Ronnie Lane

Though Ronnie Lane is still not an overly familiar name to the general rock fan, his life was full of substantial musical achievements and personal drama. This hour-and-a-half documentary is an excellent overview of his career, smoothly integrating choice footage of all his major musical groups (the Small Faces, the Faces, and Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance) with interviews of a wealth of his most important colleagues and friends. Those include Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones of the Faces; producer Glyn Johns; various musicians who played with Lane in his solo career; Eric Clapton; Pete Townshend; two of Lane's ex-wives; and some filmed conversations with Lane himself, including ones in which he was suffering from the multiple sclerosis that made his final two decades quite painful. (Other of Lane's comments are heard as voice-over narrative.) Whether playing mod R&B, psychedelia, early-'70s hard rock, or gypsy-flavored roots music, the point's repeatedly made that Lane, unusually for a rock star of his time, cared more for music and doing his own thing than the materialistic trappings of fame. It's a mindset that got him into some trouble at points, as the extensive portion on his financially disastrous attempt in the '70s to tour as a traveling circus of sorts makes clear. His associates also admit he could be a difficult guy to deal with at times, in part because of the onset of a disease whose symptoms weren't initially recognized. Also on the DVD are relatively inessential bonus features with a few more anecdotes from the interviewees, and a few Lane songs performed by some of the musicians who participated in the documentary. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide