Faces Forward: Ian McLagan
Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photos by Theresa DiMenno
Posted By Express at 8:00 AM on February 24, 2009
IAN MCLAGAN MIGHT not have the name recognition of Mick Jagger, but he's no less a British rock legend.
Back in the mid-1960s, his atmospheric keyboards helped define the sound of the beloved mod band the Small Faces on songs like "Lazy Sunday" and "Itchycoo Park." When Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott left the fold to start Humble Pie, he tapped McLagan for keyboards.
Mac (as he's known colloquially), didn't stay long with Humble Pie, although he did contribute the song "Growing Closer" to their first album. Instead, he hooked back up with Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones and bassist Ronnie Lane and they brought in two new members: Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. Thus was born that ultimate '70s party band, the Faces.
As all good students of rock know, the Faces proved influential and gave the then-struggling Stewart a launching pad for his solo career. Stewart may have gotten the fame, but Mac's stuttering electric piano riff helped drive their biggest hit, the raunch-rock classic "Stay With Me."
When the Faces imploded and Wood split for the Rolling Stones, Wood called on Mac to tickle ivories on and off stage for the self-proclaimed World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band. He arrived just in time to play on the group's No. 1 1978 hit "Miss You," a song largely powered by (you guessed it) his funky opening electric piano riff.
After a pair of solid-but-unheard solo albums around this period, McLagan settled into a role as a sideman of choice for powerhouse musicians. For over a decade he was Billy Bragg's resident keyboardist, but he could also be found playing with Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Frank Black and many others. In 2000, he penned a well-received autobiography, "All the Rage," which mixed insight with dish about Mick Jagger (a penny-pincher) and the late Keith Moon (surprisingly dark and violent).
In August of 2006, McLagan was back in the news, but not for a good reason. Kim, his wife of nearly three decades, was killed in an auto accident. His response to the tragedy can be found on his newest record, "Never Say Never" (out March 3), much of which is a passionate tribute to his late wife.
McLagan is also embarking on his biggest solo tour in decades. He'll stop at Jammin' Java with his Bump Band, named after his second album, "Bump in the Night."
Express caught up with Mac by phone just as he was "pulling a pint" in his Austin, Texas, home.
» EXPRESS: Was it difficult to write and record after the death of your wife?
» MAC: No, actually. It was the opposite. She died on a Wednesday and Friday I started playing piano. I knew that I didn't know whether I was gonna make another record. In other words, I didn't know what I was gonna do. I was in a state of shock. But it wasn't difficult once I realized that's what I wanted to do. I just didn't know or care about doing anything except spending my days feeling miserable, grieving.
What happened was I had written "Where Angels Hide" seven or eight years ago. Ben Mandelson, who is one of Billy Bragg's [musicians], his wife died. I felt for him so badly that I wrote this song but it was just too tender — I could never play it for him. A couple of days after Kim died, I sat at the piano and played that song for me. And I played it over and over and over. And I played it everyday for ages. So I knew I was gonna put that on the record, somehow. And that gave me confidence. I wanted to play. I wanted to write. "Never Say Never" came out of the blue and songs just started happening, really.
» EXPRESS: You found writing sort of therapeutic, then?
» MAC: Yeah. I wrote "When the Crying is Over" at some point. I was spending a lot of time crying. I think that's what happens in a situation like that. And I'm driving in my van on a freeway and I just thought, "Oh, fuck, when is it gonna end?" I couldn't see the end of it. And I was just horrified for that moment. And I thought, "Well, the end is maybe when Kim and I are together." And I just wrote the words to that song: "When the crying is over / When my tears have run dry / I'll be an old man / Ready to die / I'll see you in heaven ...." A friend of mine told me he likes that song better than anything on the album. In fact, a close friend of his had died and he played it at the funeral. That's a good use of the song, you know?
» EXPRESS: Sure, music to set a certain mood ...
» MAC: I made a selection of songs to play at my wife's funeral — I called it a celebration — it wasn't a funeral. "True Love Ways" by Buddy Holly was one of the songs. But anyway, all the songs were relevant to her. She would have loved it. She would have come back from the dead to hear that combination.
» EXPRESS: How come you decided to stage such a big tour this year?
» MAC: Well, I love to play and I've got a great album to promote. I've finally got a really good agent too, a New York agent. I've had a couple of agents in Austin over the years and they did OK, but this guy, he's fighting for me. That's all I've wanted all the time is to actually work and tour, you know? It's hard to find an agent. It's hard to find the right musicians but I got lucky 15 years ago. The missing link was the agent.
» EXPRESS: Speaking of musicians, I wanted to get you to confirm if you've played with as many people as Wikipedia says. Bonnie Raitt?
» MAC: Yeah, I was with her for four and a half years. She's a dear friend, a remarkable lady.
» EXPRESS: Bob Dylan?
» MAC: Yeah. On "Real Live," which is a live album. I actually recorded with him in Ireland with Ronnie Wood, but I don't think nay of that came out.
» EXPRESS: Melissa Etheridge?
» MAC: Yeah. I always say she's the only person who ever fired me! She was getting ready to cut her first album. I thought she was really great. We did pre-production and we rehearsed. Her manager called me up and said, "We're gonna go for a different sound. We won't be using piano and Hammond B3." I went, "OK." Years later her manager called me up and I did more work and then more work and I said to her, "You're the only person who ever fired me." She said, "I didn't fire you! We just were going for a different musical thing."
» EXPRESS: How did the recent rehearsal reunion of the Faces come about?
» MAC: Because I've been working for it for 30 years or more! We had a rehearsal in London in November and it was great. It was just as much fun as it should have been — and as much fun as it always was. And we left with the idea that we would play a gig in London sometime this year. And if it went down well — which I'm sure it would — we would do a short tour. Well, nothing happened and I've never heard from Rod since then. Ronnie, Kenney and I had lunch in London on Wednesday, and Ronnie told me Rod is still keen to do something, but [Rod] really doesn't want to tour. But that may change. If we do one gig or two gigs, then he might get the buzz. He certainly had the buzz when we were rehearsing. He was in great spirits. And if the Faces aren't fun, the faces are fucked!
» Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Avenue E., Vienna; with The Crowd Scene, Wed., Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m., $17, 703-255-1566.
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