The Birds should probably do down in history as being one of the hardest done by, misfortunate acts to come out of the British rock invasion in the 1960s. This five piece consisted of Ali MacKenzie, Ron Wood (later famous for being in The Faces and The Rolling Stones), Tony Munroe, Kim Gardner and Bob Langham (later replaced by Pete McDaniel).

The band formed out of London and were known for their edgy approach to rock and were compared to other successful acts of the time like The Who and The Kinks.

After an appearance in a battle of the bands competition, Decca signed them on the spot and released the first single, You Don’t Love Me. The future looked bright for this raunchy rhythm and blues band.

But in 1965, the LA band, The Byrds, arrived in England with its hit Hey Mr. Tambourine Man. The Birds’ manager attempted legal action but to no avail. This unforeseen circumstance was a major disturbance to the sale of its second release, Leaving Here.

The Birds hired a new manager, switched record labels and even contemplated changing their name. This promising act from West London seemed to be in free fall.

In 1965, they recorded their last single, Say Those Magic Words. In 1966 secured a cameo appearance on a horror film.

By 1967, the band disbanded after only laying down about a dozen tracks.

Motorhead would go on to cover Leaving Here.

Sources: Juanita Appleby

HAVE A LOOK AT THE BIRDS MERCHANDISE HERE

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

The Rolling Stones

Motorhead

The Small Faces

Ronnie Wood - The Legend

Rod Stewart, the British singer/song writer was born as Roderick David Stewart on 10th January 1945. grew up in Eppin, London. Before his music career began, Rod famously worked as a grave digger.

CLICK HERE FOR A UNIQUE SELECTION OF ROD STEWART VIDEOS

With a unique and raspy voice, Stewart gained popularity towards the end of 1960s and early 1970s, aided by the bands ‘The Jeff Beck Group’ and ‘Faces’. Rod Stewart started on his solo career in 1969 with debut album ‘An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever let You Down’ following the huge success of his single Maggie Mae.

Why Not Check Out:

The Small Faces

Rod Stewart has had more than six consecutive number one albums, and almost as many wives. His string of 62 hit singles included 31 that occupied places in the top 10 of which six were number ones.

His United States success list includes 16 top ten singles with four of them reaching the number one position. Stewart’s singles include ‘Maggie Mae’, 'Sailing', ‘You Wear It Well’, ‘Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)’, ‘Da ya Think I’m Sexy’, ‘Hot Legs’, ‘Rhythm of My Heart’ and ‘Forever Young’.

He won a Grammy Award for the ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’ in 2005 and was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall Fame’ in 1994 and most recently in 2006 he was also awarded the ‘Diamond Award’ of World Music Awards show for the sale of 100 million records worldwide in 2001. 

Rod continues to record and tour.

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

Etta James

Cat Stevens

Chris Farlowe

Bee Gees

Family 

Stray Cats

Small Faces were an influential British mod/psychedelic band of the 1960s, led by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane with Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan (who replaced original organist Jimmy Winston). The Small Faces were all genuine East End mods and they ranked second to The Who as Britain’s premier Mod band. They were signed to Decca records initially and enjoyed major success across Europe between 1965 and 1967 with classic singles like “All Or Nothing” and “Sha-La-La-La-Lee” before moving to a new label.

By late 1967, the band had felt constricted financially & creatively by manager Don Arden (father of Sharon Osbourne), and were lured by Rolling Stones’ publicist Andrew Loog Oldham into signing with his new Immediate label. They soon recorded more expansive psychedelic sounding material including hit pop tunes like “Lazy Sunday” which was included with their UK number one classic concept album Ogdens Nut Gone Flake and “Itchycoo Park” which was their only stateside charting single.

The demise of the Small Faces arrived on New Years Eve 1968, when Steve Marriott walked off stage at The Alexandra Palace in London. Marriott felt that despite the success of the group, he was still not being taken seriously as a musician. He went on to achieve major status in the U.S.A with Peter Frampton in Humble Pie. The others continued as the Faces, opting to drop the “Small” after one LP as new recruits Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood towered above their new band mates. Drummer Kenney Jones later joined The Who after the death of their drummer Keith Moon. As years went on, Marriott kept recording various lineups as Humble Pie but became somewhat of a caricature and casualty of rock excess. Tragically, Steve Marriott died in a house fire in 1991 and Ronnie Lane followed him in 1997 after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Keyboardist Ian McLagan has continued to tour and record with his own band as well as with artists like Billy Bragg, The New Barbarians ( a group composed of Ian, Ron Wood, Keith Richards, Stanley Clarke, and Billy Cobham), and The Rolling Stones. According to announcements at the shows on the New Barbarians tour, the proceeds of the live gigs were going to pay Ronnie Lane’s medical expenses associated with Ronnie’s struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.

CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE THE SMALL FACES VIDEOS

The Small Faces remain one of British rock’s most important legacy acts, with their membership having links to so many other acts. Amongst the many bands they influenced were The Jam, Ramones, and Oasis.

Albums:

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com.

Why Not Check Out:

Rod Stewart

Humble Pie

The Rolling Stones

The Legend Ronnie Wood

Rokpool's Official Merchandise Store