Music history has a special niche reserved for Ian McLagan, who has died aged 69 after suffering a stroke. His distinctive and evocative playing on the Hammond B3 organ and Wurlitzer piano much influenced, as he admitted, by the R&B veteran Booker T Jones became part of the fabric of rocknroll through his work with two classic British bands, the Small Faces and the Faces.
McLagans playing was integral to the success of such hits as the Small Faces All Or Nothing (1966) and the Faces Stay With Me (1971). In addition, he enjoyed steady employment with musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to Billy Bragg and Bonnie Raitt. He also featured prominently on the early solo albums of Rod Stewart as the singer developed into an international superstar.
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In Itchycoo Park (1967) which went to No 3 in the UK and into the top 20 in America his whimsical runs offered teasing clues to the songs psychedelically enhanced origins. We were always smoking dope and taking pills there wasnt any time we werent stoned, McLagan confessed.
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RIP Ian.
