Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake LP - Original Round Cover and Plastic Case

$

100

I'm selling my personal record collection in preparation for moving. I do not ship internationally or to Alaska, Hawaii, US Protectorates or APO/FPO addresses.
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake Studio album by Small Faces Released 24 May 1968[1] Recorded 21 October 1967 – 3 April 1968 Studio Olympic and Trident, London Genre Psychedelia[2] Length 38:27 Label Immediate Producer

• Ronnie Lane
• Steve Marriott

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is the third studio album, and only concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968, the LP peaked at number one on the UK Album Charts on 29 June, where it remained for a total of six weeks. It ultimately became the group's final studio album during their original incarnation (and the last album to contain solely new material until the release of reunion album Playmates in 1977). The album title and distinctive packaging design was a parody of Ogden's Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tinned loose tobacco that was produced in Liverpool from 1899 onwards by Thomas Ogden.

Background

Side one of the album showcases a variety of musical styles. The opening title track is an instrumental re-working of "I've Got Mine", a failed single from 1965. This recording uses a piano treated with wah-wah pedal and orchestral flourishes from a string section led by David McCallum Senior (the father of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star David McCallum.)[citation needed]. An eclectic selection of tracks follow; the proto-Hard rock of "Song of a Baker";[note 1] the psychedelic ballad "Long Agos And Worlds Apart"; cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene" (the latter featuring a lengthy psychedelic jam as its coda); and the intense, soul-influenced ballad "Afterglow"[5] (titled "Afterglow of Your Love" on the subsequent single and some compilations). The single version of "Afterglow" - released in March 1969 a year after it was recorded and immediately after the group's disbandment was officially announced - was presented in a radically-different mix that eschewed the LP version's acoustic opening, altered the song's tempo and extended the instrumental coda.

Side two of the LP is based on an original fairy tale concept about a boy called Happiness Stan, consisting of a musical suite of six songs interlinked with narration provided by comic monologuist and performer Stanley Unwin in his unique, nonsensical private language of "Unwinese". Unwin was not the band's first choice for narrator, however – originally they approached the popular but mercurial absurdist comedian Spike Milligan to narrate the piece, but negotiations with Milligan foundered early and the more affable and amenable Unwin stepped in to everyone's eventual satisfaction. Unwin spent time observing the band at work and at play in the studio, and picking up on the private, coded language they used amongst themselves, he incorporated it alongside contemporary slang into his inventive and surreal narrative.

The fairy tale follows Happiness Stan in his quest to find the 'missing' half of the moon, after seeing the moon at half-phase in the sky one night and misinterpreting the physics involved. Along the way, he saves a fly from starvation, and in gratitude the insect tells him of a wise man who can answer his question and also tell him the philosophy of life itself. Conveniently possessed of magic powers, Stan intones, "If all the flies were one fly, what a great enormous fly-follolloper that would bold!" and the fly duly grows to gigantic proportions. Seated on the giant fly's back, Stan undertakes a psychedelic journey to the cave of Mad John the Hermit, who explains that the moon's disappearance is only temporary, and demonstrates by pointing out that Stan has spent so long on his quest that the moon is now full again. He then sings Stan a cheerful song about the meaning of life.

The concept for side two of the album was conceived during a boating trip on the river Thames that the band undertook to relax and recuperate after a disastrous January 1968 tour of Australia and New Zealand, when bassist/vocalist Ronnie Lane noted in a moment of relaxed contemplation that the half-phase moon in the sky appeared to have had half of its surface removed. Lane and vocalist/guitarist Steve Marriott then conceived the idea of an uncomplicated and unworldly character called Happiness Stan embarking upon a naive but heroic quest to recover this supposed 'missing' half of the moon, but discovering the secret of happiness and 'the meaning of life itself' instead. The character of 'Happiness Stan' was reportedly named after Lane's older brother Stanley, rather than after Stanley Unwin. 'Happiness', meanwhile, was a promotional keyword of the Immediate record label, with their 'Happy to be part of the industry of human happiness' slogan. 

The title track was played during the debut trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto V and was later featured on the in-game Los Santos Rock Radio station.

Track listing:

All songs written by Marriott and Lane, except where noted.

Personnel

• Steve Marriott − lead, harmony, and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, piano on "Happiness Stan" and "Every Little Bit Hurts", Hammond organ on "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake", bass guitar on "The Journey", shared lead vocals on "The Hungry Intruder" and "HappyDaysToyTown"
• Ronnie Lane − harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar on "The Journey", upright bass on "Mad John", lead vocals on "Song of a Baker" and "The Journey", shared lead vocals on "The Hungry Intruder" and "HappyDaysToyTown"
• Ian McLagan − backing vocals, organ, piano, harpsichord, Mellotron,[24][25] electric guitar and bass guitar on "Long Agos and Worlds Apart", lead vocals on "Long Agos and Worlds Apart"
• Kenney Jones − drums, percussion

with:

• Stanley Unwin – "looney links" (narration)
• Glyn Johns – recording engineer

And featuring uncredited contributions from:

• P. P. Arnold - backing vocals
• Billy Nicholls - backing vocals
• Lyn Dobson - flute
• unidentified string section conducted by David McCallum Sr.