Steve: You’re listening to Jonesy’s Jukebox on Indie 1031. That was The Faces and that song called, oh it’s from an album, “First Step” and that was a song called, “Pineapple and The Monkey”. And funny, I’m talking about Faces, Ian Mclagen…
Ian: (laughing) Talking about monkeys…
Steve: Monkeys and pineapples, we have Ian Mclagen in the studio.
Ian: Hello, Steve. Nice to see you.
Steve: Nice to see you again, mate. Now, this must be a reprint. If anyone would know, you would know.
Ian: Yeah.
Steve: It’s called, “Small Faces”.
Ian: Well, the first album came out in America as “Small Faces”. In England as, “Faces” because they didn’t want to drop the name…cos Small Faces had had hits and Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood didn’t mean anything, and you know, just cos they were in the (back?) group didn’t mean anything. They wouldn’t sign us unless we kept the name, for America.
Steve: Faces…Small Faces.
Ian: Small Faces. In England they could see what we were doing. They “got” it. You know, they said, “No, well…why don’t we just change to Faces.” And we thought it was just for the first album, we’d have to do that and then we could have our you know, preferred band name of…
Steve: Pineapple and The Monkeys.
Ian: (laughs) The Pineapples.
Steve: That’s funny, though cos I always thought this was a misprint. So it wasn’t a misprint.
Ian: No. In fact, like, a lot of people say, “Oh, I saw the Small Faces.” I say, “You never saw the Small Faces, you saw The Faces.” Cos Small Faces was Steve, Ronnie, Kenny and me, and Faces is Rod and Ronnie. You know, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood.
Steve: That’s a…
Ian: It’s very confusing. (theatrically) It’s, it’s been a bane of my life, Steve. Continues to be. At least hopefully, now I’ve explained it on your show, everybody in the whole world…
Steve: …the whole world…all them people listening on the internet…
Ian: …every, every bugger knows now.
Steve: …will pass the message that this album was not a misprint.
Ian: Right. It was The Faces first album, “First Step”.
Steve: Did you do a…I’ve been trying to get this live album. It was with the Japanese geezer on…
Ian: Oh, Tetsu…
Steve: It was a live album, wunnit? There was an album. It’s really hard to get, though. It was like, right near the end, before you guys broke up.
Ian: Overture and Beginners. Last…
Steve: Is that what it was called?
Ian: Well, we had two or three titles. We confused the issue a bit. We thought well, we’d be smart and put it out, like the cassettes – on, as it was then – cassettes on Warner Brothers, cos The Faces were signed to Warners, Rod signed to Mercury so the albums…you know, the vinyl comes out on Mercury so we thought, “What a great thing, we get both companies working it.” Neither company did anything! (laughs)
Steve: Right, right.
Ian: Died a death. And it wasn’t a very good…
Steve: It was pretty sloppy.
Ian: It was, yeah.
Steve: Very sloppy.
Ian: I found out, years later um, I was looking through bits and pieces for my book, (slings the title in there) “All The Rage” um, and I…
Steve: (infomercial mode ‘on’) What’s it called, your book? 
Ian: (innocently) Oh, thank you for mentioning, it’s called, “All The Rage”, Steve.
Steve: Oh, “All The Rage”, okay, yes.
Ian: I’ve got a copy coming for you. I don’t know if you had a copy.
Steve: Oh, I can’t wait to see it.
Ian: Oh, it’ll be a pleasure.
Steve: And we’ll talk about, “All The Rage”.
Ian: Shall we?
Steve: Indeed.
Ian: What, on your show?
Steve: Yes, on this show.
Ian: Today?
Steve: Worldwide.
Ian: Everybody will know about it.
Steve: Everyone.
Ian: They’ll be buying it.
Steve: Every Tom, Dick and ‘arry is gonna know about “The Rage”.
Ian: And his Aunt Ethel.
Steve: Yes.
Ian: So, where was I?
Steve: You were uh…sitting ‘ere.
Ian: Right. We’ve all lost the thread. (laughs) It was to do with…something.
Steve: What was he talking about?
Ian: Shall we call up all the listeners?
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Steve: Yes. “What was he talking about - somewhere in Ireland? Let’s take (a call from) Ireland.”
Ian: Let’s go to Ireland. It’s an Irish day…you’re wearing green, too.
Steve: I put this on for that mob what was just on here. (Republic Of Loose)
Ian: That’s nice, yeah…that’s very sweet of you.
Steve: They were good guys.
Ian: Yeah, they’re a lovely bunch. Playing the Troubadour tonight.
Steve: Yeah. He had a great voice, a real soulful voice.
Ian: Uh huh.
Steve: Really good. They played…really good players. I heard a song of theirs ages ago and started playing it and the station started playing it.
Ian: Oh, that’s great.
Steve: I like that. It’s a real hard thing to do that these days. You know, when radio stations used to break songs…
Ian: Oh, man…it does happen. You know, in Austin we have a couple of really great stations. KUT and KGSR and they break tracks every now and again like James Hunter. They play him and play him and play him and KT Tunstall, exciting people like that so, it’s possible.
Steve: It is a little bit possible these days.
Ian: It’s lovely that you do that. People need to hear new music.
Steve: That’s what it’s all about, mate.
Ian: Absolutely. Cos the record companies generally don’t know anything about music.
Steve: Well there, like I’ve been saying and everyone else who kind of is on the ball: there will be no record companies soon.
Ian: Fantastic. All my records come out on Maniac Records, you know. And they’re sometimes hard to get but you can get them from my website cos I sign them and mail them…or CD Baby or iTunes.
Steve: Well, the real…I mean, record labels’ distribution…I mean, how do you distribute now, without record labels? The internet?
Ian: You can do it on the internet…
Steve: What’s the best way?
Ian: Well, to tell you the truth, I haven’t figured it out. But, I tried to get a distribution deal…when it turned out to be, I was making so little on each record I might as well had a record deal with people who didn’t care.
Steve: Right.
Ian: You know what I mean. I make much more by selling them myself at gigs and I only have to sell like, a quarter of the amount to make the same money. And you know they’re going to good homes, (laughs) no returns. But it’s tough. Touring’s tough. It’s only the strong will survive, Steve…
Steve: That’s right.
Ian: …and I’m here to prove that.
Steve: That’s right, mate, that’s right.
Ian: (laughs) Only the weakest keep struggling!
Steve: Only the stupid survive…
Ian: Oh…
Steve: I’ve been watching VH1 lately and they’ve been showing classic stuff and they’ve been showing The Faces.
Ian: Really.
Steve: It’s like really early. I think it’s you lot at Shepherd’s Bush where they did Crackerjack. What was that gaff called?
Both: Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
Ian: Burt Wheedon and Eamonn Andrews.
Steve: Exactly!
Ian: Crackerjack.
Steve: Do you remember playing there?
Ian: Oh, yeah…Burt Wheedon come in out dressing room, said, “’allo, lads!” You remember Burt Wheedon, he kind of a bit of an (?).
Steve: He was a guitar player.
Ian: Yeah. He was the fastest guitar player in the world, apparently. (snores) But it wasn’t very soulful.
Steve: It didn’t last long, his record…being the fastest.
Ian: (laughs) It’s quick. Thank God it was over soon. But we did that show…
Steve: That’s right, songbooks. That ain’t a Burt Wheedon songbook he’s holding there, is it?
Ian: No, that’s “First Step”.
Steve: But that was early, right?
Ian: Yeah, that was, I think it was Small Faces.
Steve: Cos you’re playing, “Three Button Hand Me Down”. It’s seems like you’re kind of like, still feeling your way, everyone’s feeling their way around it. Do you remember that?
Ian: No, I don’t…
Steve: It’s great though, it’s great.
Ian: Is it?
Steve: They’ve been showing it…
Ian: YouTube is great, isn’t it?
Steve: Oh, yeah.
Ian: I mean, I been looking for a shot of Ronnie Lane playing his Fender Strat, the Fender Strat he gave to me and finally a mate of mine called me up today and said, “Oh, you’ve got to check out YouTube, there he is, playing it!” So…
Steve: What, you going to flog it?
Ian: Yeah.
Steve: So you wanted proof that it was his.
Ian: Provenance. Proof, provenance, whatever.
Steve: Exactly.
Ian: You know, I’ve got to subsidize my touring somehow (they laugh)
Steve: But that’s good that VH1 is showing it now, cos for years you couldn’t get any Faces stuff. I had some dodgy bootleg stuff.
Ian: Right, right.
Steve: Cos that was, you know, Faces was like, my band. I told you that before.
Ian: You did, yeah…yeah. Bless your heart. There’s very few of you around, people who know The Faces or saw The Faces. Dunno why, where they all went…but my website’s kind of alive like that. You know, I update you, I listen, I get emails and I check it. People, people love The Faces…and young kids are liking them…like, a thirty-year-old who emails me and says, “I just discovered The Faces, thanks to the boxed set” – I helped to put together…
Steve: No, it’s because of me is why they know.
Ian: Thank you, Steve…(snickers)
Steve: It’s because of me…the um, what was I going to say…would you say…
Ian: Every little helps, you know…said the old the lady as she piddled in the sea…
Steve: Exactly. Would you say that “Nod’s As Good As A Wink” was the best Faces album?
Ian: It’s the most rocking and it’s most complete but “Ooh La La” is also my fav…kind of even. Now, that’s more of a Ronnie Lane album. There’s more of his songs on there and every album we made got shorter and shorter.
Steve: Yeah, yeah…I noticed. And more covers.
Ian: But more songs, but well, the songs were shorter…so the actual length was not as long.
Steve: Was it hard, (backtracking) …the length?
Ian: (laughing) The length wasn’t as long…
Steve: Let’s have a look. Get it out.
Ian: It IS out. (laughter in bg)
Steve: It is out…okay. Did um…
Ian: “Stand up, Mclagan!” “I am standing up, sir.”
Steve: (laughs) Did uh…did you uh…you threw me there, knob jokes.
Ian: You started it.
Steve: What was I gonna say about…
Ian: About record companies? No. Faces? Faces being your favorite band, I love that.
Steve: Yeah. Do you still speak to Ronnie Wood or any of…
Ian: Oh yeah, actually we opened for the Stones in Austin on the twenty-second.
Steve: Oh, that’s what I was going to say. Before I forget, sorry…can we go back to that? But I think you should – you ever seen them “Classic Albums”?
Ian: No.
Steve: They’re called “Classic Albums” and they make these, it’s a documentary basically, about an album.
Ian: Oh.
Steve: And like, you know, there was, “Dark Side of The Moon”, “Who’s Next?” and they’re done really good. And I did an interview for the bloke the other day for a Roxy Music documentary and I said, “You should do a Faces one, for ‘Nod’s As Good As A Wink”.
Ian: Good for you…
Steve: I think it would be great.
Ian: Well Rhino are about to, we’re talking about putting out the four albums, remastered with extra tracks. Cos you know I found, you know on The Faces boxed set there’s some rehearsal tapes of cassettes I made at the time. Well after the boxed set came out I found four more cassettes which I still haven’t listened to and then I lost them. I put them somewhere safe and lost them but they’re in the house somewhere and the first album, “First Step” would have like, three or four tracks from rehearsals, different to the boxed set. That’s the plan. But I like the idea of with footage, DVD and all that.
Steve: So how is he then, Ronnie Wood?
Ian: He’s doing great, he’s doing really good. We saw him in Chicago. We were up there doing three nights at this club and they were there one night and I had dinner with him and his missus, Jo and Charlie and that was nice to spend a little easy time you know. We opened for them in Austin, it was fantastic.
Steve: Yeah, for The Stones?
Ian: Yeah.
Steve: How did that come about, through…
Ian: I phoned him up. I said, “You know you’re coming to Austin?” He said, “Am I?” (laughs) Doesn’t look at his itinerary. I said, “Yeah well, if there’s any chance of us opening, let me put that vote in now.” So he called me back a couple of days later and said, “The guys said ‘Yeah, no problem’”. It was very sweet.
Steve: Oh, great. That’s very nice. He’s a good guy, Ron?
Ian: Oh yeah, he’s the best. Really, he’s like, (guv’nor?) bloke.
Steve: Have you, well you probably have…met Keith Richards.
Ian: Oh yeah, I toured with him a couple of times.
Steve: Is he a good bloke?
Ian: He’s a top bloke. I had a lovely twenty minutes in his dressing room when we played with them. Yeah, very very good. He’s a lovely bloke, top.
Steve: I’d love to get him and Ronnie on The Box…
Ian: Oh…well, I’ll have a word will them. I’m calling Ronnie later today.
Steve: Yeah?
Ian: Yeah. Sadly his brother died a couple of days ago.
Steve: Ronnie’s?
Ian: Yeah.
Steve: Was he close to him?
Ian: Oh, yeah. The three brothers were a bunch of characters.
Steve: The three Ronnies.
Ian: Ted, Art and Ronnie. And their Dad, Arthur. The four of them were like, I mean they’re all funny they all play instruments…so he’s on his own now, sad.
Steve: What about Mr. Stewart, do you talk to him?
Ian: Sorry?
Steve: Ole cheerful. Do you talk to him?
Ian: No.
Steve: Not happenin’?
Ian: Nothing to say.
Steve: Yeah.
Ian: Make a real record. Write a song. Get out of my life. Gimme a break.
Steve: Singers, mate.
Ian: What is it with singers?
Steve: I had Marco Pirroni on here yesterday, the guitar player from Adam and The Ants…
Ian: Oh, okay…
Steve: …and we were talking about singers…you know how singers are…
Ian: We won’t name names.
Steve: You know what I mean?
Ian: (laughs) Aw, c’mon. Let’s name some names.
Steve: And it’s like, all singers, front geezers or whatever you want to call them…
Ian: Well, now I’m a front geezer, too so does that mean I’m like that?
Steve: No, no.
Ian: I’m approachable.
Steve: It don’t mean that. It’s a certain person who does the front, shaking his ass around or whatever they do…
Ian: It’s always because the singers never have to carry an amp, never had to pick up or tune a guitar or carry a B3 in. They never do anything but hold a mic – which they don’t even own – right? They don’t understand.
Steve: I think it’s because they’re the one…I mean, it is a hard job.
Ian: Yeah, and you’ve got to be something special to do that, I know. Having said that…(laughs)
Steve: And I think they (have a) huge ego…
Ian: Oh, god yeah.
Steve: Cos you’ve got to, to do that gig, you know. And I was saying to Marco, the price you pay for having a good frontman is all the baggage that goes with it.
Ian: You said it all there, it’s true. And you got to have…The Faces without Rod Stewart would have been an instrumental band, you know…everyone trying to sing but it had to be, Rod was great for the band. The band was very good for Rod, though.
Steve: Yeah.
Ian: Which he probably realizes now, but it’s too late.
Steve: I heard there was words of maybe doing a…
Ian: No way. That’s what he said. I just read it in the paper, read it on the internet. A charity gig? Excuse me. Ask me. I do charity gigs every week in Austin. He doesn’t…he’s never done a charity gig, has he?
Steve: A charity for himself…for his train set.
Ian: Cheap. He can talk for himself. Actually, I’m firing him from The Faces. You know he was never a member, anyway.
Steve: Really?
Ian: We had to sign with Warner’s just the four of us cos he had a solo contract, so he can’t speak for The Faces…so I’ve talked to Kenny and Ronnie. I told them, I’m firing him. I don’t care whether you two guys do…he’s fired.
Steve: Well, let’s fire him right now on the air.
Ian: He’s out. Rod, you’re out. Get another job. Get a job singing cover songs. Oh, you already have.
Steve: Rod Stewart, right now, on the air – worldwide – is fired from The Faces.
Ian: …is fired from The Faces. Can’t speak for us, never did. Never could.
Steve: Breaking news.
Ian: Go solo, Rod. Make a cover album.
Steve: Go so low he can’t hear ya. Hey, ba-dum ba-dum. (rimshot)
Ian: Cor, we wouldn’t want to upset him, though.
Steve: No.
Ian: I don’t care, really.
Steve: He wouldn’t sue you, though. Cost too much money.
Ian: Do you think he’d sue me?
Steve: Huh?
Ian: Do you think he’d sue me?
Steve: No.
Ian: Good.
Steve: I personally got nothing against Rod Stewart but I know what it’s like when you’re in a band with someone who’s difficult. I actually, I like Rod, personally. I only know him as an artist, though.
Ian: I like him as a person and I love his voice. I love the way he sings, always have. When he talks about The Faces, he should consult The Faces. He can do what he likes in his solo career. When he talks about my band, consult me.
Steve: Did you start The Faces?
Ian: No. Ronnie and Woody started and then me and Kenny. Rod was last in, first out. “Someone peed in the pool, I think it must’ve been him!”
Steve: I predict some resentment…let’s go and visit the Duke. We’re here with Ian McLagen and we’ll be right back after these lovely messages. Thanks for listening.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Steve: You’re listening to Jonesy’s Jukebox on Indie 1031 with my guest, Ian McLagen. You’re playing tonight right, at The Mint?
Ian: Yeah, we’re playing The Mint, ten o’clock and tomorrow night as well.
Steve: The Bump Band.
Ian: Ian McLagen and The Bump Band, yeah. There’s Scrappy Judd Newcomb, Don Harvey and Mark Andes. Mark Andes used to be in Spirit, he was in Candy, Spirit, Jojo Gunn…also played with Heart later on. Fantastic bass player. Scrappy’s played with just about everyone in Austin and around, he’s brilliant.
Steve: Jojo Gunn, you know they had that song, (attempts to replicate a song that’s in his head).
Ian: I think so. I’m guessing, I don’t know.
Steve: I think that was a JoJo Gunn song.
Ian: Oh. But they’re a fine band. Don Harvey actually played with me and Ronnie Lane when we toured with Ronnie Lane together in Japan, 1990. Very tight unit. Four people.
Steve: Yeah yeah.
Ian: Rocking out. Big fun.
Steve: I love ole Ronnie Lane, he was a great bass player.
Ian: He was a fantastic bass player. Mark, all my favorite bass players appreciate that you know, they get it. But some people, some bass players…solos…six strings…
Steve: No, no. He played, even though he was all over the gaff, it worked, it worked great.
Ian: It was melody, wasn’t it? And he didn’t play the obvious. It was never like, a lot of bass players who hit the root note and thump it bum-bum-bum, he’d never do that. He would go for the fifth and he’d play a little melody from it and it just…he had a magic idea, you know? Magic ideas. He’d always give me keyboard ideas. I’d be sitting there, he’d go, “Why don’t you go…look there’s a melody there, look…ba-dum ba-da ba-ding…” I’d go, “Okay.”
Steve: It always, it always fit…around the vocal, his bass was. You know what I mean?
Ian: Yeah, yeah. His dad said to him once, “If you play an instrument, you’ll always have a friend…you’ll always have friends.”
Steve: Wot, like girlfriends or…
Ian: (laughs) What do you want? What you looking for?
Steve: Blokes…
Ian: Yeah, you’ll get nice bloke friends…
Steve: Yeahhh. Um, you could never, you could never copy The Faces, a band. Because of that reason, it’s like when you get drummers who try to copy John Bonham. They just go crash-bang-wallop and that’s what they think he’s doing.
Ian: Yeah right, exactly. It’s much more, it’s much more subtle.
Steve: Yeah…even though it sounds like a racket.
Ian: It’s true enough.
Steve: But there’s a certain way The Faces play, to me…you know?
Ian: Well we, you know…I always figured I was the rhythm keyboard player.
Steve: Yeah.
Ian: And Woody was rhythm and lead.
Steve: Exactly.
Ian: I’d have the odd little lick but you know it was basically, I’d be there whenever he took a lead, I’d be underneath, holding it together and Ronnie was more melodic. Didn’t have to hold it together cos I had that going with my left hand. And Kenny was boom-whack.
Steve: Did um, did you know Kenny Jones at school or anything like that?
Ian: No, no…actually I joined The Small Faces in November, what’s the date today, the eighth? Oh anyway, November ’65. The were already a band and they fired their keyboard player and he used to try and kind of over-sing, out-sing Steve, which was a big mistake and um…
Steve: Kenny Jones did?
Ian: No, no…the previous organ player.
Steve: Who was that?
Ian: Jimmy Winston.
Steve: That was when it was called The Small Faces?
Ian: Yeah, the first configuration, for the first record, first single.
Steve: Oh, there actually was a record with this other bloke on it?
Ian: Yeah. “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” is…
Steve: Oh, that’s the other bloke?
Ian: Yeah yeah.
Steve: I didn’t even know that.
Ian: Yeah, and I joined after that and um, so I didn’t know him. I was from the West of London. I was from Hounslow by the airport and they were from the East End. And like, when I was growing up, the East Enders, you didn’t hang there. You never went there cos you’d get beaten up.
Steve: It was a rough place, yeah.
Ian: And so when I joined them, we’d go like, after a gig, the first few months we didn’t have anywhere to stay, I’d stay at one of their houses, you know. So we’d play a gig in Manchester and then get back to London, stay at one of the houses. Next day we go for pie and mash and I was a bit scared like, first time in the East End. But I found they were the friendliest people on the planet. Much nicer than Hounslow you know, everyone kept to themselves out there. They were real friendly.
Steve: So you’re a West London boy.
Ian: Yeah. Where you from?
Steve: Shepherd’s Bush.
Ian: Get outta here. Hounslow, Shepherd’s Bush.
Steve: (“Sopranos” accent) Get outta town! West London! C’mon! Yeah, I used to frequent the Hammersmith Odeon, Hammersmith Palais…
Ian: Hammersmith Palais, right. I’m looking at Muhammad Ali on the wall there…saw him beat a few people in the Hammersmith Palais in the middle of the night.
Steve: Really?
Ian: They used to run the boxing live, everyone would be smoking cigars. Pretty funny.
Steve: Yeah. I knicked a few cymbals out of the Hammersmith Palais, I know that.
(at this point the audio skips a bit)
Ian: Did I say a bad word?
Steve: Who said the bad word?
(Mr. Shovel says something but it’s too difficult to make out…then the audio skips another time)
Steve: No, we did it again?
Ian: Was he quick enough? Sorry, I won’t do it again.
Steve: Oh, god. These bleedin’ Faces. Can’t take ‘em anywhere. Troublemakers.
Ian: Troublemakers, see?
Steve: Troublemakers. Let’s play the song I was talking about and…actually the song starts with bass. This is “Three Button Hand Me Down” from The Small Faces’, “First Step”.
Ian: Which is really The Faces “First Step”, yeah. First album.
Steve: This was…early days, right?
Ian: ’69.
Steve: But I mean, as far as The Faces being, as a band.
Ian: Yeah.
Steve: This is like…you hadn’t really got into your groove yet.
Ian: That’s right, yeah.
Steve: Even though this is a great groove on this song.
Ian: Yeah, it was our first album and there’s two instrumentals and Ronnie Lane sings at least one song on it. So we had Rod, we only used him on seven tracks. It’s really weird.
Steve: Let’s play it. Take it away.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Steve: You’re listening to Jonesy’s Jukebox on Indie 1031 and my guest, Ian McLagan.
Ian: It’s lovely to be here, Steve.
Steve: I really enjoy your company.
Ian: Thank you. (snickers)
Steve: That was The Faces from an album, “Nod’s As Good As A Wink”…
Ian: “…To A Blind Horse”.
Steve: Yes, and that was a song called, “Too Bad” with Ronnie Wood on slide guitar, innit?
Ian: Absolutely. Ronnie Lane on Bass, Kenny Jones on drums, Rod Stewart on vocals, Ian McLagan on the twinkling piano.
Steve: And we started off with their first album, Small Faces, which is really The Faces and that was an album called, “First Step” and that song was called, “Three Button Hand Me Down”. Who wrote that?
Ian: Rod and me. Basically a little bit of a nick.
Steve: Yeah?
Ian: Life’s like that. Have you heard Bob Dylan’s new record? It’s fantastic.
Steve: No, I haven’t heard it.
Ian: Talking of “nicks” there’s a couple on there, but it’s fabulous. “Modern Times”. It’s seen me through some tough old times this year. Fabulous music. Really great.
Steve: How was Marriott as a singer?
Ian: Oh, fantastic. Well see, he was a guitarist and singer. So he didn’t have the…
Steve: That personality…?
Ian: Didn’t have that problem of just being the singer. Not, you know…
Steve: Not like some blokes we know.
Ian: We won’t name…
Steve: No names, no one…
Ian: no singers. He could carry an amp, you see. He could hold a guitar and so he wasn’t just a singer. He was a great singer.
Steve: I worked with him a little bit.
Ian: Did you. I didn’t know that.
Steve: Oh this Johnny Thunders album. It was me, Phil Lynott…
Ian: Ohh, Phil was great, wasn’t he?
Steve: …and Steve. We did a cover version of a song called, “Daddy Rolling Stone”.
Ian: Oh, yeah…
Steve: And Steve took a verse, Phil Lynott and Johnny Thunders. And it was one of the best times I had.
Ian: Has that come out on record?
Steve: Yeah, it’s on Johnny Thunders’ solo album, it’s called, “So Alone”. Me and Cookie…I’m playing guitar and Cookie’s playing drums.
Ian: All right. What a great unit. Phil Lynott was great, wasn’t he?
Steve: Yeah, we had such a laugh. He was a funny sod, Marriott.
Ian: He was very funny. You know, talking the other day about life, you know…he died kinda young, but he lived three lives. He lived to be ninety-seven, in one way, you know?
Steve: He actually died of smoking…?
Ian: They never found out. He died, the house burned down and they think he had a cigarette…he was jetlagged and he had a cigarette and he fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand.
Steve: On the mattress?
Ian: Set fire to the bed, yeah.
Steve: Ohh.
Ian: I was over here and it happened in England and I heard about it days later and read the reports…
Steve: Humble Pie was a great band, too.
Ian: Well, the weren’t anywhere near as good as Small Faces…
Steve: Well of course not.
Ian: Well, but Marriott see, he tends to oversing in later years. He was a great singer but…
Steve: He became more “black”.
Ian: Well oversinging, I don’t know about “black”.
Steve: He seemed like he wanted to be more into that black scene, the backing vocals…
Ian: Yeah, but he always was, you see. Yeah, right…
Steve: It seemed like he wanted to prove himself more, that he could…
Ian: Well that’s what he said he wanted to get more heavy…
Steve: Everyone knew he had a great voice. He didn’t need to prove that he had more soul, you know.
Ian: That’s right.
Steve: Although there’s a few good Humble Pie songs I don’t mind listening to, that I play.
Ian: I’d never listened to them much. Actually they covered one of mine on their first album, “Growing Closer” which was very sweet. Steve was a lovely guy. Character. Very funny.
Steve: He was great. Is that thing working? Can we do a little boogie woogie? Has that got a thing on? I’ll play, I’ll play some rhythm. Just for a laugh.
Ian: (is trying out the electric piano in the studio)
Steve: What’s your best key to play in, C?
Ian: C is okay.
Steve: Is that C?
Ian: That’s D. (starts playing)
Steve: Hold on, hold on…we’re dying here, we’re dying.
Ian: What happened to the piano?
Steve: That’s weird.
Ian: That’s a horrible piano sound, innit?
Steve: Is that tuned to a weird key or something?
Ian: Yeah, I don’t know how to change it.
Steve: We’re going to visit The Duke. We’ll be right back. Hopefully we’ll rectify this and do a little boogie woogie and then we’ll play one song off of Ian’s new album, “Spiritual Boy”. We’ll be right back after The Duke, thanks for listening.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Steve: You’ve been listening Jonesy’s Jukebox on Indie 1031 with my guest Ian McLagan, who’s playing tonight at The Mint. Do you know what time you’re going on?
Ian: I think it’s ten o’clock.
Steve: You playing tomorrow as well?
Ian: Yeah, yeah.
Steve: Two nights.
Ian: Two nights, mate. So we don’t have to lug the gear out and in.
Steve: You don’t get one night, you get two nights.
Ian: Two nights, mate.
Steve: Ian McLagans’s Bump Band.
Ian: Not to be missed.
Steve: And you’ve got a new album out, “Spiritual Boy”.
Ian: Yeah, an appreciation of Ronnie Lane.
Steve: Ronnie Lane, who was one of The Faces and Small Faces.
Ian: Absolutely.
Steve: And we’re going to do a little boogie woogie and then go out with the title track, oh, no…”Spiritual Babe”, we’re going to play off the “Spiritual Boy”.
Ian: Yeah, it’s confusing.
Steve: Very confusing. But it’s lovely to see you again, mate.
Ian: You too, Steve. Bless your heart.
Steve: Yes, yes.
Ian: Shall we have a little rock?
Steve: Take it away, me old son…
(end of interview)
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