On this day in music history: September 19, 1967 - “Itchycoo Park” by the Small Faces is released. Written and produced by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, it is the eighth single release and biggest hit for the rock band from London, UK. Guitarist Steve Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane meet each other in 1965, when Lane walks into J60 Music Bar in Manor Park where Marriott works. Marriott and Lane quickly become friends, and decide to form a band. They recruit Kenney Jones (drums) and Jimmy Winston (keyboards), calling themselves the Small Faces. Signing with manager Don Arden (Black Sabbath, ELO), he assists in getting them signed to Decca Records. The Faces quickly land a hit with “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” (#14 UK), hitting the Top 20. With that success also come problems, with Marriott and Winston fighting over control of the band. Winston is fired and replaced by Ian McLagen. In 1967, the Small Faces part ways with Don Arden and Decca when they have reaped little financial reward. Soon after, they meet former Rolling Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham who is starting his own label Immediate Records. Oldham signs the band and puts them in the studio. Experimenting with psychedelic drugs like LSD and amphetamines, it begins to influence their work. The Faces first Immediate single “Here Comes The Nice” (#12 UK) becomes a hit, and surprisingly avoids being banned by the BBC for its obvious drug references. For the follow up, Marriott and Lane write “Itchycoo Park”. The initial idea comes from Ronnie Lane borrowing from the hymn “God Be In My Head”, and the lyrics “over bridge of sighs” and “dreaming spires” while passing through the town of Oxford in the English countryside. The title “Itchycoo Park” is the nickname for Little Ilford Park in London, where a flower called a Stinging Nettle grows prominently, which can cause a rash when touched. The lyrics about skipping school to get high and the refrain “it’s all too beautiful” come from Marriott. The track is recorded at Olympic Studios on June 24, 1967, with Glyn Johns and George Chkiantz engineering. During the session, Johns suggests that they add flanging to the song to emphasize its psychedelic theme. The effect is created by synchronizing two copies of the same recording, with one of them slightly out of sync, giving a swirling and swooshing sound which is recorded to a third tape machine. Released in the UK first on August 4, 1967, it becomes a smash, peaking at #3 on the UK singles chart in spite of temporary ban by the BBC. Issued in the US six weeks later, it also hits the charts, peaking at #16 on the Hot 100 on January 27, 1968. The Small Faces original version is re-released in the UK in 1975, hitting the top ten a second time, peaking at #9. Regarded as a psychedelic pop classic, the song makes a lasting impression, also being covered by Rymes with Orange, Tasmin Archer, Blue Murder, Ben Lee and UK dance group M People.
Dig the reference to stinging nettles! Hardly a "flower" rather a nasty weed beloved of waste ground rather than parks but still . . . I didn't know they were peculiar to Britain but it sounds like it and we should point out perhaps they can really STING and if you fall into a patch of them they can really hurt. Not like poison ivy but close. We practiced many methods of alleviating the sting as children and the 'dock leaf' always seem to do the trick when vigorously rubbed on the afflicted part. I would rate the sting below a wasp but more than irritating none the less . . . the park Stevie references in the song is East End London between Ilford and Barking having been born in nearby East Ham his Dad ran a jellied eel stand called 'Bill's Eels" (sic) and his Mum, Kay, worked in the local sugar factory in Silvertown. . . . the park is still there though minus the nettles . . . . . . we skipped school to spend many happy hours in the parks of the city of Oxford and later into 67-68 this was my soundtrack . . . . . . . alongside Ogden's Nut Gone Flake and Captain Beefheart Trout Mask too . . . . . .
Rest easy in the meadow now Stevie, Plonk . . . . and Ian too
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