The BBC Sessions
Live album by
Released15 November 1999
Recorded23 August 1965 – 18 April 1968
VenueVarious
Genre
Length40:41
LabelStrange Fruit
ProducerBernie Andrews, Peter Harwood
Small Faces chronology
78 in the Shade
(1978)
The BBC Sessions
(1999)
Live 1966
(2021)

The BBC Sessions (also known as BBC Sessions: 1965-1968) is the second live album by the British rock group Small Faces, released on 15 November 1999 on Strange Fruit Records.[1] It is a collection of recordings the group made for the BBC. While mostly being made up of tracks recorded for Saturday Club in 1966, it also features three songs recorded for Top Gear in 1968. Accompanying these tracks are four interviews with Steve Marriott, and one featuring Kenney Jones.

Information

The album was released on 15 November 1999 on Strange Fruit Records.[2] For the US release, it was issued on Fuel 2000 the following year.[3] Len Fico, president of Fuel 2000 states that a deal was made with the BBC and their partners on Strange Fruit Records. He stated that the project took two years to put together and that they had to track down the Small Faces in order to secure their performance rights.[4] The album consists of fifteen songs recorded sporadically between 23 August 1965 and 18 April 1968. The first three songs feature original organist Jimmy Winston, who also sings lead vocals on "Jump Back" and "Baby Don't You Do It". The final three tracks feature P. P. Arnold on backing vocals.

The tracks recorded for Saturday Club were featured on the box set Small Faces – The Decca Years in 2015.[5][6][7]

Reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
The Austin Chronicle[9]

In a review of the album, CMJ states that The BBC Sessions is not the place to start the Small Faces chronology, but that it presents a sidebar of their career with live recordings of both their earlier rhythm and blues and pop to their later psychedelic and hard rock-influenced material.[4] The Austin Chronicle states that the recording is a good choice for Americans to be introduced to Small Faces music and that "although the sessions took place over a three-year period (1965-68), the band's incendiary performances lend uncommon cohesion to this compilation". They close the review with "Taken with properly enunciated intros from staid BBC announcers, these raw-yet-transcendent performances pack all the veneer of found history."[9]

For his review, AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger states that the album tends to be heavier during the 1966 recordings than their 1968 recordings, but that is only presented on three recordings. He writes that the album feature energetic renditions of their earlier singles as well as a few first album-era songs. He states that their rendition of Willie Dixon's "You Need Loving" is an early template for Led Zeppelin's song "Whole Lotta Love". According to him, their live version of "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" "is a particularly incendiary performance" that equals to the single version. Others songs he highlighted is the Rufus Thomas original "Jump Back" and Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts" but that it does some tracks issued on bootleg recordings, including "You've Really Got a Hold on Me". Overall, he gave the recording 4 out of 5 stars.

Track listing

All tracks written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane unless noted. Note that the interviews with Marriott and Kenney Jones don't have a time stamp, but last around 1:00 in play-time.

CD version

Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Whatcha Gonna Do About It"Steve Marriott2:15
2."Jump Back"Rufus ThomasJimmy Winston1:39
3."Baby Don't You Do It"Holland-Dozier-HollandWinston2:25
4."Shake"Sam CookeRonnie Lane3:12
5."Sha-La-La-La-Lee"Marriott2:48
6."You Need Loving"Willie DixonMarriott2:34
7."Hey Girl" Marriott2:07
8."E Too D" Marriott4:11
9."One Night Stand" Marriott1:53
10."You'd Better Believe It"Marriott2:22
11."Understanding" Marriott2:32
12."All or Nothing" Marriott3:00
13."If I Were a Carpenter"Tim HardinMarriott2:29
14."Lazy Sunday" Marriott3:17
15."Every Little Bit Hurts"Ed CobbMarriott3:57
16."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
17."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
18."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
19."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
20."Rare Interview With Kenney Jones" Kenney Jones 
Total length:40:41

Vinyl version

The album was issued in a gatefold format LP record in 2001 by Strange Fruit under the catalogue number SFRSLP087.[10] All tracks written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane unless noted. Note that the interviews with Marriott and Kenney Jones don't have a time stamp, but last around 1:00 in play-time.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Whatcha Gonna Do About It"Steve Marriott2:15
2."Jump Back"Rufus ThomasJimmy Winston1:39
3."Baby Don't You Do It"Holland-Dozier-HollandWinston2:25
4."Shake"Sam CookeRonnie Lane3:12
5."Sha-La-La-La-Lee"Marriott2:48
6."You Need Loving"Willie DixonMarriott2:34
7."Hey Girl" Marriott2:07
8."E Too D" Marriott4:11
9."One Night Stand" Marriott1:53
Total length:23:04
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."You'd Better Believe It"Marriott2:22
2."Understanding" Marriott2:32
3."All or Nothing" Marriott3:00
4."If I Were a Carpenter"Tim HardinMarriott2:29
5."Lazy Sunday" Marriott3:17
6."Every Little Bit Hurts"Ed CobbMarriott3:57
7."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
8."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
9."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
10."Rare Interview With Steve Marriott" Marriott 
11."Rare Interview With Kenney Jones" Kenney Jones 
Total length:17:37

Recording details

Session details from Small Faces – The Decca Years.[5]

Tracks 1, 2, 3 and 16 recorded 23 August 1965

  • Broadcast on Saturday Club, 4 September 1965.
    • Produced by Peter Harwood

Tracks 4, 5, 6 and 17 recorded 14 March 1966

  • Broadcast on Saturday Club, 19 March 1966.
    • Produced by Peter Harwood

Tracks 7, 8, 9 and 18 recorded 5 May 1966

  • Broadcast on Saturday Club, 7 May 1966.
    • Produced by Peter Harwood

Tracks 10, 11, 12 and 19 recorded 30 June 1966

  • Broadcast on Saturday Club, 2 July 1966.
    • Produced by Peter Harwood

Tracks 13, 14, 15 and 20 recorded 14 April 1968

Personnel

Small Faces
  • Steve Marriott guitar, piano on "Every Little Bit Hurts" lead vocals (1, 519), backing vocals (2–4)
  • Ronnie Lane bass guitar, lead vocals on "Shake", backing vocals (1–3, 5–15)
  • Kenney Jones drums, lead vocals on 'Rare Interview with Kenney Jones'
  • Ian McLagan keyboards (415), backing vocals (415)

with:

  • Jimmy Winston keyboards (1–3), lead vocals (23), backing vocals on 'Whatcha Gonna Do About It'
  • P. P. Arnold backing vocals (13, 15)
Technical
  • Peter Harwood producer (1–12, 16, 17, 18, 19)
  • Bernie Andrews producer (13–15, 20)
  • Bill Bebb engineer (1–12, 16, 17, 18, 19)
  • Allen Harris engineer (13–15, 20)
  • Dave Tate engineer (13–15, 20)

References

  1. "Making Time- The Small Faces- BBC Sessions". www.makingtime.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. "Small Faces - The BBC Sessions". Discogs. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  3. "Small Faces - The BBC Sessions". Discogs. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 CMJ New Music Report. CMJ Network. 13 March 2000.
  5. 1 2 "Small Faces - The Decca Years". Discogs. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  6. "Album Review: Small Faces - The Decca Years". DrownedInSound. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  7. "Review: Small Faces — The Decca Years, 1965-1967". www.digitaljournal.com. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  8. "BBC Sessions: 1965-1968 - Small Faces | Songs, Reviews, Credits", AllMusic, retrieved 30 June 2020
  9. 1 2 Beets, Greg (19 May 2000). "The Who and Small Faces". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  10. "Small Faces - The BBC Sessions". Discogs. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
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