Songs From A Big Top: Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance Quiz

Answer: The Small Faces

Ronnie Lane was the bass player of The Small Faces, formed in 1965, and wrote or co-wrote most of their hits, including "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", and "Song of a Baker".

The Small Faces morphed into The Faces. Bandmate Rod Stewart called him "the backbone of The Faces."

After leaving The Faces, Lane set up Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance. The band were sometimes credited as Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance.

Answer: Folk Rock

For his first album after leaving The Faces, "Anymore For Anymore", Lane was joined by Graham Lyle, Benny Gallagher, Kevin Westlake, Ken Slaven, Steve Bingham, Jimmy Jewell, Bruce Rowland and The Tanners of Montgomery (vocals).

Lane wrote or co-wrote seven of the 11 tracks.

For the second album, "Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance", Lane was joined by Steve Simpson, Ruan O'Lochlainn, Charlie Hart, Brian Belshaw, Glen LeFleur, and Jim Frank. (It just happens to be one of this quiz author's favourite records.)

Lane jokingly claimed that he found the musicians in the pages of "Exchange and Mart", a weekly magazine/newspaper filled with items for sale or wanted.

Answer: How Come

"How come when I cut the ace of hearts
You always draw the ace of spades?
How's it when your best friend
Brings you lilies on your birthday?

How come, how come?
Well, I ain't superstitious, but
Well, these things I've seen
How come, how come?
I ain't a superstitious fella, but it worries me..."

"How Come" spent eight weeks on the charts in 1974 and peaked at number 11.

Their only other hit was "The Poacher", which reached number 36 in the same year.

Answer: Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle

Although only with Lane for a short time, Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle provided vocal harmonies and played various instruments.

The duo came to prominence in 1968 when they were signed by The Beatles to write for Apple Records.

While they won the appreciation of critics and aficionados, mainstream success was to elude them. Their best chart performance was with the album "Breakaway", which reached number six in the UK in 1976.

Their singles "Heart On My Sleeve" and "I Wanna Stay With You" both topped out at number six in 1976.

Answer: Traveling circus

Writing in "The Guardian" newspaper in 2014, Graeme Thomson described it as "one of the most heroically ill-judged attempts to enliven the traditional touring model".

The band in their Romany caravans toured the highways and byways accompanied by a troupe of dancing girls, fire eaters, and jugglers.

Thomson added: "He [Lane] pitched his Big Top tent and watched his money disappear."

Answer: The Poacher

"Was fresh and bright and early I went towards the river
But nothing still has altered just the seasons ring a change
There stood this old timer
For all the world's first poacher
His mind upon his tackle
And these words upon his mind:
Bring me fish with eyes of jewels
And mirrors on their bodies
Bring them strong and bring them bigger
Than a newborn child..."

"The Poacher" hit number 36 in 1976, yet some say it was a better song than "How Come", which reached number 11.

Answer: Eric Clapton

The album was released in 1979.

Clapton played guitar and also wrote one of the tracks, "Barcelona", with Ronnie Lane.

Wings guitarist Henry McCullough also joined the recording line-up.

In 1977, Lane and Pete Townshend of The Who recorded an album "Rough Mix". It reached number 44 on the UK album chart, and number 45 on the Billboard 200.

During the recording, Lane was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Answer: On a farm

Drummer Colin Davey later recalled: "On my first visit to Fishpool, [the name of the farm] it was like being in a wonderland. I slept in an old bus, we had no water to wash (heatwave 1975) but we made 'One For The Road', which includes 'Burnin' Summer' and we drank the Three Tuns dry. And we did it all for love and Ronnie - not money."

The album was recorded in a mobile unit on Lane's farm in Wales. It was the band's third LP. Most of the songs were written by Lane, who also produced it.

Answer: Multiple Sclerosis

Lane was diagnosed with MS in 1977 but continued to record and tour. He emigrated to Texas hoping for a more beneficial climate, and lived in Houston before moving to Austin.

In 1994, he moved with his wife to Trinidad, Colorado. He died at the age of 51 in 1997.

Although he had a busy musical career - he also founded a Slim Chance band in the USA - Lane never made a fortune from music. Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood were among those appreciative musical contemporaries who helped fund his medical care.

Ronnie Lane was inducted posthumously into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 2012.

Answer: Steve Bingham, Charlie Hart and Steve Simpson

Slim Chance also released a 2019 album "New Cross Road" that featured several songs by Ronnie Lane.

One reviewer, Richard Knight, wrote: "There's heart and soul in this album, a lot of warmth and wit too....Slim Chance's championing of Lane's legacy is persuasive. ...delivered with the good time expertise of seasoned players who can also serve up the more spiritual side of Lane's creative output with panache and sensitivity".

On the recording, Bingham, Hart and Simpson were joined by Billy Nicholls, Brendan O'Neill and Geraint Watkins.