When the British R&B scene got going in the sixties, the accent was on trying to be an authentic copy of the American originals that were filtering through and inspiring young musicians up and down the country. The same happened with the Mod movement which, although it embraced R&B too, was more focused on US soul. All of this was great, as bands were springing up all over the place, but there was one thing that would hold most bands back and mark out precious few as 'the real deal'. These young bucks were trying their best to emulate the gritty sound of black blues men or the gospel inflection of the soul singers and for a white suburban English kids, it was always going to be a tall order. However, the few that could do a convincing job were to be marked out for greater things as they were just streets ahead of the competition and the ensuing British Invasion of the USA afforded them the chance of becoming international superstars.
Eric Burdon is a fine example of British R&B grit, totally convincing when he bellowed out 'we gotta get out of this place' . Steve Winwood's soulful Ray Charles styling on The Spencer Davis Group's songs is another. Steve Marriott's opportunity to demonstrate his world class powerhouse vocals was given limited opportunity to shine through in the USA during his time with The Small Faces as they never toured there, but his opportunity would come later when Humble Pie hit pay dirt in the seventies. Mod favorite Chris Farlowe and also Mike Patto, then of Timebox and later Patto also deserve a mention too and although their success was on a much smaller scale, they also had the right kind of voices to deliver the goods .
There's one other vocalist who came from the same Mod scene as The Small Faces, whose breakthrough came later on in the sixties, a little time after the Mod scene had peaked and whilst attention was being focused on all things relating to peace and love of the flower power movement and he is Steve Ellis and the band were The Love Affair.
Initially called Soul Survivors and playing all the Mod clubs in and around London and up and down the country, they were signed to Decca Records and released 'She Smiled Sweetly' as a first single. The single didn't make the charts and the band switched to CBS and released a second single; one which would catapult them into the charts in the UK and around Europe. The song was a cover of 'Everlasting Love' by Buzz Cason and Mac Gaydon, written for Robert Knight. Knight got the hit in the USA, but The Love Affair's version was a hit everywhere else. The band had a great run of success through 1968 and were the best selling act of the year bar The Beatles. The following year after further chart success, the band opted to change from the orchestrated sound of their hits that had served them well up to that point, but the single 'Baby I Know' was not a success and Steve opted to leave the band and pursue a solo career.
His first outing was on the soundtrack to the Joe Orton film 'Loot'. Following some solo single releases, Steve decided to form a band called simply Ellis and a Roger Daltrey produced album 'Riding On The Crest Of A Slump' followed. After another album 'Why Not?' was recorded, it was felt that the record company were n't doing their bit to promote the band and they called it a day. Steve then joined hard rock band Widowmaker, armed with an album, they toured the US supporting The Who, but bad chemistry within the band and the grind of a long tour spelled the end for Steve and he quit.
A return to a solo career was attempted and an album 'The Last Angry Man' was recorded but shelved, (although it has subsequently been released and tracks are available to download via I-Tunes). After that Steve decided enough was enough and left the music business. His return some years later was delayed by an horrific accident and after years of recovery, Steve got back out on the road again with Steve Eliis' Love Affair to avoid confusion with whatever version of the original band was doing the rounds at that time. Steve and the band toured for ten years, re-establishing him as a live act in both the UK and Europe. A live album was cut and a dvd was released as a document of this era.
Steve was also responsible for initiating The Steve Marriott Tribute at The Ruskin Arms pub in East Ham, London with boxing promoter Dean Powell. The pub was the birthplace of The Small Faces (and also Iron Maiden) and it became an annual event to celebrate a truly great vocalist and a great band. This eventually morphed into the annual Small Faces Convention which is held every September although, no longer at The Ruskin Arms. In addition to this, Steve made a memorable appearance at the Steve Marriott Memorial Concert at The London Astoria in 2001, which is available as a soundtrack cd and dvd.
Steve then began to work towards recording an album of new material, but everything had to wait for two years after his son was taken ill. Now finally there is a new album available called 'Best Of Days' and Steve is once again out and about reminding audiences of the great vocal talent that he is and has always been.
Kevin Wallbank (UK)
10/22/08
