Kenney Jones, drummer for the Faces, says that time is of the essence and a reunion of the Faces needs to happen this year.
Jones spoke with the Austin Chronicle as part of a lengthy piece on the late Ian McLagan who had adopted the city as his home over the last twenty years of his life. Kenney told of how McLagan completed the original Small Faces lineup.
“Mac brought the missing link,” recalls their drummer, Kenney Jones. “The three of us – myself, [singer/guitarist] Steve Marriott, and [bassist] Ronnie Lane – we all made a great sound together. But there was that missing ingredient we were looking for. When we met Mac, and listened to him the first time he played piano or organ with us, it added a whole new dimension to our sound. We were ecstatic!
“He naturally complemented what we were doing already. He picked up on our telepathy, which was one of the secret ingredients of the Small Faces. We didn’t tell each other what to do or play, we just did it. Mac definitely fit in with that.”
The members of the follow-up group, Faces, have talked for a number of years about reuniting but most of their efforts have been thwarted by the various projects of lead singer Rod Stewart. Rod infamously cancelled at the last minute from performing with the group at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and the remaining members made a go of a short tour with Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall out front, but this time seems to be different.
Jones appears to now find an urgency in getting the Faces reunion together after the loss of some of his musical contemporaries. “I’m so proud and so honored that life introduced me to Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, and Ian McLagan. They’ve been a major part of my life – over half of it – and I miss all three of them. It’s lonely, being here on my own.”
He went on to say “Rod, Woody, and me are still going to do the Faces this year. It’s more important now than ever. When we do, we’ll have the bartender onstage again. And a coffee machine for Woody.”
McLagan was honored with a tribute concert on Wednesday night at the Austin Convention Center during the SXSW conference. The Austin Chronicle published their extensive story on the keyboard player on Friday, including interviews with Billy Bragg, Ron Wood, Lucinda Williams and others.
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