Sunday, April 1, 2012

Rod Stewart, Ron Wood Excited About Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Faces Reunion


From Cleveland.com
Count on at least one historic reunion at this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The surviving members of the Faces will perform Saturday, April 14, during the sold-out event at Cleveland's Public Auditorium.
It will be the first time that all of them have played together in nearly 20 years. Singer Rod Stewart was joined onstage by guitarist Ronnie Wood, keyboard player Ian "Mac" McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones at the 1993 Brit Awards in London, where the Faces roses from the ashes of the Small Faces in the 1970s.
"I'll be glad when we get past the first rehearsal, because it's always a bit nerve-wracking," Stewart, 67, said by phone today from his Los Angeles home.
"I'll be good after the first rehearsal," he said. "Blow off the cobwebs."
Their Rock Hall set will include "Stay with Me" and "Ooh La La," according to Stewart.
Faces bass player Ronnie Lane died in 1997, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
"It'll be wonderful for us all to get back together with Rod as the center man," Wood, 64, said in a separate interview from London.
"Everybody is really looking forward to seeing each other. . . . We'll have to make some adjustments. We're not as young as we used to be. We're going to have to change the odd key of a song, but there's no harm in that."
The Faces will be inducted alongside the Small Faces, the 1960s group (of "Itchycoo Park" fame) that included Jones, Lane, McLagan and the late singer-guitarist Steve Marriott.
The Faces plan to slip a Small Faces song -- probably "What'cha Gonna Do About It" -- into their Rock Hall performance.
With Stewart and Wood in the fold, the Faces became a popular draw on the road in the United States. They scored a Top 20 hit with "Stay with Me" in 1972. Three years later, the Faces disbanded.
This will be the second Rock Hall induction for Stewart, previously enshrined as a solo artist, as well as for Wood, already in the hall as a member of the Rolling Stones.
"There aren't many of us who've done it a second time, are there?" Stewart said.
Actually, Eric Clapton has been inducted three times (solo and for his stints with the Yardbirds and Cream).
"Bastard!" Stewart quipped, laughing.
The Faces reunion here could be a springboard for more performances in the future.
"It could be just the one night, and we all punch each other up afterwards," Stewart said. "Or it could go on forever. Well, it wont go on forever. But let's see how it goes."
"We all would love to do a bit more," Wood said. "With everybody's other commitments, we just take one gig at a time. We'll just see how it goes with that one. Maybe it will spur us to do more gigs."
Asked if he had any advice for fellow Rock Hall honorees Guns N' Roses, whose members appear unprepared to put aside their differences for an induction performance, Stewart replied:
"I don't know what the internal problems are. I don't know whether there are any drug problems, or whether they've all grown up a little bit now. I don't know. I think what you've got to remember is, just do it for the public, once. That's the word of advice I would give."
Wood also hopes that GN'R can pull their act together for the ceremony.
"I would say just swallow your pride and play a few songs for the people who put you there," he said.
"Then you can start your personal gripes, you know? Try and do a bit for the people, because they all love Guns N' Roses. Doesn't matter if you have little squabbles amongst yourselves. Play your gig."
Wood added that he'd love to jam with his pals GN'R guitarist Slash and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea at the festivities.
The Faces and the Small Faces will be inducted by Stevie Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. A 21/2-hour edited version of the ceremony is set to air on HBO at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 5.

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