- Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
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Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake 
Studio album by Small Faces Released 24 May 1968 Recorded 1968
Olympic Studios, London, EnglandGenre Rock, psychedelic rock Length 38:27 Label Immediate Producer Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Engineer: Glyn Johns Small Faces chronology Small Faces (1967) Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968) The Autumn Stone
(1969)Singles from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - "Lazy Sunday"
Released: 5 April 1968 - "Afterglow of Your Love"
Released: 7 March 1969 - "Mad John"
Released: 1969 (USA only)
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake was a successful concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968 the LP became a number one hit in the UK Album Charts on 29 June where it remained for a total of six weeks.[1]
The title and the design of the distinctive packaging was a parody of Ogdens' Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco which was produced in Liverpool from 1899.[2][3]
Contents
Album profile
The A-side is a mix of early heavy rock with "Song of a Baker"; psychedelic cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene", the opening instrumental title track (which resembles their second single "I've Got Mine", which was a flop in 1965), and the soul influenced ballad "Afterglow (Of Your Love)".[3]
The B-side is based on an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, narrated in his unique ‘Unwinese’ gobbledegook by Stanley Unwin, who picked up modern slang from the band and incorporated it into the surreal narrative.[3]
The plot of the fairy tale is that Stan looks up in the sky and sees only half the moon, he sets out on a quest to search for the missing half. Along the way he saves a fly from starvation, and in gratitude the insect tells him of someone who can answer his question and also tell him the philosophy of life itself. With his magic power Stan intones, "If all the flies were one fly, what a great enormous fly-follolloper that would bold," and the fly grows to gigantic proportions. Seated on the giant fly's back Stan takes 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.[3]
Due to the album's complexities, Ogdens' was never performed live; it was performed as a whole once on the BBC's television programme Colour Me Pop[3] on Friday 21 June 1968. Songs featured were "Song of a Baker", "Happiness Stan", "Rollin' Over", "The Hungry Intruder", "The Journey", "Mad John" and "Happydaystoytown". Although the band mimed to the studio recordings, their microphones were left on to capture little ad libs.[4]
Packaging
The album was originally released on vinyl in a circular novelty package of a metal replica of a giant tobacco tin inside which was a poster created with 5 connected paper circles with pictures of the band members. This proved too expensive and was quickly followed by a paper/card replica with a gatefold cover. Two limited-edition CD releases (including a three-disc deluxe edition in 2006 that included the original mono mix of the album on CD for the first time) went even further by packaging the disc(s) in a circular tin (as the original vinyl release had). However, most CD releases use conventional packaging, superimposing the circular artwork on a square booklet.[3]
The award-winning artwork for the album cover was done by Mick Swan who was a product of the sixties art school scene. Any other work by him is unknown but he is known to have worked as a fine arts tutor at Lowestoft F.E. College in 1974.[5]
Track listing
Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake" Marriott, Lane, McLagan, Jones 2:26 2. "Afterglow (Of Your Love)" Marriott, Lane 3:31 3. "Long Agos and Worlds Apart" McLagan 2:35 4. "Rene" Marriott, Lane 4:29 5. "Song of a Baker" Marriott, Lane 3:15 6. "Lazy Sunday" Marriott, Lane 3:05 Side two (titled "Happiness Stan") No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Happiness Stan" Marriott, Lane 2:35 2. "Rollin' Over" Marriott, Lane 2:50 3. "The Hungry Intruder" Marriott, Lane, McLagan 2:15 4. "The Journey" Marriott, Lane, McLagan, Jones 4:12 5. "Mad John" Marriott, Lane 2:48 6. "Happy Days Toy Town" Marriott, Lane, McLagan 4:17 Chart positions
Chart Year Peak
positionUK Albums Chart[6][3] 1968 1 Preceded by
The Dock of the Bay by Otis ReddingUK Albums Chart number-one album
29 June 1968 - 10 August 1968Succeeded by
Delilah by Tom JonesControversy
To promote the album Immediate issued an advertisement that parodied The Lord's Prayer. It caused uproar in the British press and outraged readers wrote in and complained.
Small Faces
Which were in the studios
Hallowed by thy name
Thy music come
Thy songs be sung
On this album as they came from your heads
We give you this day our daily bread
Give us thy album in a round cover as we give thee 37/9d.,
Lead us into the record stores.
And deliver us Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
For nice is the music
The sleeve and the story
For ever and ever, Immediate"We didn't know a thing about the ad. until we saw it in the music papers. And frankly we got the horrors at first. We realise that it could be taken as a serious knock against religion. But on thinking it over, we don't feel it is particularly good or bad. It's just another form of advertising. We're not all that concerned about it. We're more concerned in writing our music and producing our records"
- Steve Marriott on the advert for Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake that parodied the Lord's Prayer.[5]
Vinyl and CD versions
The original vinyl album includes a segue between the end of "Afterglow" and the beginning of "Long Agos And Worlds Apart". Most CD editions have a different stereo mix, and use the single version of "Afterglow" without the segue. There is also a segue between "Long Agos and Worlds Apart" and "Rene", and this is retained on the CD. Some CD editions also include one or more bonus tracks.
The 2005 3-disc "tobacco tin" Special Edition includes fully remastered mono and stereo mixes complete with segue, plus an episode of the BBC Radio documentary series Classic Albums in which the band discuss the making of the album.
On many reissues, the cover design still spells the title as Ogdens' , but the label and sleeve copy gives it as Ogden's .
Reception
In 2000 Q magazine placed Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake at number 59 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[7]
The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Rolling Stone gave the album a positive review. [8]
Allmusic gave the album a 5 out of 5 star review. [9]
Appearances in other media
The title song was played during the debut trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto V.[10]
References
- ^ "Official UK Album Charts". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 2007-08-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20070814021224/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php?show=2. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ McDonough, Tony. "New homes plan for tobacco factory". Liverpool Daily Post. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927225823/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/business/business-local/2007/08/29/new-homes-plan-for-tobacco-factory-64375-19701261/. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Small Faces, Ogden's Nut Gone Flake". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/b3jw/. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ Hewitt, Paulo; Hellier, John (2004). Steve Marriott - All Too Beautiful... (1st ed.). London: Helter Skelter. pp. 171. ISBN 1-900924-44-7. OCLC 56205257.
- ^ a b Hewitt, Paulo; Jones, Kenney (1995). Small Faces: The Young Mods' Forgotten Story. London: Acid Jazz. pp. 125. ISBN 0952393506. OCLC 34676493.
- ^ "Chart Stats - The Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=36614. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
- ^ "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - The Reviews". Q Magazine, February 1990. http://www.makingtime.co.uk/rfr/revogd.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/smallfaces/albums/album/122531/review/6067661/ogdens_nut_gone_flake |title=Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake |first=James |last=Pomeroy |date=12 October 1968 |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=RS 19 |publisher=Straight Arrow |issn=0035-791X archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070313194338/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/smallfaces/albums/album/122531/review/6067661/ogdens_nut_gone_flake |archivedate=13 March 2007}}
- ^ Eder, Bruce. "The Small Faces: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake [Castle] > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (2011-11-02). "The GTA V Trailer Song is a 1968 Tune by The Small Faces". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5855634/the-gta-v-trailer-song-is-a-1968-tune-by-small-faces.
External links
- Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake at Discogs (list of releases)
- humble-pie.net: Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake article
- You Tube: Small Faces - "Song of a Baker"
- Q Magazine, February 1990 Review of Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Small Faces Steve Marriott • Ronnie Lane • Kenney Jones • Ian "Mac" McLagan
Jimmy Winston • Rick Wills • Jimmy McCullochStudio albums Small Faces (1966) • Small Faces (1967) • Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (1968) • Playmates (1977) • 78 in the Shade (1978)Compilation albums From the Beginning (1967) • The Autumn Stone (1969)Live albums The BBC Sessions (1999) • Nice (2001)Singles "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" (1965) • "I've Got Mine" (1965) • "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" (1966) • "Hey Girl" (1966) • "All or Nothing" (1966) • "My Mind's Eye" (1966) • "I Can't Make It" (1967) • "Patterns" (1967) • "Here Come the Nice" (1967) • "Itchycoo Park" (1967) • "Tin Soldier" (1967) • "Lazy Sunday" (1968) • "The Universal" (1968) • "Afterglow of Your Love" (1969) • "Itchycoo Park" (rerelease) (1975) • "Lazy Sunday" (rerelease) (1976)Related articles Categories:- 1968 albums
- Psychedelic rock albums
- Concept albums
- Small Faces albums
- Immediate Records albums
- English-language albums
- "Lazy Sunday"
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