Pretty Things Overview

The Pretty Things pioneered a raw approach to rhythm and blues that influenced a number of key bands of the 1960s British invasion, particularly The Rolling Stones. The Pretty Things were preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which... [more]

The Pretty Things pioneered a raw approach to rhythm and blues that influenced a number of key bands of the 1960s British invasion, particularly The Rolling Stones. The Pretty Things were preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which consisted of Dick Taylor, fellow Sidcup Art College student Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. When Brian Jones joined the band on guitar, Taylor was pushed from guitar to bass and band changed its name to the Rolling Stones. Taylor (born January 28, 1943, in 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 Wadey, on November 9, 1944, in 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 April 13, 1944 in Wolverhampton '“ died May 16, 2001 in Maidstone, Kent) on rhythm guitar; John Stax (born John Edward Lee Fullegar, April 6, 1944 in Crayford, Kent) on bass; and Viv Prince (born Vivian St John Prince, August 9, 1941, in Loughborough, Leicestershire) on drums. Viv Prince made his first drum kit himself in woodworking class while student at Loughbrough Grammar School. Pretty Things caused a sensation in England, and their first three singles '” "Rosalyn" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 '” appeared in the UK singles chart in 1964-1965. 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. However, in the U.S. they, along with The Yardbirds and Van Morrison's Them, were a huge influence on hundreds of garage bands, including the MC5 and The Seeds. Their early material consisted of hard-edged blues-rock influenced by Bo Diddley (they took their name from Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing") and Jimmy Reed. They were known for wild stage behaviour and edgy lyrical content; their song "Midnight to Six Man" defined the mod lifestyle. Around this time, the first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince the first to go late in 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan. Brian Pendleton left late in 1966, and was not initially replaced. Stax quit early in 1967. Jon Povey and Wally Waller joined to make the band a five piece once again. After a flirtation with mainstream pop on the Emotions album in 1967, they embraced psychedelia, producing the concept album S.F. Sorrow during 1967-68. This album, released in late 1968, is arguably one of the first rock operas, preceding the release of The Who's Tommy in April 1969 by a few months. It was recorded in the legendary Abbey Road Studios six months [citation needed] after The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. These albums share a similar late-1960s psychedelic sound, and the Floyd and Pretty Things albums were both produced by Norman Smith, who had engineered most of the Beatles' recordings until 1966. S.F. Sorrow was commercially unsuccessful, with no immediate release in the US. Their album was subsequently picked up by Motown Records and issued with a different cover on their Rare Earth label. S.F. Sorrow was followed by the highly-acclaimed record album Parachute, which kept the psychedelic sound and was named "Album of the Year" in 1970 by Rolling Stone. 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 bootlegged. By late 1970, the group had gone their separate ways due to commercial failures, and Skip Alan was in a group called Sunshine. In 1971, Alan was driving with manager Bill Shepherd when he put on a tape of Parachute; Shepherd loved it, and asked who the band was. When Alan told him it was his last group, Shepherd asked what had happened to them and vowed to get them back together. Within three months, Shepherd had assembled May, Povey, Alan, Peter Tolson, and Stuart Brooks, and the group signed with Warner Bros. Records. From this point on, the group enjoyed less in the way of commercial success, but the devotion of a strong cult following, especially with critics and other rock musicians. Their material in the early 1970s tended towards more blues, hard rock and early heavy metal, on albums like Silk Torpedo. 1980s Cross Talk saw them incorporating influences of punk and new wave into their hard rock sound; like most of their records, it was not a commercial success. With a new manager, Mark St John, they performed sporadically during the 1980s. 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 of Mekons fame). This line up regularly toured the European mainland, playing a revitalised set that showcased their earlier, rootsy blues and R&B material, until late 1994. By 1995, they reformed the Cross Talk line-up and added Frank Holland on guitar in place of Peter Tolson. Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD of a re-recording of S.F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios (with Dave Gilmour and Arthur Brown as guest players). They played a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades. Original rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton died of lung cancer on May 16, 2001. The following year ex-keyboard player Gordon Edwards died of a drug overdose. In the early 2000s, they released new recordings, including a live album and the studio album Rage Before Beauty. 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 expected to be published towards the end of 2007 with, on this occasion, the full co-operation of the band. In the Summer of 2007, The Pretty Things released their 11th studio album "Balboa Island" on Côte Basque record label. The album contains a number of Pretty Things originals. [show less]