Ron Wood & Ronnie Lane- Mahoney's Last Stand

Originally posted on Instagram, December 8, 2019.

You know what I really like? That span of time in the early 1970s when British rock musicians got really into American roots music and went full yeehaw. I'm talking about the Kinks' 'Muswell Hillbillies', the Faces' 'Ooh La La', all the really "classic" Rolling Stones albums... and speaking of 'Ooh La La', this is its lesser-known twin, 'Mahoney's Last Stand'!

Wait, what? Yeah, you heard that right. Apparently, when the other members of the Faces got tired of waiting for Rod Stewart to show up at the recording studio, they passed the time by making this album. Their friends showed up to help out, too- some of the guest stars on this album include The Who's Pete Townshend, Rolling Stones sax player Bobby Keys, and Blind Faith bass player Ric Grech.

'Mahoney' is mostly instrumental, with a few straightforward 70s rock tracks, but a lot more blues and folk-influenced ones, stylistically held together by Ronnie Wood's manic slide guitar. The biggest surprise is a traditional Sacred Harp-style version of the hymn "I'll Fly Away", which seems like an odd choice at first, but fits in perfectly with the rustic, rootsy vibe of the album. And as there so often was on albums Ronnie Lane had anything to do with, there's a quiet little song that gets lodged in your heart and stays there. On this album, it's "Just For A Moment", an emotional and beautiful ending to both sides of the record- first as an instrumental, and later with vocals by Ronnie Lane.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed to have it in for Ronnie Lane. (Seriously, if you ever want a good cry, look him up on Google.) After this album was recorded, it was given to a movie director to be used as the soundtrack to an indie film called (surprise) 'Mahoney's Last Stand'. The film was a flop, and naturally, so was its soundtrack. It also didn't help that the album wasn't released for some years after it was recorded, by which point the Faces had broken up, everybody had moved on, and the roots-music trend was over. Oh well... at least we can appreciate it now.