IAN MCLAGAN & THE BUMP BAND
''UNITED STATES MOTEL''
JUNE 17 2014
39:30
1 /All I Wanna Do
Ian McLagan 3:58
2 /Pure Gold
Ian McLagan 4:04
3 /Don't Say Nothing
Ian McLagan 3:41
4 /I'm Your Baby Now
Ian McLagan 4:19
5 /Mean Old World
Ian McLagan / Jud Newcomb 3:24
6 /Love Letter
Ian McLagan 3:50
7 /Who Says It Ain't Love
Ian McLagan 4:07
8 /Shalalala
Ian McLagan 4:01
9 /How Blue
Ian McLagan 3:28
10 /He's Not for You
Ian McLagan 4:38
Stephen Barber /String Arrangements
Conrad Choucroun /Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Leigh Mahoney /Violin
Ian McLagan /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals
Jud Newcomb /Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Vocals
Jon Notarthomas /Bass, Vocals
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
Some people do the same thing for years and dig themselves into a rut, and then there's folks like Ian McLagan who know their craft and keep getting solid mileage out of it year after year. McLagan has been playing tough but smooth, soul-satisfying R&B keyboards for close to 50 years, and he's as good at it as he's ever been; if you're looking for a good groove, McLagan's a man who can reliably deliver it, and that's what he does on his 2014 solo effort United States. Backed by his longtime partners the Bump Band -- Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitars, Jon Notarthomas on bass, and Conrad Choucroun on drums -- McLagan doesn't draw a lot of sweat on United States, but the touch he and his band bring to these songs is superb, delivering an effortlessly pleasurable blues shuffle on "How Blue," cutting some moody funk that suggests a slowed-down version of the Faces on "All I Wanna Do," laying out some graceful midtempo rock as Ian contemplates a failing relationship on "Don't Say Nothing," or offering a sweet and generous lament on "Mean Old World." McLagan is a better instrumentalist than a singer (and his skills on the organ and piano remain subtly top-notch), but on United States, time has given his voice just enough grit that it matches the hard-won lessons of his lyrics, and he sounds honest, soulful, and indomitable on these sessions. Ian McLagan is a lifer in the best sense of the word -- this music is his life, and he's probably going to keep doing it as long as he draws breath -- and he's good enough at what he does to keep a real spark in his music a few decades after he first joined the Small Faces. McLagan's easy but powerful groove makes United States another satisfying episode in the life and career of a true rock & roll believer.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
A keyboard player conversant in R&B, blues, and roots rock who has earned an estimable reputation as both a sideman and a bandleader, Ian McLagan was born in Hounslow, Middlesex, England on May 12, 1945. McLagan began playing piano in his early teens, and gained his first stage experience with a group called the Muleskinners, later moving on to Boz and the Boz People, led by Boz Burrell, who would later work with King Crimson and Bad Company. In November 1965, McLagan joined singer and guitarist Steve Marriott, bass player Ronnie Lane, and drummer Kenney Jones in the British pop/rock band the Small Faces, six months after the group's formation. McLagan's first recorded work with the Small Faces was their third single, "Sha La La La Lee," which peaked in the U.K. Top Ten in March 1966. A teenybopper success at first, the band eventually gained greater critical standing by adopting a more psychedelic style. Over the next two years, they scored further Top Ten British hits with "Hey Girl," "All or Nothing" (which hit number one), "My Mind's Eye," "Itchycoo Park" (which introduced them to American listeners, hitting the U.S. Top 40), "Tin Soldier," and "Lazy Sunday," and among their albums, Small Faces reached the Top Ten and Ogden's Nut Gone Flake hit number one.
In March 1969, Marriott quit to form Humble Pie. Three months later, McLagan, Lane, and Jones combined with singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood, formerly of the Jeff Beck Group, to form the Faces. This group developed a reputation for its freewheeling performances, but it was overshadowed by Stewart's solo career, which took off in the fall of 1971 with his hit "Maggie May." Nevertheless, the Faces also had considerable commercial success, reaching the U.K. Top Ten with the singles "Stay with Me," "Cindy Incidentally," and "Pool Hall Richard"/"I Wish It Would Rain," and the albums A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse, Ooh La La (which hit number one), and Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. But in 1975, Stewart quit, while Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and the Faces broke up.
McLagan was invited to play with the Rolling Stones on the sessions for their 1978 album Some Girls, and he also performed on their subsequent concert tour. McLagan released his debut solo album, Troublemaker, in 1979, followed by Bump in the Night in 1980. Neither sold well, despite good reviews, and he soon became a session and backup musician, notably working with Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. In 1997, McLagan joined Billy Bragg's band the Blokes, and toured with Bragg as well as performing on his 2002 album England, Half English. In 2000, after McLagan had settled in Austin, Texas, he released his third solo album, Best of British, credited to Ian "Mac" McLagan & the Bump Band and also issued under the title Turn Faces; he also published his autobiography, All the Rage. After a long layoff, McLagan returned to his solo career with a vengeance, releasing Rise and Shine in 2004 and three albums in 2008 -- the studio set Here Comes Trouble, the concert album Extra Live, and Spiritual Boy, a tribute to his former bandmate Ronnie Lane. Never Say Never appeared in late 2008, and United States, McLagan's first release with the Yep Roc label, followed in 2014.
OFFICIAL SITE
''UNITED STATES MOTEL''
JUNE 17 2014
39:30
1 /All I Wanna Do
Ian McLagan 3:58
2 /Pure Gold
Ian McLagan 4:04
3 /Don't Say Nothing
Ian McLagan 3:41
4 /I'm Your Baby Now
Ian McLagan 4:19
5 /Mean Old World
Ian McLagan / Jud Newcomb 3:24
6 /Love Letter
Ian McLagan 3:50
7 /Who Says It Ain't Love
Ian McLagan 4:07
8 /Shalalala
Ian McLagan 4:01
9 /How Blue
Ian McLagan 3:28
10 /He's Not for You
Ian McLagan 4:38
Stephen Barber /String Arrangements
Conrad Choucroun /Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Leigh Mahoney /Violin
Ian McLagan /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Hammond B3, Piano, Vocals
Jud Newcomb /Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Vocals
Jon Notarthomas /Bass, Vocals
REVIEW
by Mark Deming
Some people do the same thing for years and dig themselves into a rut, and then there's folks like Ian McLagan who know their craft and keep getting solid mileage out of it year after year. McLagan has been playing tough but smooth, soul-satisfying R&B keyboards for close to 50 years, and he's as good at it as he's ever been; if you're looking for a good groove, McLagan's a man who can reliably deliver it, and that's what he does on his 2014 solo effort United States. Backed by his longtime partners the Bump Band -- Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitars, Jon Notarthomas on bass, and Conrad Choucroun on drums -- McLagan doesn't draw a lot of sweat on United States, but the touch he and his band bring to these songs is superb, delivering an effortlessly pleasurable blues shuffle on "How Blue," cutting some moody funk that suggests a slowed-down version of the Faces on "All I Wanna Do," laying out some graceful midtempo rock as Ian contemplates a failing relationship on "Don't Say Nothing," or offering a sweet and generous lament on "Mean Old World." McLagan is a better instrumentalist than a singer (and his skills on the organ and piano remain subtly top-notch), but on United States, time has given his voice just enough grit that it matches the hard-won lessons of his lyrics, and he sounds honest, soulful, and indomitable on these sessions. Ian McLagan is a lifer in the best sense of the word -- this music is his life, and he's probably going to keep doing it as long as he draws breath -- and he's good enough at what he does to keep a real spark in his music a few decades after he first joined the Small Faces. McLagan's easy but powerful groove makes United States another satisfying episode in the life and career of a true rock & roll believer.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
A keyboard player conversant in R&B, blues, and roots rock who has earned an estimable reputation as both a sideman and a bandleader, Ian McLagan was born in Hounslow, Middlesex, England on May 12, 1945. McLagan began playing piano in his early teens, and gained his first stage experience with a group called the Muleskinners, later moving on to Boz and the Boz People, led by Boz Burrell, who would later work with King Crimson and Bad Company. In November 1965, McLagan joined singer and guitarist Steve Marriott, bass player Ronnie Lane, and drummer Kenney Jones in the British pop/rock band the Small Faces, six months after the group's formation. McLagan's first recorded work with the Small Faces was their third single, "Sha La La La Lee," which peaked in the U.K. Top Ten in March 1966. A teenybopper success at first, the band eventually gained greater critical standing by adopting a more psychedelic style. Over the next two years, they scored further Top Ten British hits with "Hey Girl," "All or Nothing" (which hit number one), "My Mind's Eye," "Itchycoo Park" (which introduced them to American listeners, hitting the U.S. Top 40), "Tin Soldier," and "Lazy Sunday," and among their albums, Small Faces reached the Top Ten and Ogden's Nut Gone Flake hit number one.
In March 1969, Marriott quit to form Humble Pie. Three months later, McLagan, Lane, and Jones combined with singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ron Wood, formerly of the Jeff Beck Group, to form the Faces. This group developed a reputation for its freewheeling performances, but it was overshadowed by Stewart's solo career, which took off in the fall of 1971 with his hit "Maggie May." Nevertheless, the Faces also had considerable commercial success, reaching the U.K. Top Ten with the singles "Stay with Me," "Cindy Incidentally," and "Pool Hall Richard"/"I Wish It Would Rain," and the albums A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...to a Blind Horse, Ooh La La (which hit number one), and Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. But in 1975, Stewart quit, while Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and the Faces broke up.
McLagan was invited to play with the Rolling Stones on the sessions for their 1978 album Some Girls, and he also performed on their subsequent concert tour. McLagan released his debut solo album, Troublemaker, in 1979, followed by Bump in the Night in 1980. Neither sold well, despite good reviews, and he soon became a session and backup musician, notably working with Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen, among many others. In 1997, McLagan joined Billy Bragg's band the Blokes, and toured with Bragg as well as performing on his 2002 album England, Half English. In 2000, after McLagan had settled in Austin, Texas, he released his third solo album, Best of British, credited to Ian "Mac" McLagan & the Bump Band and also issued under the title Turn Faces; he also published his autobiography, All the Rage. After a long layoff, McLagan returned to his solo career with a vengeance, releasing Rise and Shine in 2004 and three albums in 2008 -- the studio set Here Comes Trouble, the concert album Extra Live, and Spiritual Boy, a tribute to his former bandmate Ronnie Lane. Never Say Never appeared in late 2008, and United States, McLagan's first release with the Yep Roc label, followed in 2014.
OFFICIAL SITE
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