Small Faces “Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake” (1968)

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is a work of pure genius, from the title of the album, through the seemingly mish-mash blend of rock, psychedelia, music-hall and ridiculous fairy tale back to the music of the title track. Side one knits together some classic rock songs, my favourites being "Afterglow" (which manages to give me goose bumps) and "Song Of A Baker" (as close to a pastoral song as East End boys are going to get) - two great rock songs, with the instrumental title track, psychedelia and music-hall ("Rene"). All good pieces. An unlikely mix, but they pull it off. The genius is that they manage to mirror this strange mix of styles on side two, while incorporating it into a fairy tale told part in song and part in gobbledegook by a narrator. And it works well (contrast the artistically less successful Beach Boys' fairy tale EP Mt. Vernon And Fairway). It works because they don't take themselves too seriously. A masterpiece! –Jim