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Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake

 
Album Review: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
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Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

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  • Artist: The Small Faces
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1968
  • Total Time: 41:46
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

There was no shortage of good psychedelic albums emerging from England in 1967-1968, but Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is special even within their ranks. The Small Faces had already shown a surprising adaptability to psychedelia with the single "Itchycoo Park" and much of their other 1967 output, but Ogden's Nut Gone Flake pretty much ripped the envelope. British bands had an unusual approach to psychedelia from the get-go, often preferring to assume different musical "personae" on their albums, either feigning actual "roles" in the context of a variety show (as on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album), or simply as storytellers in the manner of the Pretty Things on S.F. Sorrow, or actor/performers as on the Who's Tommy. The Small Faces tried a little bit of all of these approaches on Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, but they never softened their sound. Side one's material, in particular, would not have been out of place on any other Small Faces release -- "Afterglow (Of Your Love)" and "Rene" both have a pounding beat from Kenny Jones, and Ian McLagan's surging organ drives the former while his economical piano accompaniment embellishes the latter; and Steve Marriott's crunching guitar highlights "Song of a Baker." Marriott singing has him assuming two distinct "roles," neither unfamiliar -- the Cockney upstart on "Rene" and "Lazy Sunday," and the diminutive soul shouter on "Afterglow (Of Your Love)" and "Song of a Baker." Some of side two's production is more elaborate, with overdubbed harps and light orchestration here and there, and an array of more ambitious songs, all linked by a narration by comic dialect expert Stanley Unwin, about a character called "Happiness Stan." The core of the sound, however, is found in the pounding "Rollin' Over," which became a highlight of the group's stage act during its final days -- the song seems lean and mean with a mix in which Ronnie Lane's bass is louder than the overdubbed horns. Even "Mad John," which derives from folk influences, has a refreshingly muscular sound on its acoustic instruments. Overall, this was the ballsiest-sounding piece of full-length psychedelia to come out of England, and it rode the number one spot on the U.K. charts for six weeks in 1968, though not without some controversy surrounding advertisements by Immediate Records that parodied the Lord's Prayer. Still, Ogden's was the group's crowning achievement -- it had even been Marriott's hope to do a stage presentation of Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, though a television special might've been more in order. As with most Immediate Records releases, it has gone through multiple reissue cycles on vinyl and CD; the original LP came in a circular sleeve in keeping with the design of the cover, and was reissued in a more convention jacket during the 1970s and early '80s. Most of the CD versions until the 1990s were, in keeping with the poor state of the Immediate Records tape library, substandard in sound, but since 1994 or so there has been a succession of good-sounding digital remasterings. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake Steve Marriott, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones The Small Faces (02:28)
Afterglow (Of Your Love) Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (03:29)
Long Agos and Worlds Apart Ian McLagan The Small Faces (02:34)
Rene (Lyrics) Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (04:31)
Song of a Baker (Lyrics) Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (03:16)
Lazy Sunday (Lyrics) Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (03:06)
Happiness Stan Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (02:37)
Rollin' Over Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (02:49)
The Hungry Intruder Steve Marriott, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (02:15)
The Journey Steve Marriott, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones The Small Faces (04:09)
Mad John Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane The Small Faces (02:50)
Happy Days Toy Town Steve Marriott, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones The Small Faces (04:18)

Credits

The Small Faces (Arranger), The Small Faces (Main Performer), Steve Marriott (Guitar), Steve Marriott (Arranger), Steve Marriott (Vocals), Steve Marriott (Producer), Ian McLagan (Organ), Ian McLagan (Guitar), Ian McLagan (Vocals), Ronnie Lane (Bass), Ronnie Lane (Arranger), Ronnie Lane (Vocals), Ronnie Lane (Producer), Stan Unwin (Vocals), Kenney Jones (Drums), Paolo Hewitt (Liner Notes), P. Brown (Illustrations)
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Wikipedia: Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
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Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
Studio album by Small Faces
Released 24 May 1968
Recorded Olympic Studios, London, England
Genre Rock, Psychedelic rock
Length 38:27
Label Immediate
Producer Glyn Johns
Professional reviews
Small Faces chronology
Small Faces (Immediate) (1967) Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968) The Autumn Stone
(1969)
Singles from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
  1. "Lazy Sunday"
    Released: 5 April 1968
  2. "Afterglow (Of Your Love)"
    Released: March 7, 1969
  3. "Mad John"
    Released: 1969 (USA only)

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake was a successful concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968 the LP became a number one hit in the UK Album Charts on 29 June where it remained for a total of six weeks.[1] The album was featured in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"

The title and the design of the distinctive packaging was a parody of Ogdens' Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco which was produced in Liverpool from 1899[2][3].

Contents

Album profile

The A-side is a mix of early heavy rock with "Song of a Baker"; psychedelic cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene"; and the soul influenced ballad "Afterglow (Of Your Love)".[3]

The B-side is based on an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, narrated in his unique ‘Unwinese’ gobbledegook by Stanley Unwin, who picked up modern slang from the band and incorporated it into the surreal narrative.[3]

Happiness Stan

Story

When Stan looks up in the sky and sees only half the moon, he sets out on a quest to search for the missing half. Along the way he saves a fly from starvation, and in gratitude the insect tells him of someone who can answer his question and also tell him the philosophy of life itself. With his magic power Stan intones, "If all the flies were one fly, what a great enormous fly-follolloper that would bold," and the fly grows to gigantic proportions. Seated on the giant fly's back Stan takes a psychedelic journey to the cave of Mad John the hermit, who explains that the moon's disappearance is only temporary, and demonstrates by pointing out that Stan has spent so long on his quest that the moon is now full again. He then sings Stan a cheerful song about the meaning of life.[3]

Due to the album's complexities, Ogdens' was never performed live, however it was performed as a whole once on the BBC's television programme Colour Me Pop[3] on Friday 21 June 1968. Songs featured were "Song of a Baker", "Happiness Stan", "Rollin' Over", "The Hungry Intruder", "The Journey", "Mad John" and "Happydaystoytown". Although the band mimed to recordings made earlier in the studio that afternoon their microphones were left on to capture little ad libs.[4]

In 2000 Q magazine placed Ogden's Nut Gone Flake at number 59 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[5]

Highest UK album chart position: 1968, Number One (for six weeks), and a total of 19 weeks on chart.[3]

Playbox Theatre, UK, have performed the whole album as a theatre piece in November 2008. It was directed by Stewart McGill and performed by a young cast with a Small Faces tribute band, and it was narrated by Stanley Unwin's son, John.

Packaging

The album was originally released on vinyl in a circular novelty package resembling a paper replica of a giant tobacco tin, with a gatefold cover. Two limited-edition CD releases (including a three-disc deluxe edition in 2006 that included the original mono mix of the album on CD for the first time) went even further by packaging the disc(s) in a circular tin. However, most CD releases use conventional packaging, superimposing the circular artwork on a square booklet.[3]

The award-winning artwork for the album cover was done by Mick Swan who was a product of the sixties art school scene. Any other work by him is unknown but he is known to have worked as a fine arts tutor at Lowestoft F.E. College in 1974.[6]

Track listing

Side one
# Title Music Length
1. "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake"   Marriott, Lane, McLagan, Jones 2:26
2. "Afterglow (Of Your Love)"   Marriott, Lane 3:31
3. "Long Agos and Worlds Apart"   McLagan 2:35
4. "Rene"   Marriott, Lane 4:29
5. "Song of a Baker"   Marriott, Lane 3:15
6. "Lazy Sunday"   Marriott, Lane 3:05
Side two
# Title Music Length
1. "Happiness Stan"   Marriott, Lane 2:35
2. "Rollin' Over"   Marriott, Lane 2:50
3. "The Hungry Intruder"   Marriott, Lane, McLagan 2:15
4. "The Journey"   Marriott, Lane, McLagan, Jones 4:12
5. "Mad John"   Marriott, Lane 2:48
6. "Happydaystoytown"   Marriott, Lane, McLagan 4:17

Controversy

To promote the album Immediate issued an advertisement that parodied The Lord's Prayer. It caused uproar in the British press and outraged readers wrote in and complained.

Small Faces
Which were in the studios
Hallowed by thy name
Thy music come
 Thy songs be sung
 On this album as they came from your heads
We give you this day our daily bread
Give us thy album in a round cover as we give thee 37/9d.,
Lead us into the record stores.
And deliver us Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
For nice is the music
The sleeve and the story
For ever and ever, Immediate

"We didn't know a thing about the ad. until we saw it in the music papers. And frankly we got the horrors at first. We realise that it could be taken as a serious knock against religion. But on thinking it over, we don't feel it is particularly good or bad. It's just another form of advertising. We're not all that concerned about it. We're more concerned in writing our music and producing our records"

- Steve Marriott on the advert for Ogden's Nut Gone Flake that parodied the Lord's Prayer.[6]

Spelling

The cover design spells the title as Ogdens' , but the label and sleeve copy on many versions gives it as Ogden's , and in catalogues and music websites the latter spelling is probably more common.

Vinyl and CD versions

The original vinyl album includes a segue between the end of "Afterglow" and the beginning of "Long Agos And Worlds Apart". Most CD editions have a different stereo mix, and use the single version of "Afterglow" without the segue. There is also a segue between "Long Agos and Worlds Apart" and "Rene", and this is retained on the CD. Some CD editions also include one or more bonus tracks.

The 2005 3-disc "tobacco tin" Special Edition includes fully-remastered mono and stereo mixes complete with segue, plus an episode of the BBC Radio documentary series Classic Albums in which the band discuss the making of the album.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Official UK Album Charts". The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php?show=2. Retrieved 2007-09-04. 
  2. ^ McDonough, Tony. "New homes plan for tobacco factory". Liverpool Daily Post. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/business/business-local/2007/08/29/new-homes-plan-for-tobacco-factory-64375-19701261/. Retrieved 2007-09-04. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "The Small Faces, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/b3jw/. Retrieved 2007-08-17. 
  4. ^ Hewitt, Paulo; Hellier, John (2004). Steve Marriott - All Too Beautiful... (1st ed.). London: Helter Skelter. pp. 171. ISBN 1-900924-44-7. OCLC 56205257. 
  5. ^ "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake - The Reviews". Q Magazine, February 1990. http://www.makingtime.co.uk/rfr/revogd.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-17. 
  6. ^ a b Hewitt, Paulo; Jones, Kenney (1995). Small Faces: The Young Mods' Forgotten Story. London: Acid Jazz. pp. 125. ISBN 0952393506. OCLC 34676493. 

External links

v • d • e
Small Faces
Steve Marriott • Ronnie Lane • Kenney Jones • Ian "Mac" McLagan
Jimmy Winston • Rick Wills • Jimmy McCulloch
Studio albums
Small Faces (1966)  • Small Faces (1967) • Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968)
First Step (1970) (Credited to Small Faces in North America only)
Playmates (1977) • 78 In The Shade (1978)
Compilation albums
Live albums
BBC Session (Saturday Club) (1965) • BBC Session (Saturday Club) (1965) • BBC Session (Saturday Club) (1966) • BBC Session (Saturday Club) (1966) • BBC Session (Top Gear) (1968) • 1968 Sessions • The Final Tour (1969)
Singles
"Whatcha Gonna Do About It"/"What's a Matter Baby" (1965) • "I've Got Mine"/"It's Too Late" (1965) • "Sha-La-La-La-Lee"/"Grow Your Own" (1966) • "Hey Girl"/"Almost Grown" (1966) • "All or Nothing"/"Understanding" (1966) • " My Mind's Eye"/"I Can't Dance With You" (1966) • "I Can't Make It"/"Just Passing" (1967) • "Patterns"/"E Too D" (1967) • "Here Come the Nice"/"Talk To You" (1967) • "Itchycoo Park"/"I'm Only Dreaming" (1967) • "Tin Soldier"/"I Feel Much Better" (1967) • "Lazy Sunday"/"Rollin' Over" (1968) • "The Universal"/"Donkey Rides, A Penny, A Glass" (1968) • "Afterglow (Of Your Love)"/"Wham Bam Thank You Mam" (1969) • "Itchycoo Park" (rerelease) (1975) • "Lazy Sunday" (rerelease) (1976)
Other
Discography • Don Arden • Andrew Loog Oldham • Tony Calder • Glyn Johns • Faces (band)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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