The Faces with Keith Richards - The Midnight Special, Kilburn State Gaumont Theatre, London, Britain, 12-23-1974

Here's one of the top vote getters from my recent poll about the "Midnight Special" TV show. The Faces were number two in that poll. The Faces only appeared in one episode of the show, which was broadcast on April 25, 1975. But it was a special show in three respects. For one, the entire show was dedicated to just them, which was very unusual for that show. Two, it took place at a different location, even a different country, months earlier. And three, they were joined by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, who played lead guitar on three songs.

The involvement of Richards in this concert is pretty interesting if one considers how it fit in to the break up of the band. By the time of this concert at the end of 1974, the Faces were well on their way to breaking up. The main problem was lead singer Rod Stewart. He'd become a superstar as a solo act, so it was easier for him to pursue that, where he could call all the shots, instead of remaining in the Faces. The last album the Faces put out was in 1973. They would only manage to tour and release a couple of singles after that. As a sign of Stewart's growing popularity, by the time of this concert, they were getting billed as "Rod Stewart and the Faces."

Meanwhile, Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones in 1974, meaning that more successful band needed a new lead guitarist. By early 1975, the top choice was Ronnie Wood of the Faces. He actually started touring with the Stones beginning in June 1975, although he wasn't an official member of that band yet. It seems Wood tried to juggle being a member of both the Faces and the Stones for a while, because when the Stones tour ended in early August, he joined a Faces tour starting in late August. But problems between members of the Faces grew and grew, until they announced their break-up at the end of 1975. Wood officially joined the Stones in early 1976.

Given that context, the appearance of Richards here wasn't just random. One could see this as part of a process of Wood moving from the Faces to the Stones. Perhaps it was part of Richards trying to woo Woods into the Stones, and/or see how well he and Woods clicked while performing in concert.

There's one bonus track. In the middle of the episode, there was seven-minute long interview of the band's lead singer Rod Stewart by the show host Wolfman Jack. Clearly, it was recorded at a different time and place than the concert, so it didn't fit. But I figure some people might be interested, so I stuck it in as a bonus track. 

Normally, the sound quality on all these Midnight Special shows has been excellent. But for this one, I noticed the lead vocals were low in the mix. So I boosted them up for all the songs. I also did the usual trick of getting rid of commercial breaks by editing out little bits (especially host Wolfman Jack announcing the breaks) and using more applause to get of the cuts between songs. 

Mere minutes after posting this, a commenter corrected me on the date and location, and also told me there was an extra song not broadcast on Midnight Special, namely, "I'd Rather Go Blind." So I found a different version of this concert that included that song, and added it in. I also added in some banter between songs by Stewart that was edited out by the TV show. Otherwise, the two versions are basically the same. It seems this concert later got released as a movie called "Rod Stewart and the Faces - The Final Concert." It has since come out on DVD, but not in an audio format. 

You can watch this concert/ episode on YouTube. Although Richards doesn't sing (except some very brief backing vocals), his lead guitar work with Woods is excellent. 

This album is an hour and three minutes long, not including the bonus track. 

01 talk by Wolfman Jack (Faces)
02 talk (Faces)
03 It's All Over Now (Faces)
04 talk (Faces)
05 Take a Look at the Guy (Faces)
06 Bring It on Home to Me - You Send Me (Faces)
07 Sweet Little Rock and Roller (Faces with Keith Richards)
08 talk (Faces with Keith Richards)
09 I'd Rather Go Blind (Faces with Keith Richards)
10 talk (Faces)
11 Angel (Faces)
12 I Can Feel the Fire (Faces)
13 You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Faces)
14 talk (Faces)
15 Twistin' the Night Away (Faces with Keith Richards)
16 You Wear It Well (Faces)
17 Maggie May (Faces)
18 We'll Meet Again (Faces)

interview (Faces) 

https://pixeldrain.com/u/hzhFMx66

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/ulSGDNNzhUI9E4t/file

The cover image is a screenshot taken from this exact concert. From right to left: Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Rod Stewart. For once, I didn't have to move them closer together in Photoshop, since they were all trying to get near the microphone.