Are You All Sitting Comfybold? - "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" by The Small Faces

As Ratty in Wind in the Willows memorably remarked, there’s nothing quite like messing about in boats. It’s a sentiment which gave birth to one of the most celebrated British albums of the late 60s.

When writing for The Small Faces’ second album for AndrewLoogOldham’s Immediate label stalled in the heady summer of 1968, the erstwhile svengali dispatched the boys on a boating holiday along the upper reaches of the Thames. In between scenes of general hilarity and the occasional collision with the well heeled boating fraternity, all fuelled by copious supplies of joints, LSD and frequent stops at riverside pubs, the four lads managed to squeeze in some songwriting.

What eventually emerged was a concept revolving around the adventures of a character called Happiness Stan and his quest to find out what happened to the moon when in waned. None of it made any sense whatsoever, of course, but that’s hardly the point. Once in the studio, the basic tracks were further embellished with horns, mellotrons and strings, lubricated by Immediate’s promise of total artistic freedom and the production skills of GlynJohns. Finally, the story was fleshed out by Stanley Unwin’s delightfully garbled narration. Unwin even managed to incorporate some of the band’s trademark hipster lingo, Stan’s exclamation of ‘Where at, man! Blow your cool!’ being one notable example.

The whimsy of the Happiness Stan tale was balanced by some of the band’s tightest and most focussed songwriting in tracks such as Afterglow (Of Your Love) and Ronnie Lane’s hard rocking Song of a Baker. The instrumental title track made further use of the phasing technique first heard on the classic ItchycooPark single in 1967, while McLagan got a chance to shine on Long Agos and Worlds Apart. Lazy Sunday may just have lain the blueprint for the entire Britpop movement, although the band hated it after it pigeonholed them as cheeky cockney geezers. A more salacious take on the English music hall influences came with the tongue in cheek (and elsewhere) tale of East End lady of the night Rene.

Years of honing their chops on a punishing gigging schedule meant the musicianship throughout was superlative. Marriott’s guitar is on fiery form, his controlled feedback on Rene’s long fadeout being particularly noteworthy. Lane and Jones can possibly lay claim to being British rock’s greatest rhythm section, and McLagan’s Hammond is a heady blend of psychedelic swirl and dirty R’n’B.

Unfortunately Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake’s success, both artistically and commercially, spelt the end of the band. Marriott in particular felt stifled, and when subsequent singles such as The Universal stiffed it was only a matter of time before he quit. The other three enjoyed further success with Rod Stewart and RonWood taking Marriott’s place in The Faces, while Marriott formed Humble Pie. Good as they were, neither party was able to top this endearing, good natured and perfectly formed classic.