The Small Faces

The Small Faces were an English rock and pop band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, bassist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston in 1966. The band were initially one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the mid-1960s, with hit singles such as "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" (1965), "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" and "All or Nothing" (both 1966). From 1967, they evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic bands, achieving further hit singles including "Here Come the Nice", "Itchycoo Park", "Tin Soldier" (all 1967) and "Lazy Sunday" (1968), the latter taken from their critically-acclaimed concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968), which reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 1969, Marriott left to form Humble Pie, while Lane, Jones and McLagan continued under the shortened name Faces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Following the breakup of both the Faces and Humble Pie in 1975, the classic Marriott/Lane/McLagan/Jones line-up of the Small Faces re-formed after a re-release of "Itchycoo Park" became a top-ten hit. Lane left shortly thereafter, and was replaced by Rick Wills (later of Foreigner). This line-up recorded one album, Playmates (1977), before adding former Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch for a second reunion album, 78 in the Shade (1978). The band split for a second and final time in 1978.

The Small Faces have been considered one of the early inspirations for – and even an early root of – the Britpop movement. English music journalist Jon Savage has called them "the one Brit group that prefigures the early Sex Pistols" (who themselves covered "Whatcha Gonna Do About It"). In 2012, the Small Faces and their successor band the Faces were jointly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Small Faces have been referred to by sources such as Record Collector magazine and AllMusic as freakbeat, a retrospective genre of intense and raw music bridging British rhythm and blues with psychedelia.