Five Guys Walk into a Bar...

Five Guys Walk into a Bar... is a four-disc retrospective of the British rock group Faces released in 2004, collecting sixty-seven tracks from among the group's four studio albums, assorted single A- and B-sides, BBC sessions, rehearsal tapes and one track from a promotional flexi-disc, "Dishevelment Blues," which was never actually intended for release.

Eight of ten tracks from 1973's Ooh La La appear, as do eight of nine from 1971's A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse, five of nine from 1971's Long Player (with an additional two in alternate versions) and three of ten from 1970's First Step (Small Faces) (with one extra track appearing in a- and/or B-side that had never appeared before on compact disc appeared on the set, such as the single version of their take on Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" and the dobro-driven B-side "Skewiff (Mend the Fuse)."

Many tracks from BBC sessions appear throughout, including takes on Rod Stewart's own "Maggie May" and "Gasoline Alley," the latter as part of a medley including Faces' own "Around the Plynth." From rehearsal tapes come Faces' earliest recordings from the summer of 1969, including covers of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" (featuring Stewart on guitar) and Howlin' Wolf's "Evil."

The set was compiled by the group's keyboardist, Ian McLagan, who had previously compiled 1999's Good Boys... When They're Asleep.

Five Guys Walk into a Bar... has received a largely positive response from critics since its release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic praised the box set as the best of its type: "There has never been a better box set than the Faces' Five Guys Walk into a Bar.... There has never been a box that captures an artist so perfectly, nor has a box set taken greater advantage of unreleased and rare material, to the point where it seems as essential and vital as the released recordings."^[2]

Track listing

Disc 1

1. "Flying" (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [A]
2. "On The Beach" (Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood) [B]
3. "Too Bad" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [C]
4. "If I'm On The Late Side" (Ronnie Lane and Rod Stewart) [D]
5. "Debris" (Ronnie Lane) [C]
6. "Jealous Guy" (John Lennon) [outtake from D]
7. "Evil" (W. Dixon) [Rehearsal, 1969]
8. "As Long As You Tell Him" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [B-side single, 1975]
9. "Maggie May" (M. Quittenton and Rod Stewart) [Live/BBC, 1971]
10. "Cindy Incidentally" [Alternate Mix] (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [outtake from D]
11. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Paul McCartney) [Live/BBC, 1971]
12. "Insurance" (Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood) [outtake from D]
13. "I Came Looking For You"+ (Ronnie Lane) [Rehearsal, 1971]
14. "Last Orders Please" (Ronnie Lane) [C]
15. "Wyndlesham Bay (Jodie)" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [outtake from D]
16. "I Can Feel The Fire" (Ron Wood) [Live, 1975]
17. "Tonight's Number"++ (Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood) [from Mahoney's Last Stand, 1976]
18. "Come See Me Baby (The Cheater)" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [outtake from D]

+ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan
++ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood

Disc 2

1. "Pool Hall Richard" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [A-side single, 1973]
2. "You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)" (Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby, Beth Beatty) [Live/BBC, 1973]
3. "Glad and Sorry" (Ronnie Lane) [D]
4. "Shake, Shudder, Shiver" (Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood) [Rehearsal, 1969]
5. "Miss Judy's Farm" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1973]
6. "Richmond" (Ronnie Lane) [B]
7. "That's All You Need" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [C]
8. "Rear Wheel Skid" (K. Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Ron Wood) [B-side single, 1970]
9. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (Paul McCartney) [A-side single, 1971]
10. "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right" (Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and R. Jackson) [outtake from D]
11. "Take A Look At The Guy" (Ron Wood) [Live, 1975]
12. "Flags and Banners" (Ronnie Lane and Rod Stewart) [D]
13. "Bad 'N' Ruin" (Ian McLagan and Rod Stewart) [Live/BBC, 1971]
14. "Around The Plynth" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [A]
15. "Sweet Lady Mary" (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [B]
16. "Had Me A Real Good Time" (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [B]
17. "Cut Across Shorty" (Marijohn Wilkin and Wayne Walker) [Live/BBC, 1971]

Disc 3

1. "You're So Rude" (Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan) [C]
2. "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland, Norman Whitfield) [Live/BBC, 1971]
3. "Love Lives Here" (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [C]
4. "I'd Rather Go Blind" (Bill Foster, Ellington Jordan) [Live, 1975]
5. "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (Robert Higginbotham) / "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke, Bert Berns, Jerry Wexler) [F]
6. "Gettin' Hungry" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love) [F]
7. "Silicone Grown" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [D]
8. "Oh Lord I'm Browned Off" (K. Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Ron Wood) [B-side single, 1971]
9. "Just Another Honky" (Ronnie Lane) [D]
10. "Open To Ideas" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [F]
11. "Skewiff (Mend the Fuse)" (K. Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Ron Wood) [B-side single, 1973]
12. "Too Bad" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live, 1972]
13. "Rock Me" (Ian McLagan) [F]
14. "Angel" (Jimi Hendrix) [Live/BBC, 1973]
15. "Stay With Me" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1971]
16. "Ooh La La" (Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood) [D]

Disc 4

1. "The Stealer" (Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff) [Live/BBC, 1973]
2. "Around the Plynth" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) / "Gasoline Alley" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1970]
3. "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog For a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings)" (K. Jones, Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and T. Yamauchi) [A-side single, 1975]
4. "I Wish It Would Rain" (Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield, Roger Penzabene) [Live B-side single, 1973]
5. "Miss Judy's Farm" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1971]
6. "Love in Vain" (Robert Johnson) [Live/BBC, 1971]
7. "My Fault" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1973]
8. "I Feel So Good" (Big Bill Broonzy) [Rehearsal, 1969]
9. "Miss Judy's Farm" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [C]
10. "Three Button Hand Me Down" (Ian McLagan and Rod Stewart) [A]
11. "Cindy Incidentally" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [D]
12. "Borstal Boys" (Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [D]
13. "Flying" (Ronnie Lane, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [Live/BBC, 1970]
14. "Bad 'N' Ruin" (Ian McLagan and Rod Stewart) [B]
15. "Dishevelment Blues" (K. Jones, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [promotional flexi-disc, 1973]
16. "Stay With Me" (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) [C]

Key

• [A]= First Step (March 1970)
• [B]= Long Player (February 1971)
• [C]= A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse (November 1971)
• [D]= Ooh La La (March 1973)
• [E]= Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners (December 1973)
• [F]= The Faces' Last Sessions (January 1975)

Personnel

• Kenney Jones: drums, percussion (June 1969-December 1975)
• Ronnie Lane: bass, acoustic guitar, dobro, tambourine, vocals (June 1969-June 1973)
• Ian McLagan: organ, acoustic and electric pianos, harmonium, clavinet, harmony vocals (June 1969-December 1975)
• Rod Stewart: lead vocals; rhythm guitar on "Flags and Banners" and "I Feel So Good" (July 1969-December 1975)
• Ronnie Wood: lead, slide, and pedal steel guitars, bass, harmonica, vocals (June 1969-December 1975)
• Tetsu Yamauchi: bass (June 1973-December 1975)

References

External links

• AllMusic Review
• Rolling Stone Review
• Paste magazine review: [1]