“A massive influence!”: The original mod musician, according to Paul Weller
Paul Weller has been affectionately known for many years as ‘The Modfather’, referring to his important role in leading the mod revival, musically and stylistically, in the late 1970s.
It does seem a bit of a slight to the original mods of British pop, however, to frame one of their younger acolytes as the supposed origin point of anything.
The mod scene essentially began around the time Weller was born in the late 1950s, and by the time The Who and the Small Faces became the sound of the vibrant subculture, Weller was still a young child, too young to hold a guitar. Even so, growing up in the periphery of the scene had a profound effect, as the choice of fashion, transport, haircuts, and riffs made their way into his bloodstream and led directly to the vision he had for The Jam when they formed in 1972.
Americans saw The Jam and presumed a direct lineage from The Who, but Londoners knew that the Small Faces had been the beating heart of mod every bit as much as Townshend’s crew, and Weller was always quick to sing the band’s praises. He held a particular, personal fondness for the group’s steady keyboardist, Ian McLagan, who eventually collaborated with him in the 1990s and 2000s.
“He always had a great spirit about him, a really vibrant person,” Weller said of McLagan, who died in 2014 at 69, adding, “Obviously, the Small Faces had a big impact on me… He’d been the missing component in that group, and for Kenney Jones, Steve Marriott and Plonk [Ronnie Lane] to meet him; he looked the same and had the same musical influences, it was obviously meant to be.”
McLagan resettled in Austin, Texas, in his later years, and continued to play locally with his own group, the Bump Band, still sporting the shag haircut that only his old Faces bandmates Ron Wood and Rod Stewart were legally permitted to carry into old age. In a 2004 interview with the Houston Chronicle, McLagan talked about the legacy of the mod scene, and specifically the somewhat complicated role that Weller and the Jam had played in keeping it going.
“The first time I heard the Jam, I thought they were around at the same time as the Small Faces,” he said, “Then I looked at the date on the recording, and it says ‘76! They weren’t fuckin’ mod, they were punks!”
McLagan left England for America in the 1970s partly because he felt the punks didn’t have any need for Hammond organ players, but he soon realised that younger musicians like Weller appreciated his work, as well as the ethos he and his mates had helped create. “I still meet 12 and 13-year-old mods, second and third generation,” McLagan said, “I see guys dressed mod, and I see guys dressed like I was in the Faces. And I then see guys dressed very Mod that have the [later period] shag cut; it’s kind of either one or the other. It looks awful.”
Not every fan understands the mod fashion timeline, balancing the right jackets with the right hairstyle, but Paul Weller always did his homework, and he got the chance to show his gratitude to McLagan during the times they played together after meeting in the ‘90s.
“Like any great musician, he had a very unique sound to him. From all his influences, like Booker T and Jimmy Smith, whoever they may be, it’s a lovely thing that it goes into your system, but it comes out as something special to that person,” Weller said of McLagan, deeming him a huge influence on musicians of every age and being grateful that coming generations can always dip into his music through Small Faces and Faces, adding, “You hear something and you know immediately it’s Mac”.
