Kenney Jones says he “can’t see” the long-discussed new Faces album arriving this year, but that doesn’t mean the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band will remain silent.
He’s confirmed work on an intriguing new documentary about the Faces, using archival footage from handheld video cameras given to them in 1972. “It’s never been seen,” Jones tells The Telegraph, “and there’s some rude bits in there!”
A new album from surviving members of the Faces, also including Rod Stewart and long-time Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, has been in the works for years. At one point, Stewart said they were evaluating as many as 15 songs – “some old, some new” – for potential release. Jones previously confirmed they had 14 songs.
READ MORE: Top 10 Small Faces Songs
Jones now says they’re working on “about 11 tracks” during occasional sessions at Mickie Most’s former studio, RAK in North London. Jools Holland of Squeeze fame guests on one song. A release date remains uncertain. “I can’t see it coming out this year,” Jones admits, “but I can see it coming out next year.”
The project has been delayed by their busy lives outside of the Faces. “Everyone’s doing different things,” said Jones, the only surviving member of the preceding Small Faces lineup. “We do little snippets [of recording] here and there. Then all of a sudden, the Stones are out [on tour] again, Rod’s out again.”
Jones is overseeing a sweeping reissue campaign from the archives of Immediate Records, which he acquired from BMG. The label was originally co-founded in 1965 by Rolling Stones co-manager Andrew Loog Oldham and issued early singles by Fleetwood Mac, Nico and John Mayall, among others.
Scheduled upcoming releases include the Small Faces, Steve Marriott’s post-Small Faces band Humble Pie, Keith Richards and others. They’ll appear on Nice Records, a label Jones founded in the ’90s to raise funds for former Small Faces bandmate Ronnie Lane during his battle with multiple sclerosis.
Kenney Jones’ Unlikely Small Faces Reissue
Perhaps the most unlikely entry is The Autumn Stone, a lightly regarded retrospective that was rush-released after the Small Faces broke up. The double album originally cobbled together original single releases, live recordings with added crowd noise and songs from the Small Faces’ never-completed fourth album.
Jones is overseeing a complete remaster, erasing the fake fans and adding more material to complete a sprawling box set. He admits the work has occasionally made him “very emotional, very sad. It’s a lonely feeling. I can’t share it with my mates.” Marriott died in 1991. Lane succumbed to MS in 1997. Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan passed in 2014.
Still, reclaiming “something that we hated in the first place, because it was cashing in, is a nice feeling,” Jones said. “We were only together for such a short time, and I’m amazed at what we did. So many songs. So it’s my job to keep the catalogue, the memory and the Small Faces’ name alive. So many people know it and love it. So I thought: ‘OK, I’m going to love it back.'”
Bands That Reunited Without Their Lead Singer
Getting the band back together has become a rock ’n’ roll cliché, yet it remains a difficult task for some.
Gallery Credit: Bryan Wawzenek
Rod Stewart’s Spouse is One of Rock’s Hottest Wives
