Rolling Stone #185: Faces

U.S. Tour Ends, Faces Open Up

Los Angeles – “I hate San Bernardino, why are you playing there?” Tatum O’Neal, the 11-year-old from Paper Moon, chugged from a bottle of Blue Nun and cast a jaded glance toward Rod Stewart. The Face was doing her father, Ryan, a favor by babysitting for the day and they were in a limousine on their way to Berdoo. “I can’t stand the smell,” Tatum said in anticipation. “It’s just the lowest.”

Stewart chuckled politely and turned the stare out the window. He can’t complain, really. Touring in the midst of a slow concert season without a new album, the Faces are all too grateful for having sold out every date on their five-week-long American tour.

Their audiences saw a show almost identical to the one the Faces did last time around, in 1973. “Of course we played it safe,” said Stewart. “It’s pretty obvious we had our heads on the chopping block, isn’t it? We nearly didn’t do the tour, we were so worried over our standing.” Then he brightened. “But it all came out in the wash. It’s definitely the most important tour we’ve ever done and to come out with flying colors has given the Faces a new lease on life.”

While Stewart admits the Faces got “extremely lazy” in the two years since their last studio album (Ooh La La), he forgets to say that the boys have spent most of their dead time waiting for Rod to settle his legal battle with Mercury Records (and parent company, Phonogram). Stewart, after his stint as lead singer with Jeff Beck and before joining the Faces, signed a solo contract with Mercury for $2000, the price of a car he’d seen and wanted. When his Mercury contract began to run out, manager Billy Gaff got him signed to Warners. The Mercury deal, Gaff insists, was a bad one, ‘and had it not been for a small and complicated technicality that our lawyers found, Rod could have been on Mercury for life.” His case is still in the courts, but Stewart is overjoyed even with the prospect of leaving Phonogram.

“They’ve almost ruined my career,” he groaned during a commercial flight to a Phoenix concert. “Fucking hell, they delayed the Smiler album over six months!” (Phonogram claims the LP was legally held up in court proceedings over its ownership.)

“The album was supposed to be out in the summer,” said Stewart. “It was a light summer album. And it was, it came out in October and the fucking record company didn’t put any money into it at all.” I don’t care if you’re Bob Dylan – people have to know you made an album.” Stewart’s words took a bitter turn. “I don’t trust any of those guys at record companies,” he said. “If you didn’t sell records, they wouldn’t give you the time of day. I was pleased to hear that some big record company people couldn’t get into our party last night. I loved it.” He stopped to reconsider. “Mustn’t get bitchy now; after all, I’m in love,” he said, and began to croon, “Falling in love again…”

A reference to his budding romance with actress Britt Ekland?

“You bet,” he nodded. Since his arrival in L.A. he and the actress have been a couple at parties and sessions. “Pretty good, huh?” he asked.

Stewart, in fact, plans to settle in America for the time being and he has rented a house in Beverly Hills to use while he prepares for his next solo album, to begin recording in April with producer Tom Dowd. “It’ll be an L.A. album with L.A. musicians,” he said. “The emphasis will be on material no one in the world would expect me to do” – for example, songs from the Twenties and Thirties. Stewart has asked such L.A.-based musicians as John David Souther and Eagles Glenn Frey and Don Henley for new material.

“I’m very proud of my solo albums,” said Stewart, “but I still haven’t pleased myself with them. I’m going to take gambles with my next one. I want to be an historical figure in rock & roll. I want to be like Janis Joplin, one of the greats. I don’t think I am yet. I don’t know what it takes. More touring, I guess.” He shrugged. “Perhaps I should die, perhaps I should OD.” The smiler is not smiling.

Stewart’s solo LP will be followed by another Faces album – maybe. In L.A. the group booked several nights at the Record Plant, but the sessions turned into all-night jams with guest musicians. “They tell me the sessions are closed,” said an exasperated receptionist at the studios, “and then they show up three hours late, with Jagger, Billy Preston and every other player in town. They can’t be getting anything done.”

Stewart sees a similar problem. “Faces sessions are still the bloody same. We go in at odd hours drunk out of our minds and piss away money. Everybody should face up to the fact that we haven’t made good albums as a band. Everybody knows.”

Everybody except guitarist Ronnie Wood, who doesn’t appreciate the dig. “That’s where Rod slips up with his interviews. He often exaggerates things to make the point or have an impact. When he says the Faces albums are shitty, he just means we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do – to capture the spirit of our live shows. We’ve yet to do that. The nearest thing was ‘Stay with Me.’ Our problem is that we have to develop a solid studio personality.”

Yet Stewart is undaunted. “I made a New Year’s resolution several years ago,” he said, “to change my mind about every two months. You can only trust about 40% of what I say.” So, great, he’s not going to OD. But what about a Faces album? “Believe a new group album when you see it.”

Courtesy of Rolling Stone #185 – Cameron Crowe – April 24, 1975