The Small Faces were one of the leading bands on the English rock scene in the 1960s. Originally from East London, the group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott (vocals, guitar), Ronnie Lane (vocals, bass), Kenney Jones (drums), and Jimmy Winston (keyboards), although Ian McLagan had replaced Winston by 1966.
The band burned brightly for a short time, only being active from 1965 to 1968 (not counting the reunion ten years later). During those four years they released four albums and over a dozen singles, becoming one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the decade. Their hits included Itchycoo Park, Lazy Sunday, Sha-La-La-La-Lee, All or Nothing, and of course Tin Soldier. They created some classic albums as well, especially with their magnum opus Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake – the concept album which saw them evolve into one of the UK’s most successful psychedelic rock bands.
The first incarnation of the Small Faces never really disbanded – they morphed into something else. When Marriott left the group during a gig on New Year’s Eve 1968 (when he walked off stage yelling “I quit!”), leaving to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, the remaining three members recruited Ronnie Wood as their guitarist and Rod Stewart as their lead vocalist to carry on as Faces (although their first album was released as Small Faces in North America). They had many successful years ahead of them in that incarnation. In 1975 Woody joined The Rolling Stones, Stewart became a solo artist, and a near-original version of the Small Faces reunited for a few years. In 1978 they broke up for good.
They were only together for four years in their original incarnation, but their output from the mid to late 1960s remains among the most acclaimed and influential British mod and psychedelic music of that era. They saw a fair amount of chart success in their lifetime (topping both single and album charts), but the true extent of their influence became clear over time as their music proved enduring and inspirational for future generations. They were considered one of the inspirations for the Britpop movement in the 1990s, while AllMusic refers to them as “the best English band never to make it big in America.”
By the end of 1967, the Small Faces were established as a hip band on the British mod scene that had started incorporating psychedelic influences in their music. This was very much in vogue at the time, and had just had tremendous success with Itchycoo Park – their tenth (and one of their very best) singles.
Despite this they were wary of going too far. It was decided that the next single would revert to the bluesy feel that had bought most of their prior chart success. Tin Soldier would thus be a return to the band’s R&B roots, although only temporary. The band would continue their forays into psychedelic rock and other musical experiments later on.
Tin Soldier was written by Steve Marriott (credited to Marriott/Lane, the usual songwriting duo of the band). His inspiration was, to put it simply, a woman. He had met the model Jenny Rylance in 1966 and became immediately smitten. There was one small problem: Rylance was involved with Rod Stewart at the time, and he had to settle for becoming her friend.
By late 1967, Rylance and Stewart had broken up. Marriott immediately started pursuing her relentlessly, even writing a song – Tin Soldier – to woo her and get her attention.
I am a little tin soldier
That wants to jump into your fire
You are a look in your eye
A dream passing by in the sky
I don’t understand
All I need is treat me like a man
‘Cause I ain’t no child
Take me like I am
I got to know that I belong to you
Do anything that you want to do
Sing any song that you want me to sing to you
While it has never been confirmed, the song seems to have been influenced by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier, the story of an imperfect tin soldier’s love for and desire to be with a tin ballerina. The opening lyric “I am a little tin soldier that wants to jump into your fire” mirrors what happens to the tin soldier in Andersen’s story.
Marriott was initially thinking that it might be too much for his band to perform such a personal song, and he intended to give it to soul belter P.P. Arnold. Once it was finished and the band started demoing it, he realized that he liked it so much that it was decided to keep it for the Small Faces. He ended up writing If You Think You’re Groovy for Arnold instead, which although not as amazing as Tin Soldier certainly isn’t a bad replacement.
P.P. Arnold was invited to sing backing vocals on the song, and her powerhouse vocals provide an enormous lift to the choruses. “Steve and I were lovers around that time,” Arnold revealed years later to Mojo Magazine, “but I think he wrote Tin Soldier about Jenny Rylance. She was the love of Steve’s life.”
Who knows if it was the song or Marriott’s other efforts that did the trick, but it did work. Marriott and Rylance got together, and were married at Kensington Register Office, London, on 29 May 1968.
Talking about the song, and the influence of his wife Jenny, Marriott stated: “The meaning of the song is about getting into somebody’s mind – not their body. It refers to a girl I used to talk to all the time and she really gave me a buzz. The single was to give her a buzz in return and maybe other people as well. I dig it. There’s no great message really and no physical scenes.”
The point he made about ‘no physical scenes’ was an important one to make, as the band suffered from a misunderstanding with the lyrics. When the song was released, the BBC informed the band that the last line of the song had to be removed from all TV and radio broadcasts. They had mistakenly believed that Marriott sang ‘sleep with you,’ when in fact the lyric is ‘sit with you.’ As Marriott points out, the song is about getting into someone’s mind – not their body.
Tin Soldier was released as the band’s 11th single (out of 15 released in the 1960s) on 2 December 1967. The song peaked at number nine in the UK singles chart, was their first top 10 hit in Germany, and did well in most markets. It only made #73 in the US, though, which was a disappointment following the success of Itchycoo Park on the American chart. Unfortunately, this led their label Immediate Records to abandoned their attempts to penetrate the American market.
Tin Soldier has however more than proven itself as a rock classic in the long term, cherished by coming generations of musicians and fans alike. In 1997, some 30 years after the song’s original release, the track was voted the tenth best single of all time in a Mojo readers’ poll – placing it ahead of anything by The Who or The Rolling Stones, for example.
The song has been covered by Quiet Riot, Lou Gramm, Uriah Heep, Streetheart, Todd Rundgren, The Guess Who, Paul Weller, Transatlantic, Scorpions, and Tim Rogers. Paul Weller has never stopped talking about the song, and it features in Noel Gallagher’s personal all-time top ten song list.
Marriott’s post-Small Faces band Humble Pie also released a cover of this song on their 1980 album Go For the Throat, their new version even reaching #58 in the US single charts – a definite improvement on the chart performance of the original Small Faces version.
P.P. Arnold, who has a strong connection to the track through it initially being written for her to use, as well as her performance on the original, has kept performed the song live over the years.
As for Marriott and Rylance, their happiness did not last. The marriage ended after five years, but the original expression of love that helped bring them together still endures and burns as brightly as it ever did.
Oh no, oh no
I just want some reaction
Someone to give me satisfaction
All I want to do is sit with you
‘Cause I love you
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