Faces

The early-’70s unit Faces might be best known as the launching pad for lead singer Rod Stewart’s career. However, the London-formed group owed its few years in the limelight to the inventive blues-folk hybrids of its bassist, co-founder, auxiliary singer, and lead songwriter, Ronnie Lane. The band rose from the ashes of the baroque-pop-rock unit Small Faces, fronted by Steve Marriott, who left the group in 1969. The remaining members—Lane, keyboardist Ian McLagan, and drummer Kenney Jones—moved toward a roughneck, blues-centric sound, recruited guitarist Ronnie Wood, and replaced Marriott with Rod Stewart—a magnetic presence who breathed singular life into material with his raspy, soulful delivery. Faces’ third album, 1971’s A Nod Is As Good As a Wink… To a Blind Horse, a mix of rave-up rock tunes and torch songs with shades of R&B and country, would be the band’s breakthrough; the more muted, pop-forward 1973 release Ooh La La became a UK No. 1. The group disbanded in 1975 in the wake of Lane’s departure, Wood’s increasing time commitment to The Rolling Stones, and the success of Stewart’s solo career.