NEWS: Small Faces The Autumn Stone box set

SMALL FACES’ KENNEY JONES ANNOUNCES ‘THE AUTUMN STONE’ BOX-SET TO KICK OFF IMMEDIATE RECORDS’ 60th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OUT 28th MARCH 2025

THE IMMEDIATE ANNIVERSARY SERIES BEGINS WITH NEWLY EXPANDED 3LP COLOURED VINYL BOX-SET COLLECTORS’ EDITION & 3CD FORMATS OF FINAL ALBUM BY SMALL FACES, BOTH FEATURING UNRELEASED TRACKS

SMALL FACES’ KENNEY JONES TO RELEASE FURTHER SPECIAL EDITIONS OF MUCH SOUGHT AFTER IMMEDIATE RECORDS IN 2025, CELEBRATING THE LEGENDARY BRITISH RECORD LABEL’S 60th ANNIVERSARY

Kenney Jones , drummer for legendary bands the Small Faces, the Faces and The Who, is set to release brand new 3LP coloured vinyl and 3CD expanded editions of the Small Faces’ final album, ‘The Autumn Stone,’ to kick-off the 60th anniversary celebrations of legendary British record label Immediate Records.

Released via Immediate Records (in conjunction with Jones’ own Nice Records) on 28th March 2025, this newly expanded collectors’ edition of the band’s final album, curated by Kenney and newly mastered by Nick Robbins, boasts a number of previously unreleased and rare versions of Small Faces songs, including stripped-down acoustic mixes which highlight the distinctive and unique voice of frontman Steve Marriott.

Both new formats of ‘The Autumn Stone’ are significantly expanded from the unfinished, error strewn original 1969 ‘best of’ LP, rush-released by Immediate Records more than six months after the Small Faces band members had gone their separate ways, splitting into The Faces and Humble Pie.

As well as an expanded 3CD in digi-sleeve packaging (cat no. IMCD0102), a limited edition expanded ‘autumn stone & gold’ colour 180 gram 3LP vinyl box-set (cat no. IMLAL0102) is set for release, both formats featuring previously unreleased tracks newly mixed from Olympic Studios session tapes by Tosh Flood (The Divine Comedy), with lacquers cut by Barry Grint at AIR Studios in London. The 3LP coloured vinyl package is limited to 3000 numbered copies, 750 of which are signed by Kenney Jones & Gered Mankowitz. Both editions are available to pre-order exclusively from the official Small Faces website HERE.

The 3LP vinyl box-set also includes a lavish 68-page hardback book containing detailed sleevenotes and track-by-track recording information, beautifully illustrated with rare memorabilia, original artwork & previously unseen photos by Small Faces photographers Tony Gale & Gered Mankowitz. The vinyl box-set boasts gold foil lettering, with the band’s name finally restored to the front cover, having been mistakenly left off on the album’s original 1969 release.

In further news, Kenney Jones is also proud to announce today an exclusive licensing deal with BMG for his label Nice Records to release Immediate Records in the UK.

Nice Records was originally formed in the 1990s to raise funds for Ronnie Lane as he battled multiple sclerosis.

The iconic Immediate label was originally founded by music industry mavericks Andrew Loog Oldham & Tony Calder in 1965 and its much sought after releases have not been available on vinyl for decades. Forthcoming 60th anniversary-edition LPs will include Small Faces, Humble Pie, Chris Farlowe, The Nice, Billy Nicholls, PP Arnold, Keith Richards & more, including Immediate’s acclaimed ‘Blues Anytime’ series curated during 1965–1967 by Mike Vernon & Jimmy Page.

The Immediate 60th Anniversary series will feature vinyl LPs in facsimile sleeves, in-depth sleevenotes & artist interviews, all newly mastered from original tape sources, many from Jones’ and Immediate artists’ personal archives. Releases will be approved by the artists & will include limited edition deluxe box-sets with a wealth of rare & previously unreleased material, artist-curated compilations, 7-inch single & EP boxsets, plus signed & numbered exclusives.

Nice Records co-owner Nigel Adams says the label are looking forward to working with Charly Records in territories outside the UK to ensure Small Faces & Immediate Records 60th Anniversary products are released simultaneously worldwide.

www.thesmallfaces.com

SMALL FACES – ‘THE AUTUMN STONE’ 2025 TRACKLISTINGS;

3LP COLLECTORS’ EDITION BOX-SET

SIDE 1

Here Come the Nice (stereo)

The Autumn Stone (stereo)

Collibosher (stereo)
All Or Nothing (mono)

Red Balloon (stereo)

Lazy Sunday (stereo)

SIDE 2

Call It Something Nice (stereo)

I Can’t Make It (mono)

Afterglow (stereo)
Sha La La La Lee (mono)

The Universal (stereo)
I’m Only Dreaming (stereo)
Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass (mono)

SIDE 3

Me You And Us Too (mono)
I Feel Much Better (stereo)
Olympic Jam (“one more!”) (stereo) Previously unreleased
Green Circles (mono)
My Mind’s Eye (mono)
Tin Soldier (mono)
Just Passing (mono)

SIDE 4

Itchycoo Park (stereo)
Don’t Burst My Bubble (stereo)
Get Yourself Together (stereo)
Hey Girl (mono)
Wide-Eyed Girl On The Wall (stereo)

Whatcha Gonna Do About It? (mono)

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam (mono)

SIDE 5
The Autumn Stone (stereo) * Previously unreleased version
Red Balloon (stereo) * Previously unreleased version
Things Are Going To Get Better (stereo) *

Show Me The Way (stereo) *
I Can’t Make It (stereo) *
Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass (stereo) *

* Stripped-down acoustic mixes, previously unreleased on vinyl

SIDE 6
Rollin’ Over (Live) (stereo) **
If I Were a Carpenter (Live) (stereo) **
Every Little Bit Hurts (Live) (stereo) **
All Or Nothing (Live) (stereo) **
Tin Soldier (Live) (stereo) **

** Recorded live Newcastle City Hall 18 November 1968

3CD

CD 1

Here Come the Nice (stereo)

The Autumn Stone (stereo)

Collibosher (stereo)
All Or Nothing (mono)

Red Balloon (stereo)
Lazy Sunday (stereo)
Call It Something Nice (stereo)
I Can’t Make It (mono)
Afterglow (stereo)
Sha La La La Lee (mono)
The Universal (stereo)
I’m Only Dreaming (stereo)
Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass (mono)

Me You And Us Too (mono)
I Feel Much Better (stereo)
Olympic Jam (“one more!”) (stereo) Previously unreleased
Green Circles (mono)
My Mind’s Eye (mono)
Tin Soldier (mono)
Just Passing (mono

CD 2

Itchycoo Park (stereo)

Don’t Burst My Bubble (stereo)

Get Yourself Together (stereo)

Hey Girl (mono)

Wide-Eyed Girl On The Wall (stereo)

Whatcha Gonna Do About It? (mono)

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam (mono)

The Autumn Stone (stereo) * Previously unreleased version

Red Balloon (stereo) * Previously unreleased version

Things Are Going To Get Better (stereo) *

Show Me The Way (stereo) *
I Can’t Make It (stereo) *
Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass (stereo) *

* Stripped-down acoustic mixes, previously only available on ‘Here Come The Nice – The Immediate Years’ limited edition CD boxset (except tracks 8 & 9, previously unreleased)

Rollin’ Over (Live) **

If I Were a Carpenter (Live) **

Every Little Bit Hurts (Live) **

All Or Nothing (Live) **

Tin Soldier (Live) **

** Recorded live at Newcastle City Hall 18 November 1968

CD 3 – THE AUTUMN STONE 1969

Here Come the Nice (stereo)
The Autumn Stone (stereo)
Collibosher (stereo)
All Or Nothing (The Autumn Stone 1969 version) (mono)

Red Balloon (stereo)

Lazy Sunday (stereo)
Call It Something Nice (stereo)
I Can’t Make It (The Autumn Stone 1969 version) (mono)
Afterglow (stereo)
Sha La La La Lee (mono)
The Universal (stereo)
Rollin’ Over (Live) (stereo) **
If I Were a Carpenter (Live) (stereo) **
Every Little Bit Hurts (Live) (stereo) **
My Mind’s Eye (The Autumn Stone 1969 version) (mono)
Tin Soldier (mono)
Just Passing (The Autumn Stone 1969 version) (mono)

Itchycoo Park (stereo)
Hey Girl (The Autumn Stone 1969 version) (mono)
Wide-Eyed Girl On The Wall (stereo)
Whatcha Gonna Do About It? (The Autumn Stone 1969 version)

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam (mono)

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‘THE AUTUMN STONE’ & IMMEDIATE RECORDS

by Small Faces reissue producer Rob Caiger

More than six months after the Small Faces had split into the Faces (Kenney Jones, Ronnie Lane & Ian McLagan joined by Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood) and Humble Pie (Steve Marriott joined by Peter Frampton, Jerry Shirley & Greg Ridley) Immediate Records began compiling 2LP ‘best of’ albums for their leading artists, packaged in gatefold sleeves. For the Small Faces, the label gathered hits and album tracks from both Decca and Immediate while adding unreleased studio & live material, promoting the LP as “the birth, spring, summer and autumn of the Small Faces in two albums for the price of one”.

Immediate Records founders Andrew Loog-Oldham and Tony Calder had a more pressing reason for the new album series. Their label had run into severe financial difficulties with foolhardy and costly legal actions against both United Artists and CBS Records in America. Oldham & Calder needed to raise money fast to keep Immediate afloat. Calder’s idea for quick revenue was new double album compilations, beginning with their most popular and successful artist, the Small Faces. ‘Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake’ had spent six weeks at No.1 while ‘Lazy Sunday’ from the LP had reached No.2 in the singles chart and optimism was high for ‘The Autumn Stone’ to repeat that success and help turn the label’s fortunes around.

But Immediate was in turmoil. Oldham was gripped by drug and alcohol addiction, affecting his judgement and keeping him out of the office. The stress of running Immediate caused Calder severe stomach ulcers which haemorrhaged in the office and almost killed him. The Small Faces had split into two new bands and none of the members were interested in promoting an LP for a label that no longer paid them. After expensive packaging problems held up manufacturing, ‘The Autumn Stone’ was finally released in November 1969 without anyone at Immediate spotting two of the four sides were unfinished and ran to just 10 minutes, whilst the Gered Mankowitz-designed sleeve was missing the band’s name..

Further woes with cashflow meant Immediate did not have funds to distribute the album properly, resulting in low sales of just over 14,000 units, a disaster for the label. With debts mounting, Calder, his artists and the music industry deserting him, Oldham voluntarily placed Immediate into liquidation on 18 March 1970. Martin Spencer, specialist in Liquidation & Receiverships at Stoy Hayward later declared Andrew Oldham himself was Immediate’s largest creditor. Oldham’s own label was in debt to him for £250,000 (over £2 million today), all of which he lost.

Despite being a uniquely excellent (if incomplete) compilation, the album soon disappeared from the racks, much like the Immediate label itself..

‘The Autumn Stone’ was a worthy retrospective of the Small Faces career with just a hint of what could have been. The original double album was a cross-label compilation ahead of its time, in an era when record companies did not cooperate and fiercely guarded their song catalogues. Another first for Immediate Records, but far too late to help it as autumn leaves crumbled into a winter of bankruptcy, debt and legal issues for the once-trailblazing label and its maverick leader, Andrew Oldham.

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‘THE AUTUMN STONE’ & THE SMALL FACES

by Kenney Jones (extract from the Collectors’ Edition sleevenotes)

“We never knew anything about it! We only found out the moment ‘The Autumn Stone’ was out. Steve knew more because Immediate paid him money to go into the studio and mix tracks we never had a chance to finish, like ‘Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall’, a concert we recorded in Newcastle with Glyn Johns & a track left over from ‘Ogdens’ we called ‘Collibosher’. There’s a longer, heavier version of that somewhere, without the brass. We started sessions for our next album straight after ‘Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake’. Steve had a title of ‘1862’, a date he’d found on the wall of his studio by Beehive Cottage. We worked on songs at both Trident & Olympic studios. Some we finished like ‘Donkey Rides’, some we didn’t & some we took to the album we backed Johnny Hallyday on with Peter Frampton in France.

“The last thing we worked on & finished together as the Small Faces was ‘The Autumn Stone’. Steve wrote this for his girlfriend, Jenny Rylance & it was originally called ‘Jenny’s Song’. When he renamed it ‘The Autumn Stone’ it became the title of what would have been our new album. We also did ‘Wham Bam, Thank You Mam’, a redo of ‘Me You And Us Too’ which had Nicky Hopkins on piano instead of Mac, when Mac had left the band for 5 minutes after a bust up with Steve. I felt ‘The Autumn Stone’ & ‘Wham Bam, Thank You Mam’ were where the Small Faces needed to go after ‘Ogdens’. A mix of folk & rock & roll. We were so pleased with them that we told Andrew this was our next single. But he didn’t like ‘The Autumn Stone’ & without telling us, replaced it with a version of ‘Afterglow’ we’d done to follow up ‘Lazy Sunday’ from ‘Ogdens’. ‘Afterglow’ would have been a huge hit had it been released straight after ‘Lazy Sunday’. But what did Immediate do? The very day ‘Ogdens’ went to no.1, they put out a brand new track Steve had recorded by himself on a cassette tape in his garden with his dog, called ‘The Universal’. Not only was his dog barking – so was Immediate!!! What record label does that???! By the time Immediate released ‘Afterglow’ as a single a year later, we’d split up so we weren’t there for promotion & it only made no.36 in the charts. Immediate did pretend we were still together when they advertised it in the music press, but we’d long gone.

“Humble Pie were signed to Immediate so Steve was still friendly with Andrew & Tony. We weren’t! Me, Ronnie and Mac were broke – there was no money from Immediate so The Stones’ tour manager Stu (Ian Stewart) helped us out by letting us use their space in Bermondsey to rehearse. That’s where we got together with Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood. We started recording with Glyn Johns back at Olympic. Great raw early sessions as the Faces no one has heard. We were also playing gigs as both Quiet Melon and the Faces, finding our way and finding a new audience. Our new manager, Billy Gaff got us out of our recording contract with Andrew just before we signed to Warner Bros. so by October 1969, that was that. No more Small Faces but a new band called the Faces. And we got paid!

“Even though Andrew hated the song ‘The Autumn Stone’, we all had a laugh when it ended up as the title track of the compilation. I heard that was Tony Calder – “Mr. Moneybags”’ – doing, probably to wind Andrew up. What I like about this new edition is we get a chance to have input. At the time when I got the LP and looked at the tracklisting, I thought it wasn’t a bad collection of our Decca and Immediate songs. But we knew Immediate had rushed it because two of the sides were really short, the live tracks were at the wrong speed, the sound on the Decca tracks had been messed around with – and our name wasn’t on the cover! We’ve corrected the speed and sound now, I’ve added some songs I remember we all enjoyed recording, like ‘Green Circles’, ‘Things Are Going To Get Better’, ‘I Feel Much Better’ (with PP Arnold) and ‘Donkey Rides’ which would have been on ‘The Autumn Stone’ had we finished it as a new album. There’s one side of just acoustic mixes, some of which were released on the ‘Here Come The Nice’ CD-only box-set we made as a never-to-be-repeated one-off 12 years ago. It’s a different way of listening to the Small Faces and shows the songs still hold up as acoustic numbers while highlighting the uniqueness of Steve’s incredibly soulful voice. Our reissue producer, Rob Caiger, found an unreleased song we were working on with Eddie Kramer which brought back many fond memories of Olympic Studios, so we mixed that as ‘Olympic Jam’.

“I think about and miss Mac, Ronnie & Steve every day. I’m the last of the Small Faces and, like the album, I’m looking back on what I’ve achieved in the autumn of my years. While I’m here, I’m going to ensure the Small Faces recordings remain on catalogue & are available on vinyl & CD in the best quality they can be, not just on digital streaming platforms on the internet. I’m so pleased the wonderful Gered Mankowitz is back with the Small Faces and involved in the new ‘The Autumn Stone’. And now, after 55 years, he’s finally put our name on the cover!”