Tango-Tiger

Ronnie Lane was born in the poor East End of London in 1946. His father who doted on him advised he should learn to play a musical instrument "then you will always have a friend" were his words.

Ronnie was given an old ukulele which he played as a small boy at the local bus terminal to earn a few coins of pocket money, then as a teenager he played with other local teen musicians which included Kenny Jones who would later join him in the Small Faces and the Faces before becoming the replacement drummer with The Who after Keith Moons tragic death. During these early practice sessions it was agreed that Ronnie should change from rhythm guitar to bass as no one else was willing to make the move.

Later Ronnie's father took him to a local shop to purchase the new instrument and they were served by a small cheeky chap called Steve Marriott (Small Faces, Humble Pie), Steve was invited by Ronnie to join his friends who were playing at a local pub that night and Steve's raucous VoiceMod Pro Crack and cockney style resulted in great delight, however getting carried away Steve then danced on the pubs only piano until it was wrecked and Steve, Ronnie and Kenny found themselves ejected into the street.

This trio of young men hit it off so well that they decided to form the Small Faces, so named because of their diminutive size and soon after they invited Ian McLagan to join them on keyboards when they saw how similar he looked to them in a local magazine article.

The Small Faces got a regular slot at a local London pub and like The Who, a similar band of the time, they went from strength to strength and in 1968 they brought out one of the first truly psychedelic albums of the age called "Ogden's Nut Gone" the songs for this album were mainly written by the prolific duo of Lane & Marriott and Stanley Unwin added a bizarre narration between the tracks of one side as "Happiness Stan". Years later The Observer newspaper described Ogden's Nut Gone as the "Top British Album of All Time".

Another claim to fame of Ronnie Lane at the time was his snappy sense of dress and the band soon followed suit, it is unclear if the band actually created the "Mod" image made so popular in the days of "Mods and Rockers" but they certainly were one of the first bands to develop on the theme.

But in early 1969, Ronnie, Kenny and Ian were left high and dry when the lead singer Steve decided to leave the band to join Peter Frampton (ex Herd) to form the new group called Humble Pie. In search of a way forward Ronnie invited a musical neighbour to join them, Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones) who brought along a friend who could sing, Rod Stewart, and one of the best live bands of the 1970's, The Faces, was born.
The Faces became a sell out act in music arenas and stadiums in both the UK and USA, but by mid 1973 Ronnie became disillusioned with the band as Rod began to spend more time on his solo career and not wishing to be left in the lurch once more Ronnie himself opted to leave and dropped out from the glitzy world of international stardom to move to a farmhouse on the rural Welsh borders where he formed his own band called Slim Chance and followed the religious teachings of the Meher Baba as introduced by Pete Townsend his friend from The Who.

Now living a gypsy lifestyle and unhindered by the high pressure music industry, Ronnie and Slim Chance could concentrate on the joy of music for it's own sake and not just for commercial success, they developed a unique musical style that sparkled with a fascination for spontaneity and imagination using instruments that were otherwise shunned by many in the industry at the time, rustic violins, mandolins, accordions and wind instruments of many shapes and sizes.

A musical open house evolved and many well known musicians would drop in for a jam session sat on the Welsh hills surrounded by local sheep, the family children and jugs of the local brew, Eric Clapton freely admits to writing some of his best work of the time sitting shoulder to shoulder with Ronnie and friends.

Still financed mainly by the remains of his money from the days in The Faces, Ronnie forever creative of things new, hit on the bizarre idea of forming a travelling musical circus to play in the small local towns and villages around the UK.

Using antiquated trucks and buses, an old "Big Top" marquee and an eager band of dancers, clowns, jugglers, fire eaters and his musical group Slim Chance they toured as "The Passing Show", playing to audiences of every style and size, they performed songs not from a well rehearsed list but chosen to suit the local mood, Cajun, Blues, Rock and Roll, Soul, British folk, Skiffle, Music Hall and Pub songs all flowed free with Ronnie's unique musical style, charm, character and direction.

But sadly although "The Passing Show" was artistically very well received it was a financial disaster and finally Ronnie had to admit that the money had run out.

He was broke, but helped by old friends and colleagues from the music industry he put out a couple of singles of which "How Come" particularly raised much media interest and soon he was back into the commercial saddle which opened up opportunities to write and perform on stage again with friends Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend plus artists like Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart and even Paul McCartney.