All Or Nothing: The Authorised Story Of Steve Marriott

Atiny man with a huge voice and massive personality issues, Steve Marriott (below, centre) was the singer and chief songwriter in 1960s group the Small Faces (right), and later Humble Pie. A cheeky-chappie exterior masked numerous psychological problems that nowadays would demand treatment, but at the time simply led to a combative, chaotic life. ‘The two things Steve was the best in the world at,’ says Humble Pie bandmate Jerry Shirley, ‘were singing the blues and p****** people off.’

Whether making Nazi salutes while touring Germany (he’d ask reporters: ‘How many people did your father kill?’) or using racial slurs, he blamed his worst transgressions on his unhinged alter ego, a bald wrestler called Melvin. Presented with a list of last night’s misdemeanours, Marriott would shrug: ‘You’ll have to take that up with Melvin...’

An oral history drawn from more than 100 interviews, All Or Nothing is certainly comprehensive, if somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer weight of testimony. At times it reads like a bunch of pub regulars venting endlessly over an exasperating, exhausting and sporadically lovable friend. He began his career as a promising child actor, appearing in Lionel Bart’s Oliver! alongside Tony Robinson, who recalls Marriott making him cry. David Bowie, The Krays, Keith Richards and Small Faces’ cartoon gangster manager, Don Arden, also have walk-on parts, but the heady days of Swinging London are dealt with relatively quickly, with little light shone on what made Marriott tick creatively. Once stardom fades there is only a grimly repetitive cycle of toxic relationships, rip-off record deals, squandered money, neglected children, moonlight flits, cocaine addiction and alcoholism. With a certain inevitability, Marriott dies, aged 44, in a house fire in 1991 after passing out with a lit cigarette. The aftermath, with family members squabbling over his estate and one chancer trying to cash in by selling Steve Marriott ashtrays, is even less edifying.