IAN MCLAGAN

Interview by Robin Cook
(February 2015)

Keyboardist Ian McLagan, who passed away December 2014, was eulogized by Rolling Stone as "the Small Face with a big heart." McLagan had talent to match, and with that talent, he found fame with the Small Faces. When Steve Marriott left and was replaced by Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, the band dropped "Small" from their name and transformed into a boozy, good-time band. His post-Faces career included a long list of session credits, including Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and the Rolling Stones.

McLagan had lived in Austin for years and his shows with the Bump Band were a staple of the annual South by Southwest Music Festival. This interview with him took place after one such show in March 2008. He spent ten minutes greeting and hugging people. He was warm and in high spirits. It was especially poignant, as he had lost his wife Kim two years before.

In 2012, McLagan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Small Faces/Faces. He joined bandmates Kenney Jones and Ron Wood onstage, with Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, performing "Stay With Me" and "Ooh La La."

Rick Moody, who interviewed McLagan for Salon in 2014, described him as "lively, sweet, imperturbable example of a generation that is not going gently into the good night." An apt description of the artist I was lucky to interview.