Author:Caroline and David Stafford
I saw Ronnie Lane live just once; January 2nd 1976 at the Great British Music Festival held at Olympia in London. Sandwiched mid bill, on before Nazareth and Bad Company, but after The Pretty Things and Be Bop Deluxe, their country flavoured, good time rock n roll wasn’t done any favours by the aircraft hanger acoustics, or the harder rock tastes of the crowd. The only memory I have of their set were the can-can dancers (led by Ronnie’s then wife Kate) that took to the stage towards the end.
By the time I saw him, Lane was fully invested in performing and recording on his own terms, a wandering troubadour who had eschewed the glitz and glamour that had been the hallmark of his time with the Small Faces and Faces, swapping limos for caravans and stadium gigs for a tent. An act that was the very embodiment of what Glastonbury would subsequently become but never got the chance to be part of.
Authors David and Caroline Stafford have written quite a catalogue of music / media biographies, including Kenney Everett, Lionel Bart, The Police, Billy Fury and Adam Faith but this isn’t cash for clippings. It’s well researched and there’s a clear affection and respect for Ronnie’s work. They don’t shy away from acknowledging Ronnie’s occasional temper tantrums or lack of nous with money although my sense is that he may have got off lightly over the way he treated some of the women in his life.
There’s no shortage of books out there covering the Small Faces and Faces. Having read Ian McLagan, Sir Rod and Kenney Jones auto bios plus Simon Spence’s “All Or Nothing” bio of Steve Marriott some of the story told by the Stafford’s tell here was already very familiar. But there was plenty I hadn’t heard before such as Ronnie’s friendship with Pete Townsend, which led Ronnie to a longer term interest in the teachings of Meher Baba, or how Eric Clapton became a drinking buddy.
Lane’s life seemed to be rich in friends but more often than not cash poor. Indeed the only profitable business decision he really made was to ship a 26-foot Airstream caravan / trailer back to the UK and turn it into a mobile studio. Lane’s Mobile Studio (LMS) proved a reliable earner over the years when Ronnie was otherwise burning cash day in day out. It also enabled Ronnie to record his own albums.
Having had years of playing second banana initially to Marriott, and then Rod Stewart, Ronnie walked away from the Faces in 1973, determined to become a guitar playing front man of his own, more rustic, rootsy occasionally whimsical rock. Neither Ronnie or wife at the time Kate came from Romany stock and for me the most interesting part of the book was Ronnie’s transition from immaculate Mod to a Traveller lifestyle, something today would most likely be cited for cultural appropriation. Setting up camp in a dilapidated farm on the England / Wales border, it became a commune where musicians could hang out, although one trait that stuck with Ronnie no matter what was a fondness for a drink. Naming the band “Slim Chance” turns out to be more than a touch apocryphal.
The story of the “Passing Show”, a convoy of clowns, magick, animals and musicians (including briefly Viv Stanshall as ring master) who Ronnie wanted to meander from town to town, then pitch the big tent and gig is both fascinating and tragic. Audiences would be tiny (amazingly, getting the clowns to do advance publicity turned out to be a total failure), council and fire officer objections continual. Despite having had hit singles with “How Come” and “The Poacher”, publicity was non existent (The Poacher should have been on TOTP but was stymied by a technicians strike) and punters for the most part either unaware of the shows, or too scared to approach the sites, the transport and tents that Ronnie had bought barely fit for purpose. The few that caught the shows spoke of magical eclectic evenings with the audience captivated by Ronnie, fueled almost entirely by barley wine, with one of the widest grins physically possible, but losses so big that the first tour ground to a halt after 23 shows and was never revived.
Ronnie and Slim Chance struggled on, (three original Slim Chance are still gigging today, supplemented by Brendan O’Neill, Billy Nicholls, and Geraint Watkins) but even an European tour supporting new mate Eric Clapton and a deal with Island Records failed to give much of a boost.
The hold that multiple sclerosis took on Ronnie’s life brings the book to a close. The Stafford’s provide considerable detail (occasionally, on things like Ronnie’s interest in snake venom as a possible cure, a bit too much) not just on how the illness brought an end to his playing and performing, but insight on how the value Ronnie got from Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (breathing pure oxygen under pressure) became the basis of major benefit gigs in the UK and US, not for Ronnie personally, but to provide what was then (and still is today to a lesser extent) a treatment of disputed benefit but Ronnie found hugely helpful. The US initiative (where Ronnie had become resident) ends in fraud and lawsuits, while Ronnie’s old band mates chip into meet his medical bills, or in Kenney Jones case, finally gets Ronnie and the other Small faces the royalties they were due; sadly posthumously for both Marriott and Lane.
It’s a bittersweet tale really, told with finesse and some humour. Next year will see the 50th anniversary of the Passing Show. The book is fitting tribute; give “The Poacher” and “How Come” a spin now.
Length of Read:Medium
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
The Small Faces through to Slim Chance
One thing you’ve learned
That Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records was the son of of one of the owners of Crosse and Blackwell, and when recording “Rough Mix”, Pete Townsend refused to write songs with Ronnie as he objected to sharing the publishing rights.
retropath2 says
I loved the ramshackle nature of his songs; a bit like early Lindisfarne. The relicts of Slim Chance put on a good show, btw.
hubert rawlinson says
Just won a fifty pound voucher for use at Waterstones this was one I contemplated using it for.
Would have loved to have seen one of The Passing Shows.
Peanuts Molloy says
I was at the Passing Show in Shrewsbury’s Quarry Park on Saturday 15th June 1974 but remember very little about it. Pretty sure Gallagher & Lyle were in the band.
(I also saw Gallagher & Lyle at Tiffany’s nightclub in Shrewsbury. For a glitterball – disco venue they had a strange booking policy – other acts I saw there ranged from Suzi Quatro to Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee!)
fortuneight says
Gallagher & Lyle were indeed in the first incarnation of Slim Chance
Jaygee says
Pretty sure G and L were also in McGuinness Flint
They also wrote this gorgeous song for/covered by Mary Hopkin
Peanuts Molloy says
My comment above re Gallagher & Lyle was meant to say that I am pretty sure they were still with Ronnie Lane at the Shrewsbury Big Top gig – they didn’t last the whole tour as they quit Slim Chance to become a major part of McGuiness Flint. They actually wrote 9 of the 11 songs on the first album (incl “When I’m Dead and Gone”) plus a tenth co-write with Dennis Coulson.
The McG F album, released in 1970, includes some great songs (they were originally signed by Apple in 1968 as songwriters rather than performers) including “International” which Mary Hopkin later covered on her second album “Earth Song, Ocean Song” released by Apple in October 1971.
I’m quite a fan of Gallagher & Lyle – they made some very enjoyable, laid back albums and a quick Google (of Graham Lyle in particular; he’s written a string of major hits, not least “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” with Terry Britten) will show the extent of their successful career.