Long Player is the second album by the British rock group Faces, released in February 1971. Among the highlights are a soulful live cover version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", the wistful ballads "Richmond" and "Sweet Lady Mary", the rollicking party tune "Had Me a Real Good Time", and uptempo saloon bar rocker "Bad 'n' Ruin". Two tracks, "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "I Feel So Good", were recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York on 10 November 1970.
Background
A unique early mix of "Had Me A Real Good Time" appeared as a single ahead of the LP in November 1970, backed with the non-album instrumental "Rear Wheel Skid". While the latter track was eventually compiled to CD with the release of the "Five Guys Walk into a Bar..." box set of 2004, the different early mix of the a-side remains confined to the single and early vinyl editions of "Snakes and Ladders / The Best of Faces" in 1976. A distinctive studio recording of "Maybe I'm Amazed" also appeared as the a-side of a standalone non-LP single release in the USA just ahead of the album itself. This track and it's non-LP instrumental b-side "Oh Lord, I'm Browned Off" were prized rarities among Faces collectors until they too were both compiled on the "Five Guys" set. Also recorded during this period was the band's blistering take on Motown classic " I'm Losing You" which later appeared on lead singer Rod Stewart's solo album Every Picture Tells a Story rather than on "Long Player" or as a Faces single release. This practice led to increased murmurings of discontent in some quarters that Stewart's management was keeping the best Faces studio performances for Stewart's solo projects, to the detriment of the band as a unit. While the sessions for both albums did unquestionably overlap, Stewart's dual recording contracts with different labels, as both a solo artist and as a member of the Faces, complicated matters greatly. This led to the odd situation where his Faces colleagues could only be credited individually and not explicitly as 'Faces' for their efforts on his solo albums at the time. As it was, their performance on the track was heavily implied, with a 'thank-you' from Stewart in the LP's liner notes. To further confuse matters, however, the track was then released as a single credited to 'Rod Stewart and the Faces', but only in the USA. Despite being widely-regarded as one of the band's finest studio performances, this original version has never been compiled as part of any collection that deals purely with Faces material as it falls outside of their Warner Brothers contract. It has however since appeared - and usually with full credit to the band - on many Stewart solo compilations. On 28 August 2015, the "Long Player" album was reissued in a remastered and expanded form, including two previously unreleased outtakes, "Whole Lotta Woman" and "Sham-Mozzal". Two more live tracks from the Fillmore East show were also included. The reissue used the U.S. cover artwork. It was also released at the same time in the above form as part of the complete recordings box set "1970-1975: You can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything." The album's companion singles were included in the box set on an exclusive CD of rarities.
Track listing
All lead vocals by Rod Stewart except where noted Side One
Tracks 3, 4, 6 and 9 recorded at Morgan Sound Studios, London. Engineered by Mike Bobak.
Tracks 5 and 8 recorded live at Bill Graham's Fillmore East, New York. Engineered by Dave Palmer.
Track 7 recorded with Revox spare room unit. Engineer unknown.
The album sleeve was originally a stitched-together facsimile of bootleg records as well as the old style78 RPM singles, with the record label showing. The album was reissued in the mid 1970s as part of the double album 'Two Originals of The Faces' with record one being 'First Step'. Notes of dates for the live tracks use the US dating system - songs were performed and recorded on 10 November 1970.
