In Memoriam is the first posthumous album release by East London rock band Small Faces after the announcement of their break-up in early 1969. It was released on 1 May 1969 through Immediate Records in West Germany only. Their second compilation album following 1967's From the Beginning, In Memoriam is a collection of live cuts and unreleased studio tracks. The studio material was recorded during 1967 and the 1968 sessions for Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, and also included a few tracks possibly intended for their projected but unrealised fourth album 1862. The studio outtakes were complemented by five live tracks recorded on tour in November 1968 (aside from uncredited session work for French pop star Johnny Hallyday in December 1968, these live tracks proved to be the Small Faces final recordings under the group name, and after a final brief tour of Europe in January 1969 the band dissolved).
Former band members objected to the request for an English release of the album, and the tracks remained officially unreleased there for another six months until they were finally repackaged along with various other singles, album tracks and B-sides on Immediate's first double album The Autumn Stone on 14 November 1969.
Background
By mid-1968, the Small Faces had begun to fall apart despite their popular success in the UK. "Lazy Sunday", which was released by Immediate records without the band's knowledge or consent, had reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, and according to drummer Kenney Jones this was considered a "nail in the coffin" for the band by lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Marriott. Marriott was by this point eager to distance himself from the band's frivolous image and his own acquired label of 'pop idol' which he had grown to detest, and to be seen as a more serious musician.
Marriott's own choice of follow-up to "Lazy Sunday" was "The Universal", which was largely recorded on a portable tape recorder in Marriott's backyard. Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan did not play on the recording, as he had lately become exhausted by Marriott's mercurial creative temperament. "The Universal" reached number 16 on the UK chart.
Marriott had considered "The Universal" the best song he had written so far, and he was crushed by its lukewarm reception. However, the band had also recently released their third studio album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake to both critical and commercial acclaim (it reached number 1 in the UK, staying on top of the charts for six weeks). As a consequence of enduring such opposing fortunes in such quick succession, Marriott suffered a crisis of confidence and developed writer's block which left him unable to compose music completely for a while afterward.
Despite the immense success of the "Ogdens" album, by July 1968 the Small Faces seemed at a sudden loss to consolidate that success, and Marriott's crisis of confidence saw him begin to drift apart from his bandmates. By September, he wanted to invite guitarist Peter Frampton, a fellow disaffected teen heart-throb, into the band's lineup in order to beef up the band's sound and allow him to focus more on his singing. Although Frampton made some guest appearances at a few Small Faces concerts in October, much to Marriott's dismay, his permanent addition to the band was vehemently opposed by Bassist and co-writer Ronnie Lane and Ian McLagan. As a result Marriott now began to grow sour on the group's future prospects.
In early December, at the behest of their regular producer/engineer Glyn Johns, the Small Faces-with Frampton in tow-journeyed to France to perform as a five-piece backing band for the sessions for a new Johnny Hallyday album. Discord between bandmates grew during the trip, and the division between them only widened as Lane and McLagan resisted what they must have considered, rightly or wrongly, as Marriott's attempt to force them to accept Frampton permanently into the group. Tensions finally came to a head on 31 December 1968 at a Small Faces performance at the Alexandra Palace where Marriott stormed off stage during (perhaps tellingly) set-closer Lazy Sunday, yelling "I Quit!", leaving his bandmates and guest performer Alexis Korner to conclude the show as best they could.