First Step (album)

First Step, alternatively titled Small Faces due to a miscommunication in the United States, was the first album by the British group Faces, released in early 1970, a few months after they had formed from the ashes of the Small Faces (from which Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan hailed) and the Jeff Beck Group (from which Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood hailed.)

It is generally regarded as their weakest studio effort, recorded too soon after the group's formation, and reached no higher than #119 on the Billboard charts - though there was of course minimal sales expectations as this was a debut album. Highlights include "Three Button Hand Me Down", "Shake, Shudder, Shiver" and the album's centerpiece, "Flying".

Track listing

1. "The Wicked Messenger" (B. Dylan) - 4:05
2. "Devotion" (R. Lane) - 4:54
3. "Shake, Shudder, Shiver" (R. Lane and R. Wood) - 3:14
4. "Stone" (R. Lane) - 5:38
5. "Around The Plynth" (R. Stewart and R. Wood) - 5:56
6. "Flying" (R. Lane, R. Stewart and R. Wood) - 4:15
7. "Pineapple and the Monkey" (R. Wood) - 4:23
8. "Nobody Knows" (R. Lane and R. Wood) - 4:05
9. "Looking Out The Window" (K. Jones and I. McLagan) - 4:59
10. "Three Button Hand Me Down" (I. McLagan and R. Stewart) - 5:44

Group members and other participants

• The Faces: producers
• Kenney Jones: drums
• Ronnie Lane: bass, rhythm guitar, lead and harmony vocal
• Ian McLagan: piano, organ, harmony vocal
• Rod Stewart: lead and harmony vocal, banjo
• Ronnie Wood: lead and rhythm guitars, harmonica, harmony vocal
• Martin Birch: engineer