Drivin N Cryin pay tribute to Ian McLagan the electrifying keyboardist for the Faces and Small Faces, who died in 2014 in this sneaky bar-band jam that bears his name. A track off the Georgia rock groups upcoming album Live the Love Beautiful, Ian McLagan is framed by singer Kevn Kinneys first-person lyrics, which vividly recall the last time he saw McLagan alive: schlepping his gear down an Austin alleyway in the rain.
Kinney uses the image to reinforce both the humble nature of McLagan, who played on classic-rock gems like Stay With Me and Itchycoo Park, and the musicians dedication to the rock & roll grind. Some people, they do one thing/Talk about it all of their lives/But some people, they keep doin/Its what keeps you alive, Kinney sings.
What is it about this art life that keeps me searching for more? Ian McLagan couldve done a couple records with Small Faces and spent the rest of his life sitting in a bar talking about how great it was, Kinney says. But it seems to me he never stopped believing it whatever it is thats on the other side of this mountain that we are all driving towards.
Opening with the simple, sparse strumming of an acoustic guitar that suggests a ballad is imminent, Ian McLagan pulls a bait and switch and evolves into a flailing mix of jangly guitars, punchy harmonica and producer Aaron Lee Tasjans moody organ. Its a satisfying mash of sounds, leading to a Faces-like slide-guitar solo from Drivin N Cryins newest member, Laur Joamets (ex-Sturgill Simpson guitar hero), who delivers a cascade of weeping notes in line with his bands name.
Its the addition of fellow rock lifer Dan Baird that takes the track to the next level, however. The onetime Georgia Satellites frontman joins his unmistakable voice with Kinneys on the final chorus to howl into the night, envisioning a world where McLagan is alive, well and still on the road.