From one of all my all time favorite bands comes one of my all time favorite songs of the band. The Small Faces, newly inducted in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, released Understanding as the flip-side to the equally stellar All Or Nothing in 1966 on Decca Records. This is perhaps their best single ever. They were the only band to ever rival The Who for the affection of the Mods and they were certainly one of the most talented to hit the stages in their day. Not much happened for them Stateside until they scored a hit when Itchycoo Park hit number 16 in the late Summer of '67.
Click here to listen to the A-Side, All Or Nothing.
Click here to listen to the A-Side, All Or Nothing.
Great tune. What I love about a lot of Small Faces studio recordings is how it approximates a live recording. They clearly went into these recordings with a one-take approach. The playing is tight, but accented with a looseness, such as seen by Steve Marriot's hollerings and guitar fills or Kenny Jones' drum fills. The whistle is a perfect touch to this anthem of tolerance....
ReplyDeleteHave you ever noticed the melodic similarities of the verses in this song (particularly the first one at :30) to those in John's Children's Remember Thomas A'Becket? The latter also has drum intro.... I wonder if there is a connection? By the way I was in a band that did a cover of that JC tune back in the day (late '80s).
I agree that they had a real "live" sound to their recordings. Songs like E Too D in particular.
ReplyDeleteI've never made the John's Children connection.
Thanks to my secret admiror whom sent me a VG+ Dutch PS of this fine, fine double sided killer.
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