Faces (band)

Rod Stewart's old band. The Faces were an English Rock and Roll group which included members from the Jeff Beck Group and The Small Faces; Rod Stewart (lead vocals) and Ronnie Wood (lead guitar) came from the former, joining up with Ronnie Lane (bass guitar), Kenney Jones (drums, percussion) and Ian McLagan (organ, piano) from the latter after Steve Marriott left them to form Humble Pie.

Their music was often raucous and raw-sounding, and they quickly gained a reputation as rock and roll wild men. They recorded four very popular albums and released a few hit singles before splitting up in 1975, amidst accuastions that Rod Stewart was keeping all of the best new material for his own solo career. Ron Wood later joined The Rolling Stones, while Kenney Jones teamed up with The Who after the death of Keith Moon.

Noted for their influence on Punk Rock and Britpop, the group was inactive for over thirty years in spite of several near reunions that never quite got the whole line-up back together. They finally reformed in 2009 with Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock filling in for the late Ronnie Lane and lead vocals handled by Simply Red lead singer Mick Hucknall.


 * All Drummers Are Animals: Kenney Jones.
 * Breakup Breakout: Subverted by Rod Stewart. It's true that his subsequent success as a solo artist eclipsed that of the group, but he'd already been doing pretty well for himself on his own before the band called it quits.
 * Cover Version: They had a live cover of "Maybe I'm Amazed" on Long Player that was released as a single. They also recorded songs by Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and bluesmen like Big Bill Broonzy.
 * Guttural Growler: Rod Stewart's vocal style at this time.
 * Signature Song: "Stay With Me".
 * Spell My Name with a "The": Averted. Everyone assumes that it's "The Faces", but officially there's no "the".
 * Step Up to the Microphone: Ronnie Lane sang lead at least once an album. And Ron Wood handles the vocals for "Ooh La La".