Ronnie Wood recently released a career-spanning compilation Fearless: Anthology 1965-2025, celebrating the longtime Rolling Stones guitarist’s 60-year music career. In conjunction with the album, Wood has been posting videos on his social media pages featuring him sharing his recollections of various highlights of his musical journey.
Before joining The Rolling Stones in 1975, Wood was a founding member of the Faces, which he and his pal Rod Stewart formed with three members of the popular British mod band the Small Faces.
In one of his latest videos, Wood explained how the Faces came to be.
Ronnie first noted that when he and Stewart were touring the U.S. with the Jeff Beck Group in 1968, their favorite album was the Small Faces’ then-latest record Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake. Then, in 1969, Wood said he and Stewart were surprised to discover that Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott was leaving the band to form a new group, Humble Pie, with Peter Frampton.
On a side note, Ronnie pointed out that the Small Faces’ four members—Marriott, bassist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones, and keyboardist Ian McLagan—were all short, hence the band’s name. “They were perfectly suited for each other,” Wood noted.
Ronnie recalled that when he heard about Marriott quitting the Small Faces, “I said, ‘Well, what are the rest of the boys gonna do?’ I didn’t know them from Adam, but I said, ‘This is a criminal shame. We can’t have the Small Faces splitting up.’”
Wood Then Contacted Ronnie Lane, Leading to the Faces’ Formation
Although Wood didn’t mention it in the video, the Jeff Beck Group lineup featuring him and Stewart also was breaking up around this time.
Ronnie recalled that he “did some research, got Ronnie Lane’s number, and rang him up.” Wood said, “I went [to Lane], ‘Well, what are you guys gonna do?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know. Would you help us?’ I said, ‘Sure, come on now. Let’s get going.’”
Lane invited Wood to come to the London district of Bermondsey, where The Rolling Stones had a rehearsal space that Stones touring pianist and road manager Ian Stewart was letting the Small Faces use.
“So, we all got together, played with our backs to each other—me, Mac [McLagan], Kenney, and Ronnie [Lane,] no Rod … just instrumentally,” Wood shared. “And so we all played The Meters and we all played Booker T. and the MG’s, and it was fantastic music we were getting together.”
After jamming for a while, Wood recalled, “[Lane] said, ‘Who’s gonna sing?’ And we said, ‘Well, we’ll get to that later.’”
A few months later, Stewart came on board. Since Rod and Ronnie were taller than the band’s other members, the decision was made to drop “Small” from the group’s name, and the Faces were born.
More About Wood’s Fearless Compilation
As previously reported, Wood’s Fearless was released in September. The retrospective features highlights from the various bands and artists with whom Ronnie has recorded, as well as from his own solo releases. The compilation includes songs by The Creation, the Faces, and The Rolling Stones. It ends with four brand-new solo tracks by Wood.
(Photo by Dick Barnatt/Redferns)