A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse

Faces | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KDW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,960 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #86 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Proto Punk

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: FACES
Title: NOD IS A GOOD AS A WINK
Street Release Date: 09/14/1993
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Faces at the Top of Their Form, January 14, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse (Audio CD)

Not to take anything away from the vocal pipes of Rod Stewart or the other rooster-do'd newcomer to the previous Small Faces, but the real star of this band was the late Ronnie Lane.

His rollicking "Last Orders Please" and the heartbreaking "Debris" were classic Faces (and songs that would stay in Lane's solo repertoire until MS finally claimed him in 1997).

Ron Wood's no-frills guitar playing helped propel rockers like "Miss Judy's Farm," "Too Bad," "That's All You Need" and the band's only Top 40 hit "Stay with Me" (#17). The band also does a nice turn on Chuck Berry's "Memphis."

This album, along with Long Player--both released in 1971, show why this was one of the few bands that really mattered in the wake of the dissolution of the Beatles. This is plain and simple rock 'n' roll, and nobody could rock like the Faces. If you weren't around to hear it when this album was first released, you owe to yourself to get it now to find out what you missed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars C'mon..., August 14, 2006

By 

Don Schmittdiel "running_man" (Clinton Twp., MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse (Audio CD)

...what are you reading this for? You know what to expect when you buy a disc produced by Rod Stewart's Faces: at least four or five hard-rocking party numbers ('Miss Judy's Farm', 'Stay With Me', 'Memphis', 'Too Bad', and 'That's All You Need') featuring Rod's raspy vocals, and heavy, pulsing guitar and bass lines courtesy of Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane; two or three irresistible love ballads ('Love Lives Here', 'Debris'); and to top it all off, some honky-tonk or boogie numbers ('You're So Rude', 'Last Orders Please'). 'A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse...', released in November of 1971, charged up to number six on the US album charts, and stands as the most commercially successful of the bands' four albums.

While there isn't always great depth to the lyrics offered up by the three R's... Rod, Ron, and Ronnie, no one can deny that they often cut straight to the chase. On 'Miss Judy's Farm', Rod paints vivid scenario's such as "I was just eighteen and all I needed was to get my way". Ironically, on 'That's All You Need', Stewart sings, "...my kind of music... you knew it wasn't gonna be simple..." when "simple" is exactly the form of music this band revels in. That particular song drifts along on a masterful lead guitar riff that makes it one of the most under-appreciated epic rock tracks. The second side of 'A nod...' (on the original vinyl version) opened with one of the bands' most successful single releases, 'Stay With Me', which climbed to number eight on the national charts in January of 1972. Despite being mercilessly overplayed on both the AM and FM frequencies, 'Stay With Me' has proven powerful enough to overcome overexposure. Stewart's barroom delivery takes lines like "I hear you're a mean old Jezebel" and transforms them into terms of endearment. A honky tonk piano track and grinding rhythm guitar propel the number into a fantastic instrumental coda embracing several faux finishes. 'Too Bad' chimes in with a tale involving a twelve foot tall butler, a colored queen, and sweaty girls over an up-tempo, party-rock beat. Their cover of Chuck Berry's 'Memphis' plods along in the beginning, but confidently gains intensity as Rod tells the familiar tale about a phone call from southside Memphis Marie, all of six years old.

Among the better ballads are 'Love Lives Here', offering a melodic combination of guitars, piano, and organ, and Ronnie Lane's 'Debris', supported by more solid guitar and piano interaction. While less entertaining than the surrounding fare, 'You're So Rude' blends a rocking rhythm guitar riff with a tight electric lead guitar, and tops it off with a harmonica in the coda. Perhpas the weakest track among the nine performed is the side one closer, 'Last Orders Please', a break-up tale dropping some worn cliche's such as "you've got yours and I've got mine".

I was a senior in high school the year that 'A nod...' hit the shelves, and the disc proved to be one of the first to hit the platter at each and every party that brought closure to that most important of all years. Whenever I see that cover (which always made me think of this as a live disc, which it isn't), surrounded by that distinct dark brown border, waves of memories and emotions from my youth surround me. For that reason, my own perception of the quality of this disc may be biased, but with each subsequent listen I feel vindicated that it isn't just my associations to it that make 'A nod...' a rock and roll classic. As many good times as this album must have witnessed in the early 1970's, it remains vital enough to produce many more to come.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Faces' best record, March 27, 2005

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse (Audio CD)

"A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse" is the Faces' third album in just two years, and it is their most consistent record alongside 1973's "Ooh La La".

Filled with crunchy electric guitars, blooze-n-boogie piano, and deep, bluesy grooves, it boasts the group's only significant hit, the superb, fiery rocker "Stay With Me". But there are numerous other highlights, including the strutting "Miss Judy's Farm", a rollicking cover of Chuck Berry's "Memphis", and the piano-driven hard rock of "Too Bad"...everything is worth a listen, actually.
"A Nod Is As Good As A Wink..." rocks like very few other records of the early seventies, and this fine record proves what a great, underrated rock n' roll outfit the Faces were.