Faces

Faces were an English rock band formed in 1969 out of the ashes of Small Faces, after singer Steve Marriott departed to form Humble Pie. The remaining members — Ian McLagan on keyboards, Ronnie Lane on bass, and Kenney Jones on drums — were joined by Ronnie Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart on lead vocals, both fresh from the Jeff Beck Group. This lineup gave the band a looser, more raucous, blues-and-boogie-driven sound than their mod-pop predecessor.

Faces became known as much for their raw, good-time live shows as for their records, cultivating a reputation for boozy camaraderie that fed directly into their music's loose, swaggering feel. Songs like «Stay with Me», «Ooh La La», and «Cindy Incidentally» captured that spirit, mixing rootsy rock and roll with a distinctly British wit. «Debris» and «Glad and Sorry», largely associated with Ronnie Lane's songwriting, showed a gentler, more reflective side of the band alongside the rowdier material.

The group's run was complicated by Rod Stewart's simultaneous solo career, which increasingly overshadowed the band and contributed to tensions; Ronnie Lane left in 1973, and the band effectively dissolved by 1975, with Ronnie Wood soon joining The Rolling Stones and Stewart continuing solo. Despite a relatively short active period, Faces left a lasting mark on the shaggy, unpretentious strand of British rock that influenced countless pub-rock and Britpop-era bands that followed.