Small Faces - BBC Sessions 1965-1968 {Remastered & Complete} [A Prof. Stoned Comp 2023]
16bit/44.1khz (CD Quality)
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Session #1
01) 'Steve Marriott interview'
02) What'cha Gonna Do About It
03) Jump Back
04) Baby Don't You Do It
Recorded: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London UK; Monday 23 August 1965
Broadcast: BBC Radio 'Saturday Club': Saturday 4 September 1965
Producer: Brian Willey
Source: transcription disc
Note: 'Think' (= early version of 'Come On Children') & 'What's a Matter Baby' were also recorded at this session and subsequently aired but no recordings seem to have survived. Tracks above were released on TOTP transcription disc #046.
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Session #2
01) Sha-La-La-La-Lee
02) What'cha Gonna Do About It
03) Comin' Home Baby
04) You Need Loving
Recorded: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London UK; Friday 14 January 1966 @ 13.00 PM
Broadcast live: BBC Radio 'Joe Loss Show'
Producer: Don George
Source: off-air recording
Note: this is sourced from the 2015 set The Decca Years. The tape was donated to SF by a fan but mastered severely off-speed, which was corrected here.
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Session #3
01) You Really Got a Hold On Me
02) Shake
Recorded: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London UK; Friday 11 March 1966 @ 13.00 PM
Broadcast live: BBC Radio 'Joe Loss Show'
Producer: Don George
Source: off-air recording
Note: 'Sha-La-La-La-Lee' was also aired but no capture of that seems to have survived. This is without a doubt the poorest recording within this set.
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Session #4
01) Shake
02) 'Steve Marriott Interview'
03) Sha-La-La-La-Lee
04) You Need Loving
Recorded: Aeolian Hall studio 1, Bond Street, London UK; Monday 14 March 1966
Broadcast: BBC Radio 'Saturday Club': Saturday 19 March 1966
Producer: Brian Willey
Source: transcription disc
Note: 'You Really Got a Hold On Me' & 'Comin' Home' were also recorded at this session and subsequently aired but no recordings seem to have survived. Tracks above were released on TOTP transcription disc #073.
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Session #5
01) 'Steve Marriott Interview'
02) Hey Girl
03) 'still no sign of The Beatles'
04) E to D
05) One Night Stand
Recorded: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London UK; Tuesday 3 May 1966
Broadcast: BBC Radio 'Saturday Club': Saturday 7 May 1966
Producer: Brian Willey
Source: transcription disc
Note: 'Come On Children' & 'Almost Grown' were also recorded at this session and subsequently aired but no recordings seem to have survived. Tracks above were released on TOTP transcription disc #080.
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Session #6
01) 'Pop Profile: Steve Marriott'
Recorded: Kensington House, Shepherds Bush, London UK; Monday 11 July 1966
Host: Brian Matthew
Source: transcription disc
Note: Never broadcast in UK. Pop Profile was recorded by Transcription Services strictly for selling overseas.
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Session #7
01) You'd Better Believe It
02) 'Steve Marriott Interview'
03) All Or Nothing
04) Understanding
Recorded: Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London UK; Tuesday 30 August 1966
Broadcast: BBC Radio 'Saturday Club': Saturday 3 September 1966
Producer: Brian Willey
Source: transcription disc
Note: Complete. Tracks above were released on TOTP transcription disc #097.
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Session #8
01) Sha-La-La-La-Lee
Recorded: BBC Television Centre London UK; Tuesday 13 December 1966
Broadcast: BBC One TV "Top of the Pops '66: Part 1: January to June"; Monday 26 December 1966
Producer: Johnnie Stewart
Source: off-air recording
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Session #9
01) All Or Nothing
Recorded: BBC Television Centre London UK; Wednesday 14 December 1966
Broadcast: BBC One TV "Top of the Pops '66: Part 2 - July to December"; Tuesday 27 December 1966
Producer: Johnnie Stewart
Source: off-air recording
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Session #10
01) Itchycoo Park
Recorded: Lime Grove Studios, Shepherd's Bush, London UK; Thursday 7 September 1967
Broadcast live: BBC One TV 'Top of the Pops'
Producer: Johnnie Stewart
Source: off-air recording
Note: Steve sings live over backing track of studio version.
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Session #11
01) Tin Soldier
Recorded: Lime Grove Studios, Shepherd's Bush, London UK; Sunday 10 December 1967
Broadcast: BBC One TV 'Twice a Fortnight'; Saturday 16 December 1967
Producer: Tony Palmer
Source: off-air recording
Note: Steve sings live over backing track of studio version.
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Session #12
01) If I Were A Carpenter
02) 'Kenny Jones Interview'
03) Lazy Sunday
04) Every Little Bit Hurts
05) Get Ready
06) Every Little Bit Hurts {unedited}
07) If I Were A Carpenter {no voiceover}
Recorded: 201 Piccadilly, Studio 1, London UK; Tuesday 09 April 1968
Broadcast: BBC Radio 1 'Top Gear'; Sunday 14 April 1968 (billed with P.P. Arnold)
Producer: Bernie Andrews
Engineers: Dave Tate/Allen Harris
Sources: 01-04 transcription disc; 05-07 off-air recording
Note: Tracks 01-04 were released on TOTP transcription disc #182.
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Session #13
01) Song Of A Baker
02) 'one of the most idiosyncratic records on the market'
03) Happiness Stan
04) Rollin' Over
05) The Hungry Intruder
06) The Journey
07) Mad John
08) HappyDaysToyTown
Recorded: BBC Television Centre, Studio B, London UK; Sunday 21 June 1968
Broadcast: BBC Two TV 'Late Night Line-Up: Colour Me Pop'; Sunday 21 June 1968 @ 23:10PM
Producer: Steve Turner
Host: Michael Dean
Editor: Rowan Ayers
Source: film master
Note: the group sang live over backing tracks of the studio versions. The album version of 'Lazy Sunday' was played but has been omitted here.
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Total time: 1h57m20s
All tracks are Mono
Compiled & Mastered: Prof Stoned
Research: The Johnny Kidd Fan Club, Hallucalation, PS.
Special thanks to Eugene, The Johnny Kidd Fan Club, "a collector", Andrew & Irwin-Caiger ESQ
v1.0: 31-08-2023
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Note:
Here's another BBC comp that (hopefully) will rock your world. It collects all the surviving TV and radio sessions from this era in the best possible quality, newly restored and mastered by yours truly using demix technology. Me and my friends have dug deep to offer you the most complete & best sounding overview as possible. Although most of the material has been released officially, everything here has been mastered from the original sources and we have obtained session details that were previously unknown. Also, we have located a few previously uncirculated fan-taped sources for your enjoyment.
Unfortunately, there are also 3 sessions that do not seem to have survived in any form: The Joe Loss Pop Show (Iive b'cast 22 October 1965) 'Whatcha Gonna Do About It' & 'What's a Matter Baby'; The Joe Loss Pop Show (Iive b'cast 10 June 1966) 'Hey Girl', 'One Night Stand' & Sha-La-La-La-Lee; Parade Of The Pops (Iive b'cast on 22 June 1966) 'You'd Better Believe It' & 'Hey Girl'.
Enjoy!
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A note about mastering with demix technology:
You may have heard some of my recent offerings where I have used demix pro for spectral extraction. I believe it is the most revolutionary audio processing tool since ages. It enables us to break a mono signal down into 4 dedicated elements: vocals, drums/percussion, bass guitar and whatever remains after. These extractions are of such precision they allow for a realistic reconstruction of a mix.
Why is this useful? Well... the original mix may have flaws that affect the quality of the sound. By nature, the process of mastering is designed to improve upon such flaws by applying equalization and/or processing of dynamic range. But what if one element within a recording needs more treble, while another element is already bright enough? At that point, EQ is not sufficient anymore because your choices will affect both. Of course, mastering does not begin and end with just EQ; there are always other ways of emphasizing or hiding elements in a recording. But spectral extraction allows you to improve upon the sound of one element without 'harming' the sound of all the others and also to re-balance those elements if necessary.
It goes without saying that all tracks that were originally in mono have stayed mono. The goal has not been to change the integrity of the original recordings but to make them sound as pleasing as possible. A perfect mix does not need fixing but nearly all recordings here were made under primitive circumstances and mixed directly to mono while the band performed. Heavy compression was used to keep things in place. If one element suddenly became louder than others, the compressor would slam the recording level back down. This was certainly necessary because the audio signal needed to be as loud as possible for when it was put on the air.
I have used demix on all the recordings with decent fidelity. Being able to correct balancing mistakes; having the flexibility to mesh the bass guitar and kick drum together nicely and putting the vocals precisely in the mix where they need to be is a great luxury. Especially when it doesn't have to be achieved with buss EQ and/or compression. I believe these new masters have a more dynamic, open sound than the source material. The goal has been to stay true to the original feel but with added clarity and depth.
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I have used the following digital studio gear and monitoring in the making of this:
- DeMix Pro 3.0.1
- Cubase
- Universal Audio UAD-2 Satellite Quad-Core (incl. various extra plugins I purchased over the years)
- PMC IB2s & iLoud Micro monitors
- Adobe Audition
- Izotope RX9
