Five Guys Walk into a Bar...


Five Guys Walk into a Bar... is a comprehensive four-disc retrospective of the British rock group Faces released in 2004, collecting sixty-seven tracks from among the group's four studio albums, assorted rare single A and B-sides, BBC sessions, rehearsal tapes and one track from a promotional flexi-disc, "Dishevelment Blues" – a deliberately-sloppy studio romp, captured during the sessions for their Ooh [La La |Ooh La La] album, which was never actually intended for official release.
Eight of ten tracks from 1973's Ooh La La appear, as do eight of nine from 1971's A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse, five of nine from 1971's Long Player and three of ten from 1970's First Step. Other vintage Faces tracks long sought after by collectors and completists had never been compiled before. The song that opens this set, "Flying", is a subtly remixed version of the track which originally appeared on First Step. "Wyndlesham Bay" is an early version of one of Rod Stewart's 'solo' songs, "Jodie", with different lyrics.
Many tracks from BBC sessions also appear throughout, including Faces takes on Stewart's own "Maggie May" and "Gasoline Alley," the latter as part of a medley including "Around the Plynth." The Faces' earliest recordings are represented by rehearsal excerpts from the summer of 1969, including covers of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" and Howlin' Wolf's "Evil."
The set was compiled by the group's keyboardist, Ian McLagan, who had previously compiled 1999's Good Boys... When They're Asleep, and his liner notes offer a unique and intimate take on the band's history alongside a fulsome tribute to late Faces founder member Ronnie Lane.
Five Guys Walk into a Bar... has received a largely positive response from critics since its release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the box set as the best of its type: "There has never been a better box set than the Faces' Five Guys Walk into a Bar.... There has never been a box that captures an artist so perfectly, nor has a box set taken greater advantage of unreleased and rare material, to the point where it seems as essential and vital as the released recordings."

Track listing

Disc 1

  1. "Flying"
  2. "On the Beach"
  3. "Too Bad"
  4. "If I'm on the Late Side"
  5. "Debris"
  6. "Jealous Guy"
  7. "Evil"
  8. "As Long as You Tell Him"
  9. "Maggie May"
  10. "Cindy Incidentally"
  11. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
  12. "Insurance"
  13. "I Came Looking for You"+
  14. "Last Orders Please"
  15. "Wyndlesham Bay "
  16. "I Can Feel the Fire"
  17. "Tonight's Number"++
  18. "Come See Me Baby "
+ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan


++ performed by Ronnie Lane and Ronnie Wood

Disc 2

  1. "Pool Hall Richard"
  2. "You're My Girl "
  3. "Glad and Sorry"
  4. "Shake, Shudder, Shiver"
  5. "Miss Judy's Farm"
  6. "Richmond"
  7. "That's All You Need"
  8. "Rear Wheel Skid"
  9. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
  10. " [I Don't Want to Be Right]"
  11. "Take a Look at the Guy"
  12. "Flags and Banners"
  13. "Bad 'N' Ruin"
  14. "Around the Plynth"
  15. "Sweet Lady Mary"
  16. "Had Me a Real Good Time"
  17. "Cut Across Shorty"

    Disc 3

  18. "You're So Rude"
  19. " I'm Losing You"
  20. "Love Lives Here"
  21. "I'd Rather Go Blind"
  22. "Hi-Heel Sneakers" / "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"
  23. "Gettin' Hungry"
  24. "Silicone Grown"
  25. "Oh Lord I'm Browned Off"
  26. "Just Another Honky"
  27. "Open to Ideas"
  28. "Skewiff "
  29. "Too Bad"
  30. "Rock Me"
  31. "Angel"
  32. "Stay With Me"
  33. "Ooh La La"

    Disc 4

  34. "The Stealer"
  35. "Around the Plynth" / "Gasoline Alley"
  36. "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything "
  37. "I Wish It Would Rain"
  38. "Miss Judy's Farm"
  39. "Love in Vain"
  40. "My Fault"
  41. "I Feel So Good"
  42. "Miss Judy's Farm"
  43. "Three Button Hand Me Down"
  44. "Cindy Incidentally"
  45. "Borstal Boys"
  46. "Flying"
  47. "Bad 'N' Ruin"
  48. "Dishevelment Blues"
  49. "Stay With Me"

    Key

Featuring: