Long Player lives or dies on your interest in hearing Jeff Beck-adjacent music. Who wouldn’t want that, to be fair? The groovy moves of this Faces record is nothing short of glorious. That dry and rasping style from Rod Stewart matches so well with Ronnie Wood on guitar. Where the future Rolling Stones member would lay down some excellent instrumental work here, it sounds more like a contrast than a support for Stewart. Wood and Stewart sound as though they’re on two different pages, yet it works brilliantly throughout Long Player. Its literal title shakes off the necessity of consistency, with a Paul McCartney cover thrown in halfway through and a few songs here which would not sound suitable on a more standard release. Long Player drifts more toward a compilation effort but the strong start made with Bad ‘n’ Ruin is enough to hook any listener interested in the boogie tone, the blues beat, and consistent instrumental strength of musicians moulded by their time in and around The Jeff Beck Group, as Stewart was.
Beyond the excellent Bad ‘n’ Ruin is a collection of songs that define Faces pre-A Nod is as Good as a Wink… to a Blind Horse. Where Long Player may be a bit more temperamental, there is much to enjoy in the spots of consistency. It jumps from studio originals to live renditions, covers, and erroneously credited traditional pieces which are just further covers. It’s a bit of a mess but the musicianship which guides Stewart and Wood through this is magnificent, and that is enough to hold the whole project together. Both Sweet Lady Mary and Richmond are nice enough moments, nothing to wholly shake up Long Player as more than a compilation of efforts that didn’t quite fit elsewhere, but nice pieces all the same. The same too goes for Maybe I’m Amazed, quite the curveball and a solid cover. The trouble in covering McCartney is you can rarely improve on the original instrumentals.
Faces fail to do that here and turn it into a blues-rock groove, rather than a sincere, piano-led piece. But such is the case for most covers of McCartney. Few musicians have created such a perfect song that every cover to follow is vastly inferior. Maybe I’m Amazed in the hands of Faces is still great fun. The B-side is much the same, just Faces burning things off, warming up as Stewart says at the end of Maybe I’m Amazed. A solid B-side makes all the difference too, with Faces having warmed to the spontaneity and erratic line-up of songs, and so too the audience. It’s relatively nice boogie-adjacent rock and roll. Stewart and Wood are crucial for that, and are the two lead stars of Long Player. But much praise must be heaped on Kenney Jones’ work behind the drumkit. Essential stuff, setting a wonderful tempo for Had Me a Real Good Time, for instance.
Saxophone thrills, too, are the makings of a great start to the B-side. Faces is more notable for the musicians it spawned than any of the particulars, and despite sounding like a ramshackle collection of studio leftovers, Long Player is a consistent and always enjoyable experience. I Feel So Good highlights how great a pop showman Stewart would be across his career, and though Faces is a different beast entirely, it’s a strong platform, particularly Long Player, to get to grips with that. It’s solid work and while rough around the edges has the essential Faces appeal running the whole way through it. Exceptional instrumental work for those who want to hear how Stewart and Wood developed their sound because, let’s be fair, they’re the two names that crop up all the time when Faces are mentioned. Both provide a brilliant push for a more considered sound, rocking out with a freedom the pair would endeavour to keep in their music in the decades to follow.
