Ronnie Lane is one of those musicians who never really got recognized for the great talent he was.

He was mostly know for being in the Small Faces and the Faces, where he played bass and wrote songs, but was largely overshadowed by front men Steve Marriott and Rod Stewart, respectively. 

His later work both as a solo artist and with his band Slim Chances is what I have really been enjoying lately. He left the Faces in '72 and chose a quieter life on a large farm in Wales.  At one point he arranged a tour that was literally a circus-- they traveled as a caravan across England and set up tents, had animal attractions, etc. It was Ronnie's dream and it turned out to be a financial failure he never really recovered from.

Some of his songs for his first solo album, Anymore for Anymore, were recorded by the band outdoors in the hills of his property, surrounded by sheep and children playing.That era of the early to mid 70s seems to have been the most idyllic of his life.

And here's a performance of the lead track from that album, "How Come":



Lane's music fits into the classic rock idiom in some ways, the Americana idiom in others, but it has a buoyancy and a sparky energy that make it special and idiosyncratic. Ronnie's essence is truly captured in his songs.