The Tracks
There was one composition by the band save for Stewart, the instrumental "Fly in the Ointment". The only composition by the four to make it onto any of their albums, it is a mid-tempo riff-laden groove, featuring the forceful bass of Lane, chunky rhythm and slide guitar work of Wood, soulful organ and driving electric piano of McLagan, ably supported by the steady drumwork of Jones and guest percussionist Neemoi "Speedy" Aquaye.
Stewart's four tracks were written mostly in tandem with Wood and McLagan. Characteristically, three ("Silicone Grown", "My Fault", "Borstal Boys") are up-tempo numbers that serve to showcase the liquored-up looseness that the group ably provided Stewart, a looseness he never again would be able to replicate after the group's disbanding and his subsequent move to America in 1975. "Cindy Incidentally", driven by the prevalent piano of McLagan and the rhythm guitar of Wood, also showcases the looseness, though the vocal performance is more akin to one Stewart would usually reserve for his solo albums. They take up the bulk of the first side of the record, separated by one Lane composition which Stewart had helped to complete.
Lane's five tracks (four on the second side, one on the first) showcased the tender, folky side of the singer-songwriter, the tracks rooted in acoustics with Lane and Stewart singing some of the most endearing vocals that they ever would. The title track, a Lane composition, was unique in the Faces' repertoire. Instead of featuring Stewart or Lane on vocals, it featured the first-ever lead vocal from Wood. Though Lane had written the bulk of the ode to carefree living and its inevitable payback, he had written it for Stewart to sing, as it had been written for a singer out of his range. Stewart, meanwhile, claimed that the song was in the wrong key for him. Wood's somewhat uneasy tenor, which the group jested him about during the song's playback (Five Guys, p. 31), closed the album. Ironically, Stewart would cover the song on his 1998 album When We Were the New Boys.
The title track "Ooh La La" is featured at the end of Wes Anderson's film Rushmore (1998). The song "Glad and Sorry" is featured in the film Blow (2001).
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Read more about this topic: Ooh La La (Faces album)
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