Ian McLagan & The Bump Band – Spiritual Boy: An Appreciation Of Ronnie Lane
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Posted On July 1, 2006
One Small Face salutes another on an album that is as much about the musical spirit of Austin as it is about Ian McLagan’s kinship with his late bandmate Ronnie Lane. Since the Faces were the ultimate bar band, and Austin is the ultimate bar-band town, it’s more than coincidence that both Ronnie and Mac chose to relocate there (albeit during different decades) and find the city so receptive.
Though the two had been overshadowed, first by Steve Marriott in the Small Faces and later by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood in the Faces, there was no question in the minds of die-hard fans that the look-alikes Mac and Ronnie were the heart and soul of the band.
Since no city boasts more die-hard Faces fans than Austin, the affection keyboardist McLagan felt for Lane and his music channels itself through the affection his crack Austin band — guitarist Jud Newcomb, drummer Don Harvey, and bassist Mark Andes — plainly feels for not only the music but for Mac. Lane’s music turned more pastoral and philosophical after he left the Faces; it’s filled with the poetry of everyday life, and Mac’s interpretations result in the most reflective, autumnal music of his more frequently raucous career.
From the stately transformation of “Itchycoo Park”, the Marriott/Lane song that gave the Small Faces their breakthrough, through such quintessentially Lane meditations on mortality as “Nowhere To Run” and the beautifully bittersweet “Annie”, McLagan evokes both innocence and its loss. The result is a labor of love for all involved (including Austin radio man Jody Denberg with an affecting vocal turn on “Kuschty Rye”) and a gift for fans.
