Being part of the Small Faces, Ian McLagan experienced a wonderfully cheery musical brew of folk, psychedelia, music hall, swing, soul, and, er novelty knees up ?

As the organist, though, McLagan usually had to take a background seat in the singing department, making way for the vocal giants that were Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.

But whenever the trusty keyboard mastermind was called upon to take the mic, his delivery was immaculate.

Marriott may have had Amazon-sized lungs, capable of shattering windows, but McLagan’s voice oozed charm from every pore of every chord. And super Mac’s honeyed vocals, rather than his keyboard wizardry, are the key to the success of his gorgeous new album, Never Say Never, featuring his award-winning Bump Band.

In so many ways this is an extraordinary record with a stripped bare honesty permeating every track.

Never Say Never is as emotionally raw as, say, Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, Lennon’s Imagine, David Crosby’s If Only I Could Remember My Name and Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

It is a recording that sounds more like the beginning of a musical journey rather than one from an old stager who’s seen it all.

Mac sings like a young artist in the biggest audition of his life. In terms of career pinnacles, he’s surely not had many like this. Each track has quality to burn.

With Mac’s off-kilter perceptions of folk pop and heart-rending ballads, expressed with consummate ease, there are many highlights — but without doubt Mac will never pen as good a song as the arresting When The Crying Is Over.

He’s joined on this final track by the mega-talented Patty Griffin — and it is a fitting end to what is a gem of a record.