Ronnie Lane was born in the East End of London. After quitting school at the age of 16, Lane met Kenney Jones at a local pub and they formed the group they named "The Outcasts". Initially playing lead guitar, it was quickly decided that he should switch to bass guitar. While visiting the J60 Music Bar in Manor Park, London with his father in order to buy a bass guitar, Lane met Steve Marriott who was working there. Lane bought the bass and went back to Marriott's house after work to listen to records, where Marriott introduced Lane to his Motown and Stax collection. Lane and Marriott set out to put together a band, and recruited friends Jones and Jimmy Winston, who switched from guitar to the organ. Marriott was chosen to be the vocalist.
Lane formed Small Faces with Steve Marriott and Kenney Jones in 1965, who were soon joined by Ian McLagan. He co wrote songs with Marriott including their hit songs "Itchycoo Park" and "All or Nothing." The band disbanded in 1969 as Marriott left the group . The group reformed during the late '70s but Lane did not join them as he was suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Lane formed Faces with McLagan, Jones and Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart in 1969. He was the primary songwriter of Faces, composing many of their best loved pieces including "Ooh La La" and "Debris." He took central dominance during the "Ooh La La" sessions as frontman Stewart was focusing more attention on his solo career. Upset by the poor reviews of the album and of Stewart's increasing popularity, Lane quit in 1973, with his last appearance at Edmonton Sundown on 4 June. He was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi, but the group split in 1975.
After leaving the Faces, Lane formed his own band Slim Chance in late 1973. The band recorded the hit single "How Come" (UK No. 11) and "The Poacher" (UK No. 36), then the album Anymore For Anymore, showcasing his own blend of British rock music, folk and country music.
After initial success with the singles, he commenced a tour called "The Passing Show", touring the UK as a carnival, complete with tents, barkers, etc. Viv Stanshall, from the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, was a short-lived ringmaster (of sorts).
Lane moved to Island Records and issued Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance and One for the Road. In late 1976, he joined a short-lived reformation of Small Faces, but quit after two rehearsals, to be replaced by Rick Wills (who currently plays alongside the former Small Faces drummer, Kenney Jones, in the Jones Gang). However, since Lane had already signed a contract with Atlantic Records as part of the reformed Small Faces, Atlantic informed him that he owed them an album. Pete Townshend recorded an album with Lane, titled Rough Mix, which was released in 1977. Rough Mix was lauded as contender for best album of the year by many critics, but the label did not promote it, and sales were lacklustre. Rough Mix not only left Lane out of debt to the label, but it cemented his credentials as a solid performer.
During the recording of Rough Mix, Lane was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (his mother had also suffered from the disease). Nonetheless, he toured, wrote, and recorded (with Eric Clapton, among many others) and managed to release yet another album, See Me, which features several songs written by Lane and Clapton.
Around this time Lane travelled the highways and byways of England and lived a 'passing show' modern nomadic life in full Gypsy Traveller costume and accommodation. Playing a lot of acoustic music in the open air for his adopted extended family, the sheep, the early morning and the rolling hillsides, in retrospect it could be said that he became the first New Age traveller/performer of the British Isles, at least a decade before the term was commonly used.
In 1983, his girlfriend, Boo Oldfield, contacted record producer Glyn Johns in the hopes of getting a concert organised to help fund Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, a London-based organization. Johns was already arranging Clapton's Command Performance for Prince Charles, so they decided to book the Royal Albert Hall for another couple of nights and hold a benefit concert. The resulting A.R.M.S. Concerts featured Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Kenney Jones, Andy Fairweather-Low, and more. With the addition of Joe Cocker and Paul Rodgers, they toured the U.S. It was during this time that Rodgers and Page started the band, The Firm.
Lane moved to Texas in 1984, where the climate was more beneficial to his health, and continued playing, writing, and recording. He formed an American version of Slim Chance, which was, as always, a loose-knit conglomeration of available musicians. For much of the time, membership included Alejandro Escovedo. For close to a decade Lane enjoyed his rock royalty status in the Austin area and even toured Japan. Still, his health continued to decline, and his last performance was in 1992 at a Ronnie Wood gig. Also in the band that night was Ian McLagan. In 1994 Ronnie and his wife, Susan, moved to the small town of Trinidad, Colorado. Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood generously continued to donate money for his medical care because there were yet no royalties from Small Faces' work. Through the efforts of Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan, Small Faces were eventually able to secure ongoing royalty payments. By then, however, Steve Marriott had died in a house fire and on 4 June 1997 Lane succumbed to pneumonia.
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