Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
| Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Small Faces | ||||
| Released | 24 May 1968 | |||
| Recorded | November – December 1967 Olympic Studios, London; Trident Studios, London |
|||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop | |||
| Length | 38:27 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Immediate | |||
| Producer | Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane | |||
| Small Faces chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| Mojo | |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) |
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is the third studio album and first concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968, the LP peaked at number one on the UK Album Charts on 29 June, where it remained for a total of six weeks. The title and the design of the distinctive packaging was a parody of Ogden's Nut-brown Flake, a brand of tobacco that was produced in Liverpool from 1899 onwards by Thomas Ogden.
Side one of the album is a mix of early heavy rock, with "Song of a Baker"; psychedelic cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene", the opening instrumental title track (which resembles their second single "I've Got Mine", which was a flop in 1965), and the soul-influenced ballad "Afterglow", as it is called on the LP, but is titled "Afterglow of Your Love" on the subsequent single and some compilations.
Side two is based on an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, narrated in his unique "Unwinese" gobbledegook by Stanley Unwin, who picked up modern slang from the band and incorporated it into the surreal narrative.
The fairy tale follows Stan in his quest to find the missing half of the moon, after seeing a half-moon in the sky one night. Along the way, he saves a fly from starvation, and in gratitude the insect tells him of someone who can answer his question and also tell him the philosophy of life itself. With magic power, Stan intones, "If all the flies were one fly, what a great enormous fly-follolloper that would bold," and the fly grows to gigantic proportions. Seated on the giant fly's back, Stan takes a psychedelic journey to the cave of Mad John the Hermit, who explains that the moon's disappearance is only temporary, and demonstrates by pointing out that Stan has spent so long on his quest that the moon is now full again. He then sings Stan a cheerful song about the meaning of life.
...
Wikipedia