Faces - Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse CD

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse songs SMOKIN' was Humble Pie's first post-Peter Frampton album. Co-founder and blues shouter par excellence Steve Marriott was thoroughly in charge here, and the result was the band's best-selling album. The idiom is basic, straight-ahead Stones/Faces style blues-rock, with occasional forays into Led Zeppelin-style riffage. Highlights include dramatically slowed down versions of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody," Junior Walker's "Roadrunner," and the wah-wah laden slow blues "The Fixer." "You're So Good for Me," which begins as a delicate acoustic number, ultimately mutates into a full-bore gospel rave-up, and is precisely the sort of thing that the Black Crowes seem to have studied assiduously.

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse buy CD music The aesthetic Rod Stewart had been honing over his first three solo albums--an aesthetic that combined folk, hard rock, and R&B swagger--was perfected on EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY. The album's combination of strong, original songs and plum cover versions reveal the artist's range and versatility as he simultaneously paid tribute to mentors and declared his own craft. Members of Stewart's regular group, the Faces, provide intuitive support, making nearly every track shine with passion and edge. Stewart's take-no-prisoners interpretation of the Temptations' "(I Know I'm) Losing You" brought new dimensions to a Tamla/Motown classic. "Maggie May," one of the great pop anthems, is the obvious standout, but the remaining selections, such as "Mandolin Wind" and Tim Hardin's beautiful "Reason To Believe," have a similar sense of purpose. Through it all, of course, is Stewart's soulful, beautifully textured singing, which reaches its pinnacle on these performances, ensuring the artist's standing as one of rock's all-time greatest vocalists. If you buy only one Rod Stewart album, EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY should be it. Personnel includes: Rod Stewart (vocals, acoustic guitar); Martin Quittenton (acoustic guitar); Ron Wood (guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass); Sam Mitchell (slide guitar); Dick Powell (violin); Pete Sears (piano); Ian McClagan (organ); Danny Thompson, Andy Pyle (bass); Mick Waller (drums); Madeline Bell, Mateus Rose, John Baldry (background vocals). Personnel: Rod Stewart (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar); Rod Stewart; Ron Wood (guitar, steel guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass instrument); Danny Thompson , Andy Pyle (bass instrument); Long John Baldry, Maggie Bell (background vocals); Madeline Bell (vocals, background vocals); Martin Quittenton (guitar, acoustic guitar); Sam Mitchell (guitar, slide guitar); Dick Powell (violin); Pete Sears (piano); Ian McLagan (organ); Mickey Waller (drums). Remastered

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse album for sale Although songs like the Stewart-penned "Lady Day" and "Jo's Lament" show off the bawdy Scot's more introspective side, "You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)" is a hearty slice of rock & roll that could easily be a Faces number (seeing as Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, and Kenny Jones back him up here). With GASOLINE ALLEY serving as a stylistic blueprint, the table was set for many of this album's participants to return and partake in the creation of EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY, Stewart's most successful album ever. With the help of his drinking buddies and members of the Faces (often one and the same), Rod Stewart made his breakout hit album, GASOLINE ALLEY. The marriage of bottleneck guitar and mandolin, abundant barrelhouse piano, and Rod the Mod's passionate rasp were the beginnings of a sound associated with Stewart up through the mid-'70s. After covering the Stones, Ewan McColl and Mike D'Abo on his debut album, Stewart included tunes by Dylan ("Only A Hobo"), Bobby Womack ("It's All Over Now"), and Elton John ("Country Comforts") for the follow-up. Personnel: Rod Stewart (vocals, acoustic guitar); Rod Stewart; William Gaff (whistling); Ron Wood (guitar, acoustic guitar, bass instrument); Sam Mitchell (guitar); Dennis O'Flynn (violin, bass violin); Pete Sears (piano); Ronnie Lane (bass instrument); Kenney Jones, Kenny Jones (drums); Martin Quittenton (guitar, acoustic guitar); Stanley Matthews (mandolin); Dick Powell (violin); Ian McLagan (piano, organ); Mickey Waller (drums).

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse CD music By the time the Faces' fourth album came out in 1973, Rod Stewart had already become a solo superstar, causing stresses within the band. Stewart and founding member/bassist Ronnie Lane reportedly fought throughout the making of OOH LA LA, particularly when Stewart's solo commitments kept him from attending Faces recording sessions. That tension is perhaps evident in the grooves of OOH LA LA--it's probably not a coincidence that the folksy, acoustic title track sounds more like "Maggie May" than any previous Faces effort, even though guitarist Ron Wood sings lead. Lane takes lead vocals on his own "Flags and Banners" and wrote the majority of the album's latter half. The remaining parts of OOH LA LA include Stewart and Wood's boogie-fried "Silicone Grown" and two songs spotlighting the inimitable keyboardist Ian McLagan--the atypically poppy, almost Elton John-like "Cindy Incidentally" and the stomping rocker "Borstal Boys," one of the Faces' finest tunes. Although hints of the band's dissolution are everywhere throughout the record, this is paradoxically also the most "group"-like album the Faces ever did, with all five members making significant contributions. Live Recording Recording information: Olympic Studios, London, England. Faces: Rod Stewart (vocals); Ronnie Lane (bass instrument); Kenny Jones (drums); Ron Wood (background vocals); Ian McLagan. Personnel: Ron Wood (guitar); Ian McLagan (keyboards); Kenney Jones (drums).

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse buy CD music On their second album Long Player, the Faces truly gel -- which isn't quite the same thing as having the band straighten up and fly right because in many ways this is album is even more ragged than their debut, with tracks that sound like they were recorded through a shoebox thrown up against a couple of haphazardly placed live cuts. But if the album seems pieced together from a few different sources, the band itself all seems to be coming from the same place, turning into a ferocious rock & roll band who, on their best day, could wrestle the title of greatest rock & roll band away from the Stones. Certainly, the sheer force of the nine-minute jam on Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" proves that, but what's more remarkable is how the band are dovetailing as songwriters, complementing and collaborating with very different styles, to the extent that it's hard to tell who wrote what; indeed, the ragged, heartbroken "Tell Everyone" sounds like a Stewart original, but it comes from the pen of Ronnie Lane. The key is that Stewart, Lane and Ron Wood (Ian McLagan only co-write "Bad 'N' Ruin") are all coming from the same place, all celebrating a rock & roll that's ordinary in subject but not in sound. Take "Bad 'N' Ruin," the tale of a ne'er do well returning home with his tail between his legs, after the city didn't treat him well. It has its counterpart in "Had Me a Real Good Time," where a reveler insists that he has to leave, concluding that he was glad to come but also glad to get home. These are songs that celebrate home, from family to the neighborhood, and that big heart beats strong in the ballads, too, from the aching "Sweet Lady Mary" to the extraordinary reworking of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," which soars in ways Macca's exceptional original never did. Then, there's there humor -- the ramshackle "On the Beach," the throwaway lines from Rod on "Had Me a Real Good Time" -- which give this a warm, cheerful heart that helps make Long Player a record as big, messy, and wonderful as life itself. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine All tracks have been digitally remastered. Live Recording Recorded at Morgan Studios, London, England and live at The Fillmore East, New York, New York. Personnel: Ronnie Lane (vocals, guitar); Rod Stewart (vocals); Ron Wood (guitar, slide guitar, steel guitar); Bobby Keys (saxophone, alto saxophone); Harry Beckett (trumpet); Ian McLagan (piano, organ, keyboards); Kenney Jones (drums). Recording information: Fillmore East, New York City, NY [live]; Morgan Sound Studios. Unknown Contributor Role: Ronnie Lane. The Faces: Ronnie Lane (vocals, guitar, bass); Rod Stewart (vocals); Ron Wood (guitar, slide guitar, pedal steel guitar); Ian McLagan (piano, organ); Kenny Jones (drums). Additional personnel: Bobby Keyes (saxophone); Harry Beckett (trumpet).

Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse songs Where the original Small Faces had been a quintessential British mod band, the reconfigured group instantly emerged as a boozy party band. FIRST STEP perfectly captures this new direction. All five members contribute to the songwriting in various capacities. The only outside material on the album is Bob Dylan's "Wicked Messenger," which slithers out of the gates with dirty slide guitar, sexy organ, and thundering drums. The Faces went onto enjoy the stateside success that had eluded their earlier incarnation. But Stewart's burgeoning solo career relegated the band to the shadows, and The Faces eventually dissolved. The Small Faces offer a rare example of a band that underwent significant changes in personnel and musical focus yet succeeded in both incarnations. Founding singer/guitarist Steve Marriott left the band in 1969 to start Humble Pie. His replacements were a singer and a guitarist--in the individual persons of Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. The band continued as The Faces, their first outing retaining the "Small" adjective for the sake of continuity. Live Recording The Small Faces: Rod Stewart (vocals, banjo); Ron Wood (guitar, harmonica, bass); Ronnie Lane (guitar, bass); Ian McLagan (piano, organ); Kenney Jones (drums).