This recording uses a Hammond Organ treated with wah-wah pedal and orchestral flourishes from a string section led by David McCallum Senior (the father of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
An eclectic selection of tracks follow; the proto-Hard rock of "Song of a Baker";[note 1] the psychedelic ballad "Long Agos And Worlds Apart"; cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene" (the latter featuring a lengthy psychedelic jam as its coda); and the intense, soul-influenced ballad "Afterglow"[5] (titled "Afterglow of Your Love" on the subsequent single and some compilations).
Side two of the LP is based on an original fairy tale concept about a boy called Happiness Stan, consisting of a musical suite of six songs interlinked with narration provided by comic monologuist and performer Stanley Unwin in his unique, nonsensical private language of "Unwinese".
Unwin spent time observing the band at work and at play in the studio, and picking up on the private, coded language they used amongst themselves, he incorporated it alongside contemporary slang into his inventive and surreal narrative.
[5] The concept for side two of the album was conceived during a boating trip on the river Thames that the band undertook to relax and recuperate after a disastrous January 1968 tour of Australia and New Zealand, when bassist/vocalist Ronnie Lane noted in a moment of relaxed contemplation that the half-phase moon in the sky appeared to have had half of its surface removed.
The recording of Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake spanned approximately five months, with most of the work done in spring 1968 at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London.
The track did not ultimately appear on the album, however, eventually only seeing release on the posthumous compilation The Autumn Stone more than two years later in November 1969.
Recording began on two tracks intended for a future single, but ultimately not released in this format: another Marriott/Lane original, "Rollin' Over" (initially titled "Bun in the Oven") was the projected A-side, with a cover version of "Every Little Bit Hurts", as the B-side.
Written by Ed Cobb and made famous by Brenda Holloway, the latter track - a slow, soulful ballad - features Marriott on piano instead of his usual guitar, and Ian McLagan on Hammond organ.
At some point during the sessions the group also cut a cover version of the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" - a track which, in contemporary interviews in the UK music press preceding the LP's release, was declared by Marriott to be included on side one.
Arnold, Billy Nicholls, flautist Lyn Dobson and numerous other session players made uncredited vocal and musical contributions to the album.
Mixing of the album was completed by Marriott and Lane through April and May at Trident Studios, with the LP arriving in record shops on 24 May 1968.
The 5 April release of "Lazy Sunday" as the album's lead single, meanwhile, had come as a surprise to the band who had not been consulted over the choice, and Marriott in particular was displeased by it at a time when he wanted the group to be taken more seriously as musicians.
Arnold appeared in session on BBC Radio One's Top Gear show in April to dutifully promote their new single and the forthcoming album.
Although the band mimed playing their instruments to the original studio recordings, their microphones were left on to capture their live vocals and ad-libs.
[9] The album was originally released on vinyl in a circular novelty package of a metal replica of a giant tobacco tin, inside which was a poster created with five connected paper circles with pictures of the band members.
This proved too expensive and not successful as the tins tended to roll off of shelves and it was quickly followed by a paper/card replica with a gatefold cover.
Early pressings of XTC's The Big Express (1984) were similarly packaged in a round sleeve in tribute to the Small Faces album.
[23] The title track was played during the debut trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto V and was later featured on the in-game Los Santos Rock Radio station.