Monday 8 February 2016

Sm@ll F@ces - 1968 - Sh@-L@-L@-L@-Lee


Whatcha Gonna Do About It/I've Got Mine/Hey Girl/Sha-La-La-La-Lee


"Whatcha Gonna Do About It" is the debut single released by the English R&B, mod group Small Faces, released in the UK on 6 August 1965. The song peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, and stayed on chart for a total of 14 weeks.The songwriting duo of the group Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane already had the melody for the song, the inspiration coming from Solomon Burke's hit record "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", however they had no lyrics so Don Arden quickly brought in Ian Samwell to provide the words for the song. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 27 and rose to number 14 just missing the all important Top Ten.

 
"I've Got Mine" was the second official song released by English R&B mod band Small Faces in 1965. The song failed to chart despite receiving favourable reviews in the British music press."I've Got Mine" is a hard hitting, moody R&B song and the first Small Faces single release written entirely by the songwriting duo of the band Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.  It was after the release of "I've Got Mine" that Jimmy Winston was released from the band and replaced by keyboardist Ian McLagan (formerly of The Muleskinners). Winston co-wrote the B-side song "It's too Late" with Marriott and Lane.




"Sha-La-La-La-Lee" was the third song by English R&B influenced group Small Faces, released on 28 January 1966 and reaching number three in the UK Singles Chart. It was also the first single by the group to feature Ian McLagan on keyboards.Because the group's prevoius song release, the Marriott/Lane composition "I've Got Mine" failed to chart in the UK, Don Arden, determined that the Small Faces would not be one hit wonders, decided to bring in well-known songwriters Kenny Lynch and Mort Shuman to make sure the group's next single would be a success. The highly commercial sounding song proved a big hit and reached number three in the UK singles chart. Despite the success of "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" the band never really liked the song and felt it did not represent their sound, which was more R&B and soul oriented.

 
 "Hey Girl" was the fourth song release by popular British R&B group Small Faces. The song reached number ten on the UK Singles Charts in 1966. "Hey Girl" was released on 6 May 1966 with the B-side "Almost Grown". The song was written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane and was a compromise between the band and Don Arden as Arden wanted a very commercial sounding song. A week later the groups' debut album on Decca Small Faces hit the UK charts reaching number 3.

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