Small Faces- Rollin’ Over

They have become one of my favorite 60s rock bands. The biggest reason is their lead singer + guitarist…Steve Marriott.

If the Small Faces would have had a good or even decent manager they might have had a longer career and be more remembered today. They had a couple of great songwriters, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. A superb drummer with Kenney Jones and keyboard player Ian McLagan

In my opinion, they had the best singer of any band at that time with Marriott. Other singers like Paul Rodgers and Robert Plant have said they both owed a debt to Marriott. The pure energy he gave off live is incredible. If I could build a rock band from scratch with anyone I wanted…Steve Marriott would be my singer…plus he was a great guitarist. Keith Richards wanted him to replace Mick Taylor when he left the Stones.

I always thought America had a skewed view of Small Faces. The only two songs played in America were Lazy Sunday and Itchycoo Park. One of them sounds like a music hall song and the other psychedelic. I like them but they were a driving band with a harder edge than either of those songs. Rollin’ Over is not their best song but I always have liked it. It was the B-Side to Lazy Sunday.

This song was off their biggest album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. It’s a rocking song that reminds me of what was to come in Marriott’s Humble Pie and the later Faces. It was written by Marriott and Lane as was most of their songs. Listen to this song and All or Nothing and see the difference between the two hits in America.

The album peaked at #1 in the UK and #159 on the Billboard 100. The reason they didn’t hit more in America? Their manager Don Arden would not pay for them to tour here per Kenney Jones. During their peak in the UK, Arden paid the band just £20 a week (around $50 at that time) plus a clothing allowance. Kenney Jones said they have just recently received some of the royalties that were stolen from them by Arden.

Rollin’ Over

Goodbye sunshine, I’m on my wayI’ll be long time gone by the break of dayTell everyone that I’m gonna find itThere ain’t nothin’ gonna stop me

Rollin’ overRollin’ over (save all your lovin’ ’til I get home)Rollin’ over (ooh, the sweetest lovin’ sunshine that I’ve ever known)Tell everybody I’m gonna find itThere ain’t nothin’ gonna stop me

Rollin’ over, shak-do-wayWah-wah-doo, yeah-yeah-yeah (rollin’ over)Shak-do-way (rollin’ over)Yeah-yeah-yeah (rollin’ over)Shak-do-way (rollin’ over)Yeah-yeah-yeah (rollin’ over and over)Shak-do-way (rollin’ over)Yeah-yeah-yeah (rollin’ over)Shak-do-way (rollin’ over)Yeah-yeah-yeahShak-do-way

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “Small Faces- Rollin’ Over”

  2. I really didn’t know enough about them other than a couple songs plus the two North American hits you mentioned, and the fact they are in Rock and Roll HOF, says a lot. Great song and new to me also.

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    1. Thanks for listening Randy. After I read the Kenney Jones biography… I really appreciated what they went through more. They were the other Mod band around then.

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      2. Yes he did…he died in a house fire in the 90s I believe…if he would have lived…I’ve read where Peter Frampton was going to reunite with him with Humble Pie…
        Even Humble Pie had really bad managers…the mafia was involved with their management….one paticular mobster…John Gotti

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      4. I know…in 75 or 76 Marriott supposedly demanded his money from Humble Pie…that didn’t work out well for him. He did regroup with the Small Faces for a time….without Lane though.

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  4. While I’m not a Small Faces expert, I love the songs I’ve heard. The first one I remember was “Sha-La-La-La-Lee.” Also “All Or Nothing” and, of course, “Lazy Sunday” and “Itchycoo Park”. “Rollin’ Over” is new to me, but stylistically, it’s right up my alley.

    I also like what they did when the became Faces, even though that was without Steve Marriott. With Rod Stewart who was a legitimate rock vocalist at the time they had one of the best singers.

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    1. They did have two great singers no doubt. I liked the Faces and Humble Pie as well… but they were a little different from this version.

      This version of them though WAS all small…look how big that guitar is on Marriott.

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  5. Like the other British Invasion bands, it seems they were eclectically talented but you don’t get that fully from one or two songs. #1 UK , #159 US – that’s a huge difference even considering the no touring .

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    1. Yea but when your record company won’t market the album…it hurts. I don’t know how their two hits got through to tell you the truth…I would guess a sympathetic record exec. It’s listed in as one of the greatest albums.
      That was their last album before they regrouped in the mid seventies. I think Marriott had enough of running in place.

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      1. perhaps wanted to escape the bad manager. On how they got 2 hits over here, knowing the history of music in the 60s, my guess would be then that one DJ in some city , either US or Canada, knew of them, spun the song on air, got good feedback from listeners and it kind of took off from there. which was a great thing about music in the ’60s and ’70s, that sort of thing happened.

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      2. Well it made me appreciate how the Beatles got so incredibly lucky with Brian Epstein….
        Like Big Star…they got played but if the albums are not there….how are you gonna buy them? Now that would not be a problem…but back then yea…it was.
        They did finally escape Arden in their final year together but they split not long after. Jones said now they are finally receiving money…50 years after.

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  7. Yeah – great band and great front man … with both The Small Faces and Humble Pie. I saw the Small Faces once they’d reformed (minus Ronnie Lane) but they were ‘pure steamin’ as we say in Glasgow when they came on stage, and were a bit of a shambles to say the least, and got booed off! But I’m still glad I got to see them. 🙂

    (Poor Ian McLagan, though! … ‘They had a couple of GREAT songwriters, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. A SUPERB drummer with Kenney Jones …. and keyboard player Ian McLagan.’)

    Never mind Ian – at least I appreciated your playing. 😉 😀 😀

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    1. LOL no no….when I said superb I meant him as well!
      Hell the Who wanted him to become a member or tour with them after Moon died…but since he was with his ex-wife….they didn’t do it.
      Yea when they reunited the spark seemed to be gone. All the film clips I’ve seen they were not themselves. That is so cool that you got to see them though.

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    1. LOL…yea Roger didn’t take to him and he treated him unfair…you weren’t going to find another Moon. Funny thing is Deke…Moon would get on his last nerve…but when he was gone…different story.

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  9. Totally new to me. This song seriously jams and it would be a good one to dance to. Didn’t realize there was a Humble Pie Connection to Small Faces. I always learn something from your posts. You’re right, Steve a voice alright.

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      2. On a totally different topic, you will *never* guess who was in my dream last night. Geo! He popped in and was smiling so brightly and said, “Hello Lisa!” He was dressed like an old wizard (like the before of All Things…) and he had a staff. I got a sense that he was making his rounds and visiting people. I know he’s out there, Max.

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      3. That is really cool!!! I wish I could have dreams like that! I only had one dream where I met the Beatles…and one where I met Keith Moon. I’m jealous…even of just a dream!

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    1. Thanks obbverse…that is exactly what I thought. I always thought of the Who and them related in the 60s…yes the mod thing but the power of both.

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