Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance “One For The Road”
This album snuck up on me, from behind, and knocked my ass on the floor. I forget how important it is to space them out. Put em away for awhile, re-listen two weeks later. Change the situation. Sometimes, you just need to crank it up and let them do their thing.
Ronnie is well-known as one of the founding members of The Small Faces and The Faces. His solo output is consistently good, the Slim Chance recordings a late-night, rousing and old-timey affair, usually combining mandolin, harmonica, acoustic for a solid roots rock sound. One For The Road seems to be the moment where it fell together best. There are memorable tunes set a dynamic paces, some starting off at barely audible levels. Every number is damn near anthemic the way they build. The music is at once traditional and uniquely original. No, this one doesn’t kick in right away, but when it does. Something something.
I have two more requests concerning Mr. Lane. I heard the 2006 biopic, The Passing Show
“32nd Street”
CD Reissue | 2003 | Acadia | 2fer | buy from amazon
Original Vinyl | 1975 | search ebay ]
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Hey Brendan,
I’ll keep a look out for the Ronnie Lane tracks. I never realized there was some audio botox going on, so thanks for the heads up.
As for “The Passing Show,” it’s well worth owning. Really gives you a feel of where Ronnie was at, professionally and personally. Doesn’t pull too many punches, in the sense that you feel the love, but you also get the impression he was kind of a stubborn pain in the arse as well. But hey, who isn’t, right? Actually, I oughta throw this one on the tube. It’s been awhile since I watched it.
One For The Road is a gem and the title track is one of the great drinking songs, as good as anything the Pogues and others could lay down. Lane’s work on Rough Mix is underrated too in comparison to Townshend’s superb songs but they do stand up admirably. It looks like his travelling live show from the period never stood a chance but oh to be at one of those gigs.
Good stuff!
I’m also a huge fan of the album Anymore for Anymore. It’s one to crank any time.
For all things Ronnie Lane, there is only one person to contact: Bucks Burnett.
Why? He was not only a fan, but an employee of Ronnie’s. He also happens to be a musical and pop culture encyclopedia as well as a darn nice guy.
I’ve always loved Anymore for Anymore and his work with the Small Faces but for reasons I’m not quite sure, I never gave this album a listen until this glowing review reminded me to. It really is an amazing album, definitely among the best work I’ve ever heard him do, so thanks for shining the spotlight on Ronnie and his fantastic work and hopefully giving more people like me a nudge to listen to it.
Do you still need Single Saddle and Snake?
If so, i can pass them on to you.
Single Saddle i have in excellent quality, Snake is a little crackly (but in a great way) as it’s taken from original vinyl.
Has anyone ever come across a Ronnie/Slim Chance bootleg, of a concert or alternate versions, etc?
Seem to be rarer than rocking-horse shit.
Hi Mick Bradley( hope I’m doing right thing to get message to you)
Could you send a copy of single saddle and Snake to me, would mean helluva lot!
I saw Slim Chance in November 1979 at Colchester Institute – fantastic, hypnotic mesmerising and a defining experience, stood in front of Ronnie who just smiled gently most of the time – been a fan ever since,
Rupert
Hi Rupert,
Sorry! Have been offline for an incredibly long time due to hospital and other wonderful things like that!!!
I have emailed the site owner, Brendan, with my new email address and would be only too happy to get those songs to you.
If you can contact Brendan, he will hopefully be able to pass my email address on to you.
Hope this message reaches you!!
Cheers,
Mick.
Great album–I agree that this is probably Slim Chance’s most “fun” album, but then again they’re all great! Just reviewed this album on my blog here: http://www.elliotknapp.com/2011/04/ronnie-lanes-slim-chance-one-for-road.html
The Passing Show is AMAZING !!!! I highly recommend, it shows an amazing side of Ronnie and his story. I felt quite emotional after watching infact.
Anymore for Anymore is by far my fav Ronnie album. Dont you Cry for Me is such a gem and holds a very special place in my heart.
N
There are a few Ronnie gigs around but they are extremely hard to find!!!! I’ve managed to find a few and if you do a youtube search for a channel called stevierobhan i’ve put a couple of songs from them on there (along with Single Saddle) plus a couple of gigs from Texas on video. Eventually i’ll get all the stuff i’ve got onto youtube. As far as studio outtakes go there are a few on some of the compilations but i’ve never found any on bootleg in 20 years of searching!!!!!!
If anyone still needs the albums Ronnie recorded for Island I can recommend the 2CD set ‘An Island Harvest’ released in 2014. It contains both albums, a good number of outtakes rehearsals and live tracks recorded in 1974 for the BBC. Excellent stuff.
Also on the verge of release is a box set called ‘Just For A Moment’. This box set will contain all four albums Ronnie recorded in the seventies and a plethora of non album tracks, outtakes, demos and live material.