Ronnie Laine, bassist and founder member of The Small Faces, was born in Plaistow, East London, on April 1, 1946, son of a lorry driver. At 16 he left school and began working as a plumber’s mate then, aged 17, he bought his first guitar and began playing in a band called The Outcasts with drummer Kenney Jones. Laine invited Steve Marriott, the shop assistant who sold him his guitar, to an early Outcasts gig. Marriott turned up at the pub, promptly wrecked the piano and got the band barred. He joined as singer and guitarist soon after. Rechristened The Small Faces by Marriott”s girlfriend – all four members struggled to hit 5ft 5ins – they had a series of Top Ten singles including their only Number One single, All Or Nothing in 1966. Following Marriott’s departure in 1969 the others welcomed singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood to their fold and struck out as The Faces, the purveyors of rhythm ‘n’ booze who became revered for their shambolic concerts and geezer-down the local pub image. In fact, so raucous were the band that they were banned from the entire Holiday Inn hotel chain. The Faces called it a day in 1975 due to Stewart’s burgeoning solo career and Wood’s absorption into The Rolling Stones; Laine went solo and charted with a couple of singles and the LP Anymore for Anymore. Ronnie died at the age of 51 of multiple sclerosis at his home in Trinidad, Colorado. He had been debilitated by the nerve destroying disease since the late-1970s.
i loved his last album ‘one for the road’, now a rare find for a muso I had then missed his concerts in london in 81 my then girlfriend wiating outside until the last songs, melodic and memorable as the working root of a pop star . ‘blokes from the pub band can still be a heroes’ , bring back totp . steve marriot finesse was seen in his humple pie work. i cant get no dr was the best live track his voice sustained . i was a tad too young to even be sniffing beer the time these guys wrecked joanna and thrilled stadiums. maggie may and cindy incidentently i recall from the 74 charts, but then when shown the albums it was always ronnie lanes music that said first class arrangrements, missed terribly missed cant some dj mix him into the latest be so cool to hear his fiddle strianing to the r&b backbeat .