Other examples of the same phenomenon that could be cited include Fresh Cream, Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced? and The Who's A Quick One, and the trend was strengthened by the Beatles' failure to include Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever or All You Need Is Love on Sgt Pepper.
After a moderate hit with their first Immediate single Here Come the Nice which grooved along nicely without hitting any heights as Marriott looked forward to the impending arrival of some speed (a reference they managed to sneak past the broadcast authorities), and the relatively modest selling album the band hit the top of the charts with Itchycoo Park, followed it with the superb, but marginally less commercial Tin Soldier and just missed #1 in the U.K. singles chart with Lazy Sunday.
Those three singles brought their own issues. Itchycoo Park, with the it's all too beautiful chorus might have gone down well with the public, and Lazy Sunday went down a treat with the general public but as far as the band were concerned the novelty soon wore thin.
Commercial or pop success was all very well, and it certainly delivered substantial fringe benefits apart from the money and the lifestyle, something the Faces, with the shared house at 22 Westmoreland Terrace, Pimlico and an eye on the latest Carnaby Street threads were only too happy to accept. Being pursued by hordes of screaming teenage girls might have been a major pain but there were certain side benefits when it came to getting a shot away.
There was, on the other hand, the question of peer group recognition, and a desire to avoid being labelled a teenybopper pop outfit, the sort of thing that delivered what I'm inclined to label the prog rock impulse, that point where you set out to amaze and impress your peer group with the quality of your writing, your instrumental chops and vocal dynamics and your (or rather your producer and sound engineer's) mastery of the recording studio,
One short cut to peer group approval and a rise above common or garden pop sensibility was the nod and a wink substance reference, the reference to the dealer in Here Comes the Nice, or the I got high bit in Itchycoo Park. Naughty schoolboy see what we can get away with, perhaps, but when you're looking for peer group recognition every bit of added credibility helps, doesn't it?You can see the quality of writing side of things emerging on the Immediate Small Faces, along with the little musical bits that'll attract nods and a nice from the cognoscenti. The start of Feeling Lonely, Up the Wooden Hills to Bedfordshire (the title gets the nod for a start, and the When you're slipping into sleep/That's the time to unwind) and Eddie's Dreaming (named for Georgie Fame's trumpeter, who appears on the track) being prime examples.