A Nod is as Good as a Wink… to a Blind Horse is the third album by Faces. It was recorded between March – September 1971 at Olympic Studios, London and released in November of the same year, making this their second album of a very prolific 1971 (not to mention the band also recording Rod Stewart’s solo album Every Picture Tells a Story). The album was co-produced by the Faces and Glyn Johns, who is often attributed to keeping the band more disciplined and focused.
It was their most successful album, reaching number two in the UK charts and number six in the US, whilst gaining a gold disc from the RIAA in 1972. A Nod is as Good as a Wink.. contains one of their best known tunes, the rollicking rock anthem and somewhat misogynistic paean to one night stands, ‘Stay with Me’, which reached number six in the UK and number seventeen in the US.
The album features one cover version, Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis, Tennessee’, and once again sees the band sharing out songwriting credits, with the exception of Kenney Jones. Lane and Wood seem to have matured into a formidable songwriting team and dominate this album with their rocking party anthems ‘Miss Judy’s Farm’, ‘Stay with Me’, ‘Too Bad’ and ‘That’s All You Need’. Ronnie Lane adds a more contemplative twist to the album with his tale of a painful chance encounter by two former lovers on ‘Last Orders Please’ and with his ballad ‘Debris’, on which he also takes lead vocals. ‘Love Lives Here’ co-written by Wood, Stewart and Lane is another ballad which shows a softer side to the usual raucous party atmosphere of the album and ‘You’re So Rude’, sung by Ronnie Lane and co-written with Ian McLagan is a saucy tune about getting caught in flagrante with his girlfriend on a family visit.
