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Despite no fresh input from any original Faces, apart from keyboard player Ian McLagan, Andy Neill managed to pull off an account so detailed that Rod Stewart is moved to offer praise on the cover of this new edition, now updated to include Mac’s unexpected 2014 death and details on the subsequent reunion he craved but sadly didn’t live to enjoy.

Through speaking to friends, family, collaborators and crew, and diving deep into press archives, Neill forensically charts the lives of Rod, Woody, Mac, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones, from birth, through the Small Faces and Jeff Beck Group, and into the UK’s most beloved live band by the early 70s.

There’s exhaustive musical analysis, abundant drunken escapades and the fullest account yet of their 1975 split (clinched by Woody’s defection to the Stones, rather than Rod’s solo career). That’s all followed by what happened next, including Stewart’s stardom and Plonk’s sad demise. One more for the road.

Kris Needs is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. Previously secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, he became editor of ZigZag in 1977 and has written biographies of stars including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards. He's also written for MOJO, Record Collector, Classic Rock, Prog, Electronic Sound, Vive Le Rock and Shindig!