Happy Boys Happy

Review

A superbly ironic title for a rock history with more than its fair share of sadness. Based on candid interviews with Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane and Peter Frampton, the switchback ups and downs of the lives and careers of these three totally original and consummately professional musicians are covered with humour, pathos and incredible detail. Kenney Jones, Jim Leverton and other longtime sidekicks fill out the picture.

The two German authors write in impeccable English about their British rock heroes, demonstrating their encyclopaedic knowledge of the sixties-to-eighties band scene, its myriad personnel changes, and its recordings both famous and obscure. It's like a combination of a Pete Frame family tree expressed as text, interleaved with Dave Marsh reviews of every album produced by the Marriott/Lane/Frampton axis.

The story covers the three main protagonists' careers from their childhoods to the time of writing (mid 1990s), and includes not only the high and happy times of The Small Faces, Humble Pie, The Faces and Slim Chance but also the ensuing events: Frampton's gentle but contented slide towards obscurity, Lane's sad descent into multiple sclerosis (though this was published before his death), and Marriott's frustrations as he sought in the face of every possible adversity to restart his recording career whilst gigging relentlessly around the world, culminating in his untimely demise.

Also included are a number of rare monochrome photographs of the three at various stages in their careers, and appendices covering every detail of their recordings plus an interesting feature on, particularly, Marriott's guitar collection.

All in all, one of the best rock histories I've ever read, and thoroughly recommended