Small Faces
Here Come the Nice - 4 CD Boxset 2014
Tracks: 1. Here Come The Nice / 2. Talk To You / 3. (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me / 4. Something I Want To Tell You / 5. Get Yourself Together / 6. Become Like You / 7. Green Circles / 8. Eddie's Dreaming / 9. Itchycoo Park / 10. I'm Only Dreaming / 11. Tin Soldier / 12. I Feel Much Better / 13. Lazy Sunday / 14. Rollin' Over / 15. Mad John / 16. The Journey / 17. The Universal / 18. Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass / 19. Afterglow Of Your Love / 20. Wham Bam Thank You Mam // 1. Shades Of Green / 2. Green Circles /v3. Green Circles (alt) / 4. Anything / 5. Anything / 6. Show Me The Way / 7. Wit Art Yer / 8. Wit Art Yer / 9. I Can't Make It / 10. Doolally / 11. What's It Called? / 12. Call It Something Nice / 13. Wide Eyed Girl / 14. Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall / 15. Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass / 16. Red Balloon With A Blue Surprise / 17. Red Balloon / 18. Saieide Mamoon // 1. Wham Bam Thank You Mam / 2. I Can't Make It / 3. This Feeling Of Spring / 4. All Our Yesterdays / 5. Talk To You / 6. Mind The Doors Please / 7. Things Are Going To Get Better / 8. Mad John / 9. A Collibosher / 10. Lazy Sunday Afternoon / 11. Jack / 12. Fred / 13. Red Balloon / 14. Kolomodelomo / 15. Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass / 16. Jenny's Song // 1. Itchycoo Park / 2. Here Come The Nice / 3. I'm Only Dreaming / 4. Don't Burst My Bubble / 5. I Feel Much Better / 6. Green Circles / 7. Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow / 8. Piccanniny / 9. Get Yourself Together / 10. Eddie's Dreaming / 11. (Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me / 12. Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire / 13. Afterglow Of Your Love / 14. (If You Think You're) Groovy / 15. Me You And Us Too / 16. The Universal / 17. Rollin' Over (live) / 18. If I Were A Carpenter (live) / 19. Every Little Bit Hurts (live) / 20. All Or Nothing (live) / 21. Tin Soldier
Comments:
It goes without saying that such a comprehensive and relatively expensive release caters specifically to fans of the group. There is, I believe, little doubt that the number of fans of the group is significantly larger than the limited 3000 copies this classy boxset is released in.
The majority of people will probably be most interested in the music itself and about this, it can in brief be said , ”Great - and outstanding sound". There has been a huge research work done in order to find the best sources of all these tracks, which in many cases are the original multi-track tapes. It is also clear that The Small Faces recorded their music under unusually good conditions; for their time. It's amazing how clean and clear it all sounds. Everything is remastered and many songs have been remixed from the master tapes, which means that you notice details that were previously to various degrees hidden in the mixes.
What's on the four CDs then? CD 1 is the most easy go go to as it contains the group's singles A's and B's released during 1967-69. Not many groups can cope with such a variety of great songs, and this also applies to B-sides , which in many cases might as well have been A-sides. Particularly interesting is "Mad John" which is without Stan Unwin 's narrative and which has a different fadeout .
CD2 and CD 3 give a fine insight into the group working with their music. Some of the cuts are short fragments while others are full versions of the songs in new mixes, often without fade outs and therefore often longer than the known versions. Although you meet new and previously unheard of titles in the track list you should be aware that these are titles in most cases cover the early stages of well-known songs . There are very fine new and finished mixes of "I Can’t Make It ," "Call it Something Nice ," "Wide Eyed Girl on the Wall", " Red Balloon", "Wham Bam Thank You Mam" , "Just Passing" ( This Feeling of Spring ), "Talk To You", "Collibosher", " Donkey Rides , A Penny , A Glass" , "Autumn Stone" ( Jenny 's Song ) and several others. Also interesting to hear a version of "Green Circles" with Steve Marriott as lead singer .
On CD 4 there are also a lot of great and interesting stuff and this CD is like CD 1 very listenable . These alternative versions are in most cases on par with the known ones, and in some cases maybe even better. Here I will highlight "Me You and Us Two" , a song previously erroneously released as "Wham Bam Thank You Mam" . The guitar riff is indeed the same but it has completely different lyrics, and it features Nicky Hopkins on piano. Interesting also to hear the single version of "Afterglow" at the correct pace.
The live numbers have all been previously released , but it is a cleaner mix and correct speed pitches.
In addition to the four CDs the box includes a very informative book, which include the exciting story of the extensive research of locating all the best sources for the music.
There is also a reprint of two rare French EPs and two singles. One is a promtion single that was made for the first Immediate album , while the other include an acetate called "Mystery" , which is an early version of "Something I want to tell you" . Moreover there are reprinting of various old fan-articles and a couple of posters. And then there are personally handwritten signings by Kenney Jones and Ian Maclagan .
I am in no way in regret this investment and I can highly recommend it. The first with the singles has been released separately, so if you find it too costly with a whole box , you can instead chose "Greatest Hits , The Immediate Years 1967 - 1969"
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