From The Beginning – THE SMALL FACES****

Runaway/My Mind’s Eye/Yesterday Today & Tomorrow/That Man/My Way Of Giving/Hey Girl/Tell Me Have You Ever Seen Me/Come Back & Take This Hurt Off Me/All Or Nothing/Baby Don’t You Do It/Plum Nellie/Sha La La La Lee/You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me/What’cha Gonna Do About It

From The Beginning was a spoiler album from Decca released after The Small Faces had bought out their contract and moved to the Immediate label. Contains their five Decca UK top twenty hits, together with some mostly unreleased material. (UK:17)

"Pretty decent odds-n-sods 'revenge' release by Decca aimed at competition with Immediate's Small Faces LP issued around the same time. Some tracks (very few) are repeats from Decca's Small Faces issued in May 1966. Most are rehearsal tracks and covers. If you like The Small Faces, this makes a nice (and not too superfluous) addition to your albums."

"The good news is, most of the tunes are originals, and the better news is, many of these are really originals, showing that The Small Faces had finally reached that stage when putting your name in the credits list signifies more than taking somebody else's melody and writing new lyrics for it. My Mind's Eye is one of these 'true' originals, it boasts some catchiness of its own, and shows that the boys are quite ready to swerve into psycho-pop mode exactly the way the new year of 1967 requires everybody to do. Most of the other songs are relatively slight but at the very least, they're always enjoyable and memorable."

"This hybrid album combined five Decca hit singles, with nine previously unreleased tracks. Although it's classed as a compilation, and has been dismissed as a cheap cash in by Decca after The Small Faces were sold to the Immediate label, you can make a strong case that this is a bona fide album and an overlooked vibrant minor classic of garage rock. Among the nine unreleased tracks were five new Marriott-Lane originals, and four disposable covers that still have a certain garage rock verve and vibrancy that sit comfortably with the other tracks."

"Most people who have any interest in The Small Faces prefer the Immediate output but listening to the Decca years you cannot ignore how dynamic, tight, melodic and powerful The Small Faces were as a young British R & B band. Steve Marriott's voice is impeccable."