About Me
This page is maintained by Darinagh at The Passing Show Ltd. We produced The Passing Show-The Life and Music of Ronnie Lane. The DVD will be released on 23rd October 2006.Ronnie Lane started life as the archetypal East End urchin who became a pop star at 17. He formed the Small Faces and with Steve Marriott started one of the great songwriting partnerships of the 60's. Ronnie then became the chief songwriter and co-lead vocalist of the Faces, arguably the best live band of the Seventies.At the height of their fame, the dapper Lane left the Faces, metamorphosed into a gypsy troubadour, and acquired a second hand circus tent and its fleet of ancient vehicles. He led his troupe of hippy musicians, runaways, clowns and acrobats on a ramshackle tour of the English and Scottish counties. Called the Passing Show it was a bold move, and although culturally successful, was a financial disaster. Moving to a hill farm on the Welsh borders, Ronnie licked his wounds and recruited a talented group of multi-instrumentalists. Not expecting financial success, he called them 'Slim Chance' and recorded a series of low key but critically acclaimed albums in his barn.During this time curious members of the Rock and Roll ‘A' list such as Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend would pay extended visits to see what their old friend was up to. Enjoying the anonymity, they found that Ronnie had been quickly accepted by the locals and the farm had become the centre of a vibrant cultural scene. The music adapted as well, with Lane increasingly influenced by Romany Gypsy culture, writing songs that were vignettes of country life and the characters around him. Eric Clapton says this time with Ronnie was a huge influence on his own songwriting.Although respected by musicians young and old, Ronnie wasn’t hitting the charts in the era of punk. The ever loyal Pete Townshend suggested they realise a long held ambition to record an album together. Ronnie was able to recruit an extraordinary cast of musicians to the project including Eric Clapton, Ian Stewart, Charlie Watts and the legendary producer Glyn Johns.
The resulting album, Rough Mix, still stands up as a classic rock record.By the mid-Seventies, Ronnie was showing early signs of Multiple Sclerosis. As a child, he had witnessed his mother’s decline from the same disease. His health began a twenty-year roller-coaster of decline and improvement, which effectively ended Ronnie's career as a player although it was far from the end of his story. In 1983 a stellar line up of musicians lead by Johns and Clapton got together and performed the ARMS (Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis) concerts. Originally conceived as a fund raiser for Ronnie's medical bills it was typical of the man that he insisted the money went to MS Research instead.He found his next home at the heart of the music community in Austin, Texas. He continued to write songs, and when he was well, he played gigs and radio shows with local musicians, often making brief but entertaining stage appearances when his old mates, like Ron Wood, passed through town.He finally passed away in 1997 in a small town on the New Mexico-Colorado border.Clearly Ronnie was no saint although he appears to have been loved by nearly everybody he came into contact with and managed to both delight and exasperate most in equal measure. As a musician he continues to be hugely influential with several of his timeless songs now firmly established as part of our musical heritage.
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