R.I.P. Ian McLagan

[Ron Brand]

Face, Small Face and sometime Rolling Stone, we were fortunate to have him here in Austin for several years.

[chuck]

Several as in twenty. Did he follow Ronnie Lane to Austin, do you know?

I'm really, really sad about this one. He was a lovely fellow. With his resume he had every reason to be an arrogant dick. God knows how insufferable I might be if I'd done half the things he did. Yet he was a great guy. And he had a Guinness tap on his front porch.

[Dark Star]

Damn sorry to hear of this. Only Kenny Jones left from the original Small Faces now.

McLagan was by almost all accounts a great guy, in addition to a great musician.

Rest in peace.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Several as in twenty. Did he follow Ronnie Lane to Austin, do you know?

I'm really, really sad about this one. He was a lovely fellow. With his resume he had every reason to be an arrogant dick. God knows how insufferable I might be if I'd done half the things he did. Yet he was a great guy. And he had a Guinness tap on his front porch.

Yes. He was a great guy and and one of the all time great keyboard players.

[Lefty]

Oh damn.  He put on some great shows around Austin in the past few years.  Him in a tiny venue with about 23 people is something I'll remember for a long, long time.

[chuck]

I had the unbelievable good fortune of seeing him and Billy Bragg perform Debris, which is almost surely my favorite Faces song amid very strong competition. I highly commend any Faces record to the listener, especially A Nod is as Good as a Wink and Ooh La La, and certainly Rod Stewart's first four records, especially Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment. It may surprise some SNS regulars of roadrunner's vintage that Rod Stewart used to sing rock and roll. Oh, but he did. And Mac was there for all of it.

[NeilT]

I had the unbelievable good fortune of seeing him and Billy Bragg perform Debris, which is almost surely my favorite Faces song amid very strong competition. I highly commend any Faces record to the listener, especially A Nod is as Good as a Wink and Ooh La La, and certainly Rod Stewart's first four records, especially Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment. It may surprise some SNS regulars of roadrunner's vintage that Rod Stewart used to sing rock and roll. Oh, but he did. And Mac was there for all of it.

I missed the Faces pretty much, but I still listen to the First Rod Stewart Albums with shock and awe.

[Ron Brand]

Several as in twenty. Did he follow Ronnie Lane to Austin, do you know?

Yeah, he did. I think his wife had some Texas connection and both he and Ronnie kinda followed Chesley Milliken, but for all intents and purposes he came to Austin because of Ronnie Lane, who moved to Colorado just a couple of months later because of the heat.

We're all fucking stunned and hurt and pissed, although Mac wouldn't have wanted that. Just the fact that they'd finally agreed on a Faces reunion tour after years of Rod dithering and then it comes to this...fuck. Fucking hell, fuck.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I had the unbelievable good fortune of seeing him and Billy Bragg perform Debris, which is almost surely my favorite Faces song amid very strong competition.

Was that inside at Stubbs about 10 or 12 years ago? I was there. Mac had the habit of showing up at local shows for English guys on tour, like Billy Bragg, Graham Parker, Glenn Tillbrook... Man it was just a month and a half ago, he was here in New Braunfels with Ray Wylie Hubbard doing Ray's Tuesday live songwriters showcase, Roots and Branches, at Tavern on the Gruene.

Also ANIAGAAWTABH was one of those records that I played the shit out of when it came out, of course I probably only owned 25 albums at the time. My brother had moved out by then and took his extensive record collection, that I had always glommed onto, with him. Rod was also great on those Jeff Beck Group albums as well. Somewhere between disco and MTV Rod turned from a rock vocalist extraordinaire into a celebrity and the world has been worse off since.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I highly commend any Faces record to the listener, especially A Nod is as Good as a Wink and Ooh La La, and certainly Rod Stewart's first four records, especially Every Picture Tells a Story and Never a Dull Moment. It may surprise some SNS regulars of roadrunner's vintage that Rod Stewart used to sing rock and roll. Oh, but he did. And Mac was there for all of it.

And Gasoline Alley.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

We're all fucking stunned and hurt and pissed, although Mac wouldn't have wanted that. Just the fact that they'd finally agreed on a Faces reunion tour after years of Rod dithering and then it comes to this...fuck. Fucking hell, fuck.

I had been highly anticipating a Faces reunion. You're right it hurts. I used to fantasize about Mac playing his B3 and Wurlitzer on my imaginary solo album.

[HudsonHawk]

I listened to some Faces last night in Mac's honor.  I love his work on Borstal Boys and Pool Hall Richard.  And speaking of Stewart...kids, if you ever want to know what a rock n roll singer sounds like, check out those tunes. 

[Dark Star]

"Mandolin Wind", "Gasoline Alley", "Every Picture Tells A Story" ... some of those earlier Rod Stewart songs give me goosebumps when I hear them, still.

I think "I Know I'm Losing You" is one of the best rock covers of a Motown song, ever.

Great stuff.

[HudsonHawk]

... the best rock covers of a Motown song...

That's an idea for a music thread all its own.

[GreatBagwellsBeard]

That's an idea for a music thread all its own.

Or vice-versa.  I still prefer Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude" to the original.

[chuck]

That's an idea for a music thread all its own.

Some Girls, side one, track three.

I saw Mac and Billy Bragg one fine Saturday afternoon in Battery Park in New York. It had to have been 2000. Afterwards as the crowd was filtering out I looked over and saw Mac standing by himself under a tree. I went over and talked with him for a bit. He could not have been nicer.