Ooh La La (Faces album)
Ooh La La is the fourth and final studio album by the English rock band Faces, released in March 1973. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart in the week of 28 April 1973. On 28 August 2015, the album was reissued in remastered form on vinyl, and remastered and expanded on CD as part of the box set (along with the rest of the Faces catalogue of studio recordings) 1970–1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything.... Background By the end of 1972, following the critical and commercial successes of Rod Stewart's solo albums, the singer had become increasingly distanced from some of his Faces bandmates, who were frustrated that by this point they had come to be perceived by the public (and even by some concert promoters) as little more than Stewart's backing band for live work. Stewart himself was reportedly distracted enough by his newfound stardom that he missed the first two weeks of recording sessions for the latest Faces album entirely. The production of the album would continue to be hampered by the singer's apparent lack of commitment to the project, with Stewart not appearing in any capacity on three of the LP's ten tracks. As a result of this situation, Ooh La La was, according to Ian McLagan, "Ronnie [Lane]'s album", with Lane's contributions setting the tone of the album's quieter, more reflective second side. Despite the difficult circumstances of the recording sessions, producer Glyn Johns held the group together, helping to placate internal tensions; his efforts enabled the Faces to record a focused, concise album in the manner of its predecessor, A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse (the band's first two albums were, in contrast, lengthier self-produced records). Once the recording of Ooh La La was completed, the album's credits optimistically suggested an intention to work with Johns again in the future, with the comment: "Produced by Glyn Johns (see you in a year)". Contents Stewart's compositions for the album were written mostly in tandem with Wood and McLagan, although in a departure from the norm two more songs were written by Stewart in sole partnership with Lane. One of these, "Flags and Banners", featured Stewart accompanying Wood on either banjo or a secondary guitar part, while Lane handled vocal duties. The album included one composition by the whole band (excepting Stewart), the instrumental "Fly in the Ointment". This was the only joint composition by the four instrumentalists to make it onto any of their studio albums; usually their efforts were relegated to the B-sides of singles - such "Skewiff (Mend the Fuse)", which served as B-side to the "Cindy Incidentally" single. The title track, by Wood and Lane, featured the only solo lead vocal performed in the studio by Wood during the band's existence, recorded at Glyn Johns' suggestion after neither Lane nor Stewart were said to be satisfied with their own attempts at it. Stewart apparently claimed at the time that the song