LANE - MARRIOTT "Majic Mijits" 2000

Marriott and Lane put aside all their personal baggage and just let er rip on this reunion. Lane is in strong voice on this effort. Marriott kept the Brandy flowin. "That's the Way it Goes" is a legendary giggle, shades of "Lazy Sunday".
This is a must for Small Faces fans. The duo shopped this to many major labels who were willing to back it, including Clive Davis from Arista at the time, but the labels all insisted on a major tour to support. Ronnie was wheelchair bound due to MS, couldn't tour, and this recording remained in the vaults for years, only to gain legendary status. - By Angrydan

Finally surfacing nearly 20 years after the fact, the great lost "Majik Mijits" album project is a duo recording made in the early '80s by the creative forces from Small Faces, Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. (The Majik Mijits moniker is yet another reference to their diminutive size.) Marriott at the time was fresh out of reunions with Small Faces (a gathering that had initially included Lane) and Humble Pie; Lane, most recently a solo artist, was just starting to suffer the physical limitations associated with multiple sclerosis. They organized a band featuring bassist Jim Leverton, guitarist Mick Green, drummer Dave Hynes, and keyboardist Mick Weaver, and used Lane's mobile recording studio to cut an LP democratically sequenced with six songs each by Lane and Marriott (no collaborations), alternating one after the other. The result, not surprisingly, has moments when it sounds like Small Faces. In particular, Marriott's "How Does It Feel" could have been a Small Faces single of the 1980s. Typically, Lane's songs are sturdy, well-constructed efforts, while Marriott's are more varied, sometimes ("Toe Rag") even being comic throwaways. And why was the album not released in, say, 1982? Apparently, record companies either passed on it or required that the band tour to support it, which Lane was incapable of doing. So, instead, the tapes ended up in the possession of Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones before emerging in the new millennium. Now, they constitute a worthy footnote in the Small Faces story. - by William Ruhlmann

trax:
01. Lonely No More 02. Chicken (If The Cap Fits) 03. Toe Rag 04. Bombers Moon 05. Birthday Girl 06. Last Tango In Nato 07. How Does It Feel 08. That's The Way It Goes 09. You Spent It 10. Son Of Stanley Lane 11. Be The One 12. Ruby Jack 13. All Or Nothing - Reprise [Live from the Canning Row Gig]
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