The album ‘Marriott’
wasn’t as successful as hoped, but in the meantime, back home, his
Small Faces days again caught up with him. ‘Itchycoo Park’
was re-released and became a big hit again, helped by a Top Of The
Pops appearance by the original line-up, with the BBC cameraman hardly
capable of holding the equipment on viewing Steve’s antics.
Steve felt the magic again and wanted his old mates back.
He disbanded the ‘All-Stars’ and started writing immediately with
Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones. Ronnie Lane, still tired
from his road life with The Faces, wanted to stay loyal to his current
group ‘Slim Chance’, and the original Mod-trio recruited Rick
Wills from Roxy Music.
Recording began in buddy
Joe Brown’s home studio (his wife Vicki and daughter Sam joined the
sessions), but because of contract hassles it took almost a year
before the new Small Faces could release an album ‘Playmates’ and
tour England and Germany in the summer of 1977. Sadly the
album flopped and Atlantic’s choice of single ‘Lookin’ For
Love’ didn’t help in placing the band publicly. Steve
and the lads toured with Wings guitarist Jimmy McCullough. The
five-piece also completed left over ‘Playmates’ material for a new
album but it’s very title showed them the way and by the time ‘78
In The Shade’ came out, Ian McLagan had joined the Rolling Stones on
tour and Kenney Jones would soon get his call from The Who?
For Steve Marriott, newly
married to his second wife, Pam, disappointing and confused times
began. He played in pubs with Jim Leverton (Savoy Brown)
and Dave Hines (Spencer Davis Group), until the end of 1978 and
then moved to Atlanta, Georgia to ‘hang out’ and try to start a
new band. A first attempt with Leslie West of Moutain to
be called ‘The Firm’ failed once more due to contract hassles and
attempts were made to re-shuffle Humble Pie.
In the end Greg Ridley
wanted to stay private and Clem Clempson couldn’t make up his mind,
so Steve settled for Jerry Shirley as the only original member and
hired Bob Tench, previously a singer and guitarist with Jeff Beck and
Roger Chapman’s Streetwalkers, and a New York session musician,
Sooty Jones. With regular USA tours resumed again
and albums released in 1980 and ‘81, all seemed to be going well.
But the summer of ‘81 trip to promote the second album ‘Throat’
was interrupted twice, first Steve broke his wrist in a hotel room
door and was later grounded with an ulcer!
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