Artist: The Small Faces
Album: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Year: 1968
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is an amalgamation of all the various strains of British music going on at the time. It has some (actually, a lot of) whimsy in the manner of The Kinks, some soulful vocals like The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds, and a fair bit of pastoral psychedelia like some of the stuff on Sgt. Pepper's. And this is a loose concept album as well, not far off from S.F. Sorrow or Tommy.
The Small Faces were the brainchild of Steve Marriott, who played lead guitar and sang vocals. I'm not sure why he isn't more widely regarded as one of the genius songwriters of the era--he's got a knack for tuneful pop with a psychedelic edge that is fortunately not too abrasive. This album is a good showcase for his talents, but not the best--I prefer the early stuff The Small Faces did for Immediate Records...songs like "Itchycoo Park" and "Here Comes The Nice" are classic cuts of psych-pop. I guess this band is kind of the anti-Byrds for me. With The Byrds, I rather dislike their poppier songs like "All I Really Want to Do" but love just about everything else they do. With these guys, poppier, Kinks-ish songs like "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene" work better for me than the more rocking, soul-flecked cuts. The harpsichord-laden "Mad John" with its folky vocal delivery is another highlight for me.
Speaking of "Lazy Sunday," I have to believe this song provided the template for Blur's "Parklife" and other such cockney spoken-word tunes that would follow. In fact, the oddball narration on this album throughout is hilarious and helps take this release to the next level. Life is just a bowl of oat bran indeed. Good stuff!
Rating: Worth repeated listens
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