All Or Nothing | |
Cover: | All or Nothing by Small Faces.jpg |
Caption: | West German picture sleeve |
Type: | single |
Artist: | Small Faces |
B-Side: | Understanding |
Released: | 5 August 1966[1] |
Recorded: | 25 July 1966 |
Studio: | IBC, London |
Genre: | Rock, hard rock |
Length: | 3:04 |
Label: | Decca (US RCA Victor) |
Producer: | Don Arden |
Prev Title: | Hey Girl |
Prev Year: | 1966 |
Next Title: | My Mind's Eye |
Next Year: | 1966 |
Type: | song |
Artist: | Small Faces |
Released: | 14 November 1969 |
Recorded: | 18 November 1968 |
Venue: | Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne |
Length: | 3:41 |
Label: | Immediate |
"All or Nothing" is a song written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane of the British rock band Small Faces and released as a single in 1966.
The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 15 September 1966.[2] [3]
The song was also a major hit in both the Netherlands, where it reached number two and Ireland, where it reached number three. It was also the first song by the Small Faces to chart in the Republic of Ireland, as "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", "Sha-La-La-La-Lee" and "Hey Girl" all failed to do so.
According to Kay Marriott, Steve's mother, Steve wrote this song about his split with ex-fiancée Sue Oliver, though first wife Jenny Rylance states that Marriott told her he wrote the song for her as a result of her split with Rod Stewart. Both statements are said to be correct.[4]
The song was recorded at IBC Studios in Portland Place, London. It appears on the Decca album From the Beginning. A live version is found on the BBC Sessions album.
Following Marriott's death in a house fire in 1991, the song was played as the requiem at his funeral.[5]
The song appeared in the soundtrack for the 2010 film Made in Dagenham, Nigel Cole's film about the 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike at Ford Dagenham, where female workers protested against sexual discrimination and for equal pay.
The song is used as the theme tune (over the opening credits) on the 2012 BBC UK TV series, The Syndicate, about a group of lottery winners. Swedish pop band Tages did one of the earliest versions of the B-Side "Understanding", which appears on their 1966 album Extra Extra. The hard rock band UFO covered the song as a bonus track on their album No Heavy Petting. The punk rock band X also covered the song on their 1985 album Ain't Love Grand!.