Ian McLagan

by William Ruhlmann
Ian McLagan, along with singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, bass player Ronnie Lane, and drummer Kenney Jones, was a member of the British pop/rock band the Small Faces, joining in November 1965, six months after the group's formation. Before then, he had been a member of Boz & the Boz People, among other groups. McLagan's first recorded work with the Small Faces was their third single, "Sha La La La Lee," which peaked in the U.K. Top Ten in March 1966. A teenybopper success at first, the band eventually gained greater critical standing by adopting a more psychedelic style. Over the next two years, they scored further Top Ten British hits with "Hey Girl," "All or Nothing" (which hit number one), "My Mind's Eye," "Itchycoo Park" (which introduced them to American listeners, hitting the U.S. Top 40), "Tin Soldier," and "Lazy Sunday," and among their albums, Small Faces reached the Top Ten and Ogden's Nut Gone Flake hit number one.
In March 1969, Marriott quit to form Humble Pie. Three months later, McLagan, Lane, and Jones combined with singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood, formerly of the Jeff Beck Group, to form the Faces. This group developed a reputation for its freewheeling performances, but it was overshadowed by Stewart's solo career, which took off in the fall of 1971 with his hit "Maggie May." Nevertheless, the Faces also had considerable commercial success, reaching the U.K. Top Ten with the singles "Stay with Me," "Cindy Incidentally," and "Pool Hall Richard"/"I Wish It Would Rain," and the albums A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse, Ooh La La (which hit number one), and Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. But in 1975, Stewart quit, while Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and the Faces broke up.
Ian McLagan released his debut solo album, Troublemaker, in 1979, followed by Bump in the Night in 1980. Neither sold well, however, and he soon became a session and backup musician, notably working with Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. In 2000, he released his third album, Best of British, credited to Ian "Mac" McLagan & the Bump Band, and published his autobiography, All the Rage. The hard rocking Rise and Shine appeared in 2004 and was followed by Extra Live two years later.