Legacy: Ian McLagan

As a former member of the Small Faces you’ve been a mod icon for decades. How’s that working for you?

It’s getting me all the pussy I ever wanted [laughs]. It’s nice that people remember us, a wonderful thing. Now people are listening to their parents’ music, it’s going down through the generations. And so Steve [Marriott] and Ronnie [Lane] stay alive in the music.

And as if that wasn’t enough, The Faces were emblematic of the early seventies?

I’m still waiting to be in an iconic eighties band, but I think I might have missed that boat. Then again, maybe I don’t want to be in an eighties band.

You were the ultimate go-to session guy post-Faces, working with the Stones and Bob Dylan to name but two.

I’m so very lucky to have worked with guys of that calibre and I hope it continues.

Is it gratifying seeing the enduring respect that Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane enjoy?

Oh yeah. When we were inducted at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, that was all about Steve and Ronnie, because they weren’t there and never lived to see how much people love them still.

In an ideal world, what sort of legacy would you like to leave?

The only legacy that I would hope for is that someone thinks fondly of the sort of times when a couple get together and they share a record, with the music I was a part of.

Ian Fortnam

Classic Rock’s Reviews Editor for the last 20 years, Ian stapled his first fanzine in 1977. Since misspending his youth by way of ‘research’ his work has also appeared in such publications as Metal Hammer, Prog, NME, Uncut, Kerrang!, VOX, The Face, The Guardian, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Electronic Sound, Record Collector and across the internet. Permanently buried under mountains of recorded media, ears ringing from a lifetime of gigs, he enjoys nothing more than recreationally throttling a guitar and following a baptism of punk fire has played in bands for 45 years, releasing recordings via Esoteric Antenna and Cleopatra Records.