weird was a rack of records (about 30, tops) for sale for those that I guess needed to get a little bit of Grand Funk to go with their milk and bread purchase (and a small bag of chips for yourself, if there was change). Well, that was where I bought Faces' A Nod's As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse after saving up lawn-cutting money - having kept my eye on it for weeks and knowing "Stay With Me" from my Superstars Of The 70's box set (a misnomer since the 70's were just a few years old when it came out). From there, it was home to play it on the dinosaur living room stereo (the "good" stereo!) and thus my passion for Faces began in earnest. I remember that my brother wasn't all that impressed (a Black Sabbath man, don't you know) but there was plenty there for yours truly. Such distinct memories (and aren't you thrilled that I shared this with you!?) are a large part of the power of the Faces music. While celebrated for their rough-and-ready approach to rock and roll, it was always wrapped up with a whole lot of heart. Whether tearing down that walls with "Stay With Me" or gently tugging the ol' heartstrings with "Sweet Lady Mary", the Faces always played it like they meant it. And it ended up meaning plenty to a lot of fans. That helps make Five Guys Walk In A Bar more than just a trip down memory lane. Well, that and the fact that there's a wealth of previously unissued material here that further demonstrates that the band's approach was genuine and not an affectation. They take ownership of "Maggie May" on a great BBC live recording, show that even outtakes like "Come See Me Baby (The Cheater)" would be another band's gold, and that time was well spent even when messing around a hotel room ("I Came Looking For You"). And if you want to check out what the band could do without any singing at all, the wonderful "Skewiff (Mend The Fuse)", a b-side, is included here. Wow. We're all familiar with where the Faces ended up after the band's breakup, so I'll skip going through the list of solo successes and subsequent band memberships. One thing to note, though, is that the members of the band delivered their absolute finest performances with Faces. Stewart had genuine solid rock and roll to deliver (dig his shout through "Pool Hall Richard"), Wood's guitar workouts were greater highlights than anything committed to tape as a Rolling Stone (check out the sensational slide of "Around The Plynth" and "That's All You Need" and the solo on a live run through "I'd Rather Go Blind"), MacLagan's work showed just how essential a place a keyboard has in rock and roll (like with his New Orleans-type touches on "Silicone Grown" and Booker T. stylings on "Oh Lord I'm Browned Off"), Jones commitment here shows that he was one of rock's hardest-working and rock-solid drummers (Examples? Take your pick.), and Lane...well, was Lane. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that if the Faces had a heart and soul, it came by way of Lane - one of the most underrated songwriters of the era. Fittingly dedicated to the late Ronnie Lane, Five Guys Walk In A Bar demonstrates Lane's talent over and over throughout tracks like the favourite "Ooh La La" (probably the closest Lane came to having a "theme song"- repeated throughout his career on various live recordings) and rollicking numbers like "You're So Rude" and "Last Orders Please". Hopefully, Five Guys Walk In A Bar will do much to preach to the unconverted regarding not only the band's, but Lane's talent as well. Ian MacLagan deserves an enormous amount of credit for putting this set together and not necessarily doing it chronologically. If one song sounds good after another, then that's enough for MacLagan. The result is a musical flow throughout the Faces career with the twists and turns perfectly complementing each other. Add liner notes from the likes of Jeff Tweedy and Paul Westerberg to the package and you have a collection that does a great job of the monumental task of defining a career. For fans, this is a no-brainer as it's already nestled within their collections, I'm sure. For others, though, Five Guys Walk In A Bar is a pretty low-risk plunge into the scope and breadth of this remarkable band's career.
9.0
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