Pretty Things
Encyclopedia
The Pretty Things are an English
rock and roll
band
from London
, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley
's 1955 song "Pretty Thing
" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British
press
the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful period was the mid 1960s, although they continue to perform to this day. David Bowie
covered two of their songs on his album Pin Ups
.
, fellow Sidcup Art College
student Keith Richards
, and Mick Jagger
. When Brian Jones
was recruiting for his own band, all three joined Brian and Ian Stewart and were dubbed "Rollin' Stones" by Jones. Taylor would briefly play bass guitar in the nascent Rolling Stones who employed a variety of drummers during 1962.
Taylor (born Richard Clifford Taylor, 28 January 1943, Dartford
, Kent
) quit the Stones several months later when he was accepted at the London Central School of Art, where he met Phil May
(born Phillip Arthur Dennis Kattner, 9 November 1944, Dartford, Kent) and they formed The Pretty Things.
Taylor was once again playing guitar, with May singing and playing harmonica
. They recruited Brian Pendleton (born 13 April 1944, Heath Town
, Wolverhampton
– died 16 May 2001, Maidstone
, Kent) on rhythm guitar; John Stax (born John Edward Lee Fullagar, 6 April 1944, Crayford
, Kent) on bass; and Pete Kitley, replaced by Viv Andrews (on drums) and then by Viv Prince (born Vivian Martin Prince, 9 August 1941, Loughborough
, Leicestershire
) on drums.
A fellow student at the Art College May and Taylor studied at, Bryan Morrison, was recruited as their manager. Morrison was to manage them for the rest of the 1960s, building his own Bryan Morrison Agency. This agency represented Pink Floyd
amongst many other bands.
" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down
" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 — appeared in the UK Singles Chart
in 1964 and 1965. They never had a hit
in the United States
, but had considerable success in their native United Kingdom
and in Australia
, New Zealand
, Germany
, and the Netherlands
in the middle of the decade. Their appearance was designed to provoke, with May claiming to have the longest hair in the UK.
Their early material consisted of hard-edged blues
-rock
influenced by Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed
. The first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince the first to go in November 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan (born Alan Ernest Skipper, 11 June 1948, Westminster
, London
). In early 1966 the band made a short film
Pretty Things On Film which featured live footage and a music video
prototype for "Can't Stand The Pain", which also featured their manager, Morrison. Rarely screened at the time, it can be found as a bonus multimedia item on the Snapper CD
re-issue of Get The Picture. 1966 saw the R&B
scene fall into decline and The Pretty Things began moving away, flirting with soul music
. In mid 1966 saw them make the UK Singles Chart for the final time with a cover
of The Kinks
song, "A House In The Country". In December 1966 came the single "Progress", where the band were joined by a brass section.
Pendleton left in December 1966, and Stax followed in January 1967. Jon Povey (born 20 August 1942, London) and Wally Waller (born Alan Edward Waller, 9 April 1944, Barnehurst
, Kent), both former Fenmen from Bern Elliott and the Fenmen
, joined and made the band a five piece once again.
Their final album for Fontana Records
was a contractual obligation produced
by Steve Rowland
and the subject of controversy since Emotions
was laden with brass and string arrangement
s arranged by Reg Tilsley. EMI
producer Norman Smith expressed interest in working with them and at the end of September 1967, The Pretty Things signed to EMI's Columbia
label
. In November 1967 they released "Defecting Grey", a psychedelic
effort that failed to sell. This was followed three months later by a double A-side single "Talking About The Good Times" / "Walking Through My Dreams".
That single marked the beginning of sessions for the SF Sorrow album. Released in December 1968, it was the first rock opera
, preceding the release of The Who
's Tommy
in May 1969. It was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at the Abbey Road Studios
, whilst Pink Floyd were working on A Saucerful Of Secrets
(also produced by Norman Smith) and The Beatles
worked on the White Album. In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan left the group. Twink
replaced him to help the band to complete the album.
In March 1969, the British music magazine, NME
reported that Motown Records
vice-president Barney Ales had visited London to sign the Pretty Things as the U.S. label's first British act.
S.F. Sorrow was commercially unsuccessful, with no immediate release in the US. However, the album was subsequently picked up by Motown and issued with a different cover on its Rare Earth Records label. The work received only modest support from EMI
, and its depressing narrative probably did not help sales.
1969 saw the band feeling disillusioned by the failure of SF Sorrow and that June, Taylor left the band. The Pretty Things borrowed guitarist Victor Unitt from The Edgar Broughton Band to replace Taylor. Shortly after he joined, Twink left. Alan returned to the drumstool in time for the band's return to Abbey Road to start work on Parachute
, which kept the psychedelic sound. During this period they also recorded an album for a young French millionaire Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among his social circle. The acetate
has since been bootleg
ged.
Shortly after the release of Parachute, Unitt left and was replaced by Pete Tolson. Despite much stage work and acclaim, their records were still failing to sell at all well.
During the late 1960s, the band made some extra money by recording for music library company DeWolfe. Some of these songs ended up in low-budget films including What's Good For the Goose (1969), Haunted House of Horror (1969),The Monster Club (1981) and a couple of softcore porn films. Not intended for official release, these songs were later compiled on a number of records and released under the alias Electric Banana: Electric Banana (1967), More Electric Banana (1968), Even More Electric Banana (1969), Hot Licks (1970), and Return of the Electric Banana (1978). The initial releases featured one side of vocal and one side of instrumental
tracks. Subsequent releases of these albums generally keep the true identity of the band secret.
, and released Freeway Madness at the end of 1972.
1974's Silk Torpedo saw them being managed by Led Zeppelin
's Peter Grant. Silk Torpedo was the first album release on Zeppelin's own label Swan Song
. Also around this time, Brooks left and was replaced by Jack Green and a second keyboardist Gordon Edwards was added. In 1976, after the release of Savage Eye, May quit the band before a major London gig, and the band split up.
did not improve their sales figures, and the Pretty Things split up again in 1981. Reforming in 1984, May and Taylor used various session musicians to release Out Of The Island (1988). Mark St. John joined on drums, but by the end of the decade their profile had almost disappeared. May and Taylor reformed the band for a successful European blues tour in late 1990 with Stan Webb
's Chicken Shack
and Luther Allison
. This outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution
), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay (Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts
) with Jon Langford
ex-Mekons. This line-up regularly toured the European mainland until late 1994.
, recorded two albums in Chicago
as Pretty Things/Yardbird Blues Band. They were The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 and Wine, Women, Whiskey, both produced by George Paulus
.
The early 1990s were taken up with a battle against EMI. This was over unpaid royalties stemming back to a deal EMI set up with Motown subsidiary Rare Earth in 1968. The band never received any royalties from Rare Earth nor had received any monies from EMI for many years. The band won the legal case, the result being that in 1993 EMI gave them back all their master tapes, copyrights and an undisclosed sum of money as settlement. On friendly terms again, the 1967 line up decided to return with the addition of Pete Tolson (born Peter Tolson, 10 September 1951, Bishop's Stortford
, Hertfordshire
, England
). After much rehearsal, Tolson grew disillusioned and quit with Frank Holland taking Tolson's place.
Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD
of a live netcast re-recording of S.F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios, with David Gilmour
and Arthur Brown
as guest players. They played a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades.
on 16 May 2001 in Maidstone. The following year their ex-keyboard player Gordon Edwards (born Gordon John Edwards, 26 December 1946, Southport
, Lancashire
) died of a drug overdose
.
In 1999 they released the studio album Rage Before Beauty and in the early 2000s, they released several compilation album
s, a live album
and DVD
. In 2003, Alan Lakey's biography of the band, Growing Old Disgracefully, was published by Firefly. The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to the legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s. An extensively re-written version is planned to be published in 2011.
Skip Alan suffered heart problems in 2001 restricting his commitment to the band, with St. John deputising on the drums as required. In mid 2007, The Pretty Things released their eleventh studio album Balboa Island on St. John's Côte Basque record label. The album contained a number of Pretty Things originals. Family illnesses meant Waller and Povey were unable to commit to the band, and Jack Greenwood replaced Allan on drums in 2008, a year which also saw the death of their former producer, Norman Smith and ex-manager, Bryan Morrison. In December 2008 saw the re-release on Ugly Things Records of the 1969 album Phillipe DeBarge and the Pretty Things.
In June 2009 May, Taylor, Waller, Povey and Alan reunited to receive the "Heroes" award at the annual Mojo
Awards ceremony.
The Pretty Things continue to gig into 2010 with the line-up revolving around the May and Taylor axis with additional hired help, a return to the Euro-style 'bolt-on' format of the early 1990s that had been discarded in 1994.
Wally Waller, Jon Povey, Skip Alan and Pete Tolson came together in April 2010 to re-record the Parachute album to commemorate its 40th anniversary and to add their vision of what it should have sounded like. Using the Byline 'The Pretties' this album is due out in early 2011.
of the band. The band recorded this album and two subsequent ones for the De Wolfe Music
Library. De Wolfe provided stock music for film soundtracks. The Electric Banana music wound up on various horror and soft-porn films of the late 1960s, such as What's Good for the Goose (1969). When the album was released, the stage name
The Electric Banana was used to hide the band's identity.
As Electric Banana (music for films)
As Pretty Things & The Yardbird Blues Band (May and Taylor with Jim McCarty
of the Yardbirds)
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
's 1955 song "Pretty Thing
Pretty Thing
"Pretty Thing" is a 1955 song written by Chess Records bassist-songwriter Willie Dixon and originally performed by Bo Diddley. The song was Diddley's third single release through Checker Records after "Diddley Daddy"...
" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful period was the mid 1960s, although they continue to perform to this day. David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
covered two of their songs on his album Pin Ups
Pin Ups
- Personnel :* David Bowie – vocals, guitar, tenor and alto saxophone, harmonica, arrangements, backing vocals, Moog synthesizer* Mick Ronson – guitar, piano, vocals, arrangements* Trevor Bolder – bass* Aynsley Dunbar – drums- Additional personnel :...
.
Early stages
The Pretty Things were preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which consisted of Dick TaylorDick Taylor
Richard Clifford 'Dick' Taylor is an English musician who was an early bass guitarist for The Rolling Stones. He left to become an art student at Sidcup Art College and while there formed The Pretty Things in September 1963...
, fellow Sidcup Art College
Sidcup Art College
Sidcup Art College was an art college in Sidcup, London Borough of Bexley an outer suburb of Greater London, England.One of the college's most famous students was Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones...
student Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
. When Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
was recruiting for his own band, all three joined Brian and Ian Stewart and were dubbed "Rollin' Stones" by Jones. Taylor would briefly play bass guitar in the nascent Rolling Stones who employed a variety of drummers during 1962.
Taylor (born Richard Clifford Taylor, 28 January 1943, Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
) quit the Stones several months later when he was accepted at the London Central School of Art, where he met Phil May
Phil May (singer)
Phil May is the stage name of an English vocalist...
(born Phillip Arthur Dennis Kattner, 9 November 1944, Dartford, Kent) and they formed The Pretty Things.
Taylor was once again playing guitar, with May singing and playing harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. They recruited Brian Pendleton (born 13 April 1944, Heath Town
Heath Town
Heath Town is a district of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, located ENE of the city centre. It is also a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. The ward forms part of the Wolverhampton North East constituency....
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
– died 16 May 2001, Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Kent) on rhythm guitar; John Stax (born John Edward Lee Fullagar, 6 April 1944, Crayford
Crayford
Crayford is a town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley that was an important bridging point in Roman times across the River Cray, a tributary of the River Darent, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.-History:...
, Kent) on bass; and Pete Kitley, replaced by Viv Andrews (on drums) and then by Viv Prince (born Vivian Martin Prince, 9 August 1941, Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
) on drums.
A fellow student at the Art College May and Taylor studied at, Bryan Morrison, was recruited as their manager. Morrison was to manage them for the rest of the 1960s, building his own Bryan Morrison Agency. This agency represented Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
amongst many other bands.
Early career
The Pretty Things first three singles — "RosalynRosalyn (song)
"Rosalyn" is The Pretty Things' debut single, a song written by Jimmy Duncan and Bill Farley.David Bowie recorded it and released it on his album Pin Ups. It was released as a single by RCA in New Zealand in November 1973 instead of Sorrow, which was released in the rest of the world. The B-side...
" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down
Don't Bring Me Down (Pretty Things song)
"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song written by Johnny Dee, and first performed by the rock band, The Pretty Things in 1964. It was a number 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart for them, and reached number 34 in Canada....
" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 — appeared in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1964 and 1965. They never had a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but had considerable success in their native United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in the middle of the decade. Their appearance was designed to provoke, with May claiming to have the longest hair in the UK.
Their early material consisted of hard-edged blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
influenced by Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
. The first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince the first to go in November 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan (born Alan Ernest Skipper, 11 June 1948, Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). In early 1966 the band made a short film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Pretty Things On Film which featured live footage and a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
prototype for "Can't Stand The Pain", which also featured their manager, Morrison. Rarely screened at the time, it can be found as a bonus multimedia item on the Snapper CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
re-issue of Get The Picture. 1966 saw the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
scene fall into decline and The Pretty Things began moving away, flirting with soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. In mid 1966 saw them make the UK Singles Chart for the final time with a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
song, "A House In The Country". In December 1966 came the single "Progress", where the band were joined by a brass section.
Pendleton left in December 1966, and Stax followed in January 1967. Jon Povey (born 20 August 1942, London) and Wally Waller (born Alan Edward Waller, 9 April 1944, Barnehurst
Barnehurst
Barnehurst is a town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bexley, England. It is a suburban development in Southeast London located 12.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross.-History:...
, Kent), both former Fenmen from Bern Elliott and the Fenmen
Bern Elliott and the Fenmen
Bern Elliott and the Fenmen were a British beat group, active between 1961 and 1964, and best known for their 1963 cover version of the song, "Money".-Biography:...
, joined and made the band a five piece once again.
Their final album for Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
was a contractual obligation produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Steve Rowland
Steve Rowland (record producer)
Steve Rowland is singer, columnist, record producer and actor. He grew up in Beverly Hills. His father is film director Roy Rowland, his mother Ruth was a writer, whilst Louis B...
and the subject of controversy since Emotions
Emotions (The Pretty Things album)
Emotions is the third LP by the British rock group The Pretty Things, released in 1967.-Recording:The sessions for "Emotions" were spread across a few months during which there were major change in the bands line up. Their record company Fontana had not been happy with how their three 1966 singles...
was laden with brass and string arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s arranged by Reg Tilsley. EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
producer Norman Smith expressed interest in working with them and at the end of September 1967, The Pretty Things signed to EMI's Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. In November 1967 they released "Defecting Grey", a psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
effort that failed to sell. This was followed three months later by a double A-side single "Talking About The Good Times" / "Walking Through My Dreams".
That single marked the beginning of sessions for the SF Sorrow album. Released in December 1968, it was the first rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
, preceding the release of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
in May 1969. It was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at the Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, whilst Pink Floyd were working on A Saucerful Of Secrets
A Saucerful of Secrets
A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by the English rock group Pink Floyd. It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios on various dates from August 1967 to April 1968...
(also produced by Norman Smith) and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
worked on the White Album. In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan left the group. Twink
Twink (musician)
John Charles Alder , better known as Twink, is an English drummer, singer and songwriter who was a central figure in the English psychedelic movement, and an actor.-Early life and career:...
replaced him to help the band to complete the album.
In March 1969, the British music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reported that Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
vice-president Barney Ales had visited London to sign the Pretty Things as the U.S. label's first British act.
S.F. Sorrow was commercially unsuccessful, with no immediate release in the US. However, the album was subsequently picked up by Motown and issued with a different cover on its Rare Earth Records label. The work received only modest support from EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and its depressing narrative probably did not help sales.
1969 saw the band feeling disillusioned by the failure of SF Sorrow and that June, Taylor left the band. The Pretty Things borrowed guitarist Victor Unitt from The Edgar Broughton Band to replace Taylor. Shortly after he joined, Twink left. Alan returned to the drumstool in time for the band's return to Abbey Road to start work on Parachute
Parachute (Pretty Things album)
Parachute, released in 1970 is The Pretty Things' fifth studio album, following S.F. Sorrow and preceding Freeway Madness. It is their first album without Dick Taylor....
, which kept the psychedelic sound. During this period they also recorded an album for a young French millionaire Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among his social circle. The acetate
Acetate disc
An acetate disc, also known as a test acetate, dubplate , lacquer , transcription disc or instantaneous disc...
has since been bootleg
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
ged.
Shortly after the release of Parachute, Unitt left and was replaced by Pete Tolson. Despite much stage work and acclaim, their records were still failing to sell at all well.
During the late 1960s, the band made some extra money by recording for music library company DeWolfe. Some of these songs ended up in low-budget films including What's Good For the Goose (1969), Haunted House of Horror (1969),The Monster Club (1981) and a couple of softcore porn films. Not intended for official release, these songs were later compiled on a number of records and released under the alias Electric Banana: Electric Banana (1967), More Electric Banana (1968), Even More Electric Banana (1969), Hot Licks (1970), and Return of the Electric Banana (1978). The initial releases featured one side of vocal and one side of instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
tracks. Subsequent releases of these albums generally keep the true identity of the band secret.
1970s
By late 1970, the group had gone their separate ways due to commercial failures, and Alan was in a group called Sunshine. May, Povey, Alan, Tolson and Stuart Brooks signed with Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, and released Freeway Madness at the end of 1972.
1974's Silk Torpedo saw them being managed by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's Peter Grant. Silk Torpedo was the first album release on Zeppelin's own label Swan Song
Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records was a record label launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974. It was overseen by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant and was a vehicle for the band to promote its own products as well as sign artists who found it difficult to win contracts with other major labels...
. Also around this time, Brooks left and was replaced by Jack Green and a second keyboardist Gordon Edwards was added. In 1976, after the release of Savage Eye, May quit the band before a major London gig, and the band split up.
1980s
Reforming for 1980s Cross TalkCross Talk
- Track listing :# "I'm Calling" – 4:06# "Edge of the Night" – 3:19# "Sea of Blue" – 3:13# "Lost That Girl" – 2:50# "Bitter End" – 3:16# "Office Love" – 4:12...
did not improve their sales figures, and the Pretty Things split up again in 1981. Reforming in 1984, May and Taylor used various session musicians to release Out Of The Island (1988). Mark St. John joined on drums, but by the end of the decade their profile had almost disappeared. May and Taylor reformed the band for a successful European blues tour in late 1990 with Stan Webb
Stan Webb
Stan Webb is the frontman and lead guitarist with the blues band, Chicken Shack.-Career:...
's Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb , Andy Silvester , and Alan Morley , who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1968.-Career:...
and Luther Allison
Luther Allison
Luther Allison was an American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being...
. This outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution
Solution (band)
Solution were a Dutch progressive rock band that existed from 1970 to 1983, during which time they released six studio albums and one live album...
), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay (Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Pine Valley Cosmonauts
-History:The group was initiated by Jon Langford as a covers group, with a constantly shifting repertory and cast of backing members. The name was first used for Langford's 1995 album of Johnny Cash cover songs...
) with Jon Langford
Jon Langford
Jon Langford born October 11, 1957, Newport, Monmouthshire is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is presently based in Chicago. He is the younger brother of science-fiction author and critic David Langford...
ex-Mekons. This line-up regularly toured the European mainland until late 1994.
1990s
May and Taylor, together with former Yardbirds drummer Jim McCartyJim McCarty
Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...
, recorded two albums in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
as Pretty Things/Yardbird Blues Band. They were The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 and Wine, Women, Whiskey, both produced by George Paulus
George Paulus
George Paulus is an American record producer, founder and owner of Barrelhouse Records, Negro Rhythm Records, and St. George Records.-External links:* * *...
.
The early 1990s were taken up with a battle against EMI. This was over unpaid royalties stemming back to a deal EMI set up with Motown subsidiary Rare Earth in 1968. The band never received any royalties from Rare Earth nor had received any monies from EMI for many years. The band won the legal case, the result being that in 1993 EMI gave them back all their master tapes, copyrights and an undisclosed sum of money as settlement. On friendly terms again, the 1967 line up decided to return with the addition of Pete Tolson (born Peter Tolson, 10 September 1951, Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated just west of the M11 motorway, on the county boundary with Essex and is the closest large town to London Stansted Airport and part of the...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
). After much rehearsal, Tolson grew disillusioned and quit with Frank Holland taking Tolson's place.
Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of a live netcast re-recording of S.F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios, with David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
and Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...
as guest players. They played a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades.
2000s to present
Original rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton died of lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
on 16 May 2001 in Maidstone. The following year their ex-keyboard player Gordon Edwards (born Gordon John Edwards, 26 December 1946, Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) died of a drug overdose
Drug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
.
In 1999 they released the studio album Rage Before Beauty and in the early 2000s, they released several compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s, a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. In 2003, Alan Lakey's biography of the band, Growing Old Disgracefully, was published by Firefly. The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to the legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s. An extensively re-written version is planned to be published in 2011.
Skip Alan suffered heart problems in 2001 restricting his commitment to the band, with St. John deputising on the drums as required. In mid 2007, The Pretty Things released their eleventh studio album Balboa Island on St. John's Côte Basque record label. The album contained a number of Pretty Things originals. Family illnesses meant Waller and Povey were unable to commit to the band, and Jack Greenwood replaced Allan on drums in 2008, a year which also saw the death of their former producer, Norman Smith and ex-manager, Bryan Morrison. In December 2008 saw the re-release on Ugly Things Records of the 1969 album Phillipe DeBarge and the Pretty Things.
In June 2009 May, Taylor, Waller, Povey and Alan reunited to receive the "Heroes" award at the annual Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Awards ceremony.
The Pretty Things continue to gig into 2010 with the line-up revolving around the May and Taylor axis with additional hired help, a return to the Euro-style 'bolt-on' format of the early 1990s that had been discarded in 1994.
Wally Waller, Jon Povey, Skip Alan and Pete Tolson came together in April 2010 to re-record the Parachute album to commemorate its 40th anniversary and to add their vision of what it should have sounded like. Using the Byline 'The Pretties' this album is due out in early 2011.
Studio albums
- The Pretty ThingsThe Pretty Things (album)The Pretty Things is the self titled 1965 release by The Pretty Things which features mostly R&B and Rock & Roll covers. A re-issue of the CD released in 2000 features every track from both the American and British versions of the album....
(1965) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#6 - Get the PictureGet the Picture? (The Pretty Things album)Get the Picture? is the second LP by the British rock group The Pretty Things, released in 1965.-The Recording:Recording began on The Pretty Things' second album in around September 1965, just months after the release of their debut...
(1965) - EmotionsEmotions (The Pretty Things album)Emotions is the third LP by the British rock group The Pretty Things, released in 1967.-Recording:The sessions for "Emotions" were spread across a few months during which there were major change in the bands line up. Their record company Fontana had not been happy with how their three 1966 singles...
(1967) - S.F. SorrowS.F. SorrowS.F. Sorrow is the title of the fourth LP by the British rock group The Pretty Things, released in 1968.One of the first rock concept albums, S.F. Sorrow was based on a short story by singer-guitarist Phil May. The album is structured as a song cycle, telling the story of the main character,...
(1968) - ParachuteParachute (Pretty Things album)Parachute, released in 1970 is The Pretty Things' fifth studio album, following S.F. Sorrow and preceding Freeway Madness. It is their first album without Dick Taylor....
(1970) - UK #43 - Freeway MadnessFreeway MadnessFreeway Madness is the sixth album by British rock band, The Pretty Things. It's the second album without founding member Dick Taylor and the first without bassist Wally Waller as a full member, who has been with the band since the band's 1967 album Emotions...
(1972) - Silk TorpedoSilk TorpedoSilk Torpedo is the seventh album by English rock band The Pretty Things. This is their second album without Wally Waller, the group's rhythm guitarist/bassist since 1967...
(1974) - US #104 - Savage Eye (1976) - US #163
- Cross TalkCross Talk- Track listing :# "I'm Calling" – 4:06# "Edge of the Night" – 3:19# "Sea of Blue" – 3:13# "Lost That Girl" – 2:50# "Bitter End" – 3:16# "Office Love" – 4:12...
(1980) - Rage Before Beauty (1999)
- Balboa Island (2007)
- Philippe DeBarge (2009) - (recorded in 1969)
Live albums
- Live At Heartbreak Hotel (1984)
- Out of the Island (1988)
- Rockin' the Garage (1992)
- Resurrection (1998) (S.F. Sorrow performed live at Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, featuring Arthur BrownArthur Brown (musician)Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...
and David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
)
Pseudonymous and collaborative albums
Electric Banana was a pseudonymous 1967 albumAlbum
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
of the band. The band recorded this album and two subsequent ones for the De Wolfe Music
De Wolfe Music
De Wolfe Music is the originator of what has become known as production music as it was established in 1909 and began its recorded library in 1927 with the advent of 'Talkies'. The library consists of over 80,000 tracks, all pre-cleared for licensing and synchronisation...
Library. De Wolfe provided stock music for film soundtracks. The Electric Banana music wound up on various horror and soft-porn films of the late 1960s, such as What's Good for the Goose (1969). When the album was released, the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
The Electric Banana was used to hide the band's identity.
As Electric Banana (music for films)
- Electric Banana (1967)
- More Electric Banana (1968)
- Even More Electric Banana (1969)
- The Electric Banana: Live at the Grand (1969)
- Hot Licks (1970)
- The Return Of The Electric Banana (1978)
As Pretty Things & The Yardbird Blues Band (May and Taylor with Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...
of the Yardbirds)
- The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 (1991)
- Wine Women Whiskey (1994)
Compilation albums
- Greatest Hits 1964-1967 (1975)
- Real Pretty (1976) 2 LPs (reissue of S.F. Sorrow and Parachute)
- The Vintage Years (1976)
- The Singles A's & B's (1977)
- 1967 - 1971 (1982)
- Let Me Hear The Choir Sing (1983)
- Closed Restaurant Blues (1985)
- Cries From The Midnight Circus - The Best Of 1968-1971 (1986)
- Unrepentant - The Anthology (1995)
- The EP Collection (1997)
- Midnight To Six (2000)
- Latest Writs, Greatest Hits (2000)
- The Rhythm & Blues Years (2001)
- The Psychedelic Years 1966-1970 (2001)
- Still Unrepentant (2004)
- Come See Me: The Very Best of The Pretty Things (2004)
Charted singles
| Release Date | Title | Chart positions | ||||
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
Australia | Canada RPM 100 | Netherlands | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | "Rosalyn" | #41 | #67 | Released in Australia after "Don't Bring Me Down", in 1965. | ||
| 1964 | "Don't Bring Me Down" | #10 | #65 | #34 | ||
| 1965 | "Honey I Need" | #13 | #54 | |||
| 1965 | "Cry To Me" | #28 | ||||
| 1966 | "Midnight To Six Man" | #46 | #62 | |||
| 1966 | "Come See Me" | #43 | #92 | |||
| 1966 | "A House In The Country" | #50 | #63 | |||
| 1971 | "October 26" | #29 |
External links
- An Electric Banana release on the Forced Exposure catalog
- Brian Pendleton website http://www.brian-pendleton.com