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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Antispam question: What's Mr. Lee's Firstname? Answer: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by lemonade kid[/i] [br][size=6]The Pretty Things[/size=6] [IMG]http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/8874765/img/8874765.jpg[/IMG] ...were one of the most underrated rhythm & blues bands to come out of the mid-60's British rock explosion. So well-loved by Brits, they were often thought of in the same breath as The Rolling Stones. And, like a lot of great rhythm & blues based groups to come put of England, they stepped somewhat uneasily into the precarious psychedelic music explosion. However, in all fairness, The Pretty Things did come up with a pretty fine and original album, Emotions. Superbly well-orchestrated (especially the gorgeous "The Sun," one of the album's standouts), The Pretty Things didn't lose sight of their R&B leanings, as tracks such as "There Will Never Be Another Day" show. This reissue is also buttressed by a generous selection of bonus tracks seven of 'em - making it even more worthwhile. [IMG]http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/8874677/img/8874677.jpg[/IMG] [b]The Pretties did a god job of capturing that '67 pop psych sound and it was the perfect transition that lead to "SF SORROW".[/b] My Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O2nLrFxlXU .................................................................. Founded by an original Rolling Stone (Dick Taylor); still active with their 1966 lineup intact; considered "one of the greatest R&B bands of all time" by Van Morrison; characterized as "always making the Stones look tame" by David Gilmour and the band for the "real rebel" by Gary Brooker; and responsible for what is widely considered the first rock opera, 1967's S.F. Sorrow--recorded alongside Sgt. Pepper and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn at Abbey Road. (Other accounts say that it was recorded at the same time as The While Album & "Saucerful Of Secrets"...it took a while so maybe it was BOTH) Their followup, 1970's Parachute, was Rolling Stone's Album of the Year, against stiff competition from the likes of Let It Be, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Moondance, and After the Gold Rush. (Again, other accounts say that it never made the list or was even in the running (since they never heard of it) and was only mentioned i a lter editorial as the best album of 1970) They rated two covers on David Bowie's Pin Ups--only matched by the Who--and a contract with Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records in the mid-'70s. Now, why do they labor in such relative obscurity, prone to confusion with the post-Libertines Dirty Pretty Things? Hard to tell, but anyone interested in either the R&B or psychedelic sides of the British Invasion owes themselves a listen to this band, whose lead singer, Phil May, appeared in David Bowie's address book not under "M," but under "G"--for "God." --Amazon ................................................................... [size=6]Emotions[/size=6] is the third LP by the British rock group The Pretty Things, released in 1967. [IMG]http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/8874773/img/8874773.jpg[/IMG] 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 "Midnight To Six Man", "Come See Me" and "A House In The Country" had sold. For the latter single, Fontana assigned them producer Steve Rowland who was producing hits for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich hoping that Rowland would help the band regain a commercial sound to improve sales. The band were not pleased by this intervention and were keen to leave Fontana, so they simply went along with Fontana's demands to fullfil the contract which included a third album. Sessions for "Emotions" began towards the end of 1966. The first result, "Progress" was released as a single in December 1966. This featured the band with a brass section and though commercial, it failed to sell. Brian Pendleton was unhappy with the direction the band was heading in and with money being rather short, he quit the band that Christmas. A month later, bassist John Stax, similarly unhappy also quit the band. Phil May called upon a childhood friend Wally Waller whose band The Fenmen had recently split to help record the rest of the album. In the event, Waller took over the bass duties and brought in the Fenmens' drummer, John Povey who was also a keyboardist. Waller and Povey were huge Beach Boys fans and between them had developed their own distinctive harmonies which when paired with Phil May's vocals gave The Pretty Things a new dimension. The bands old R&B style was barely present as Phil May and Dick Taylor wrote songs of a more whimsical nature, going for a more adventurous pop style displaying a definite Ray Davies influence. Steve Rowland decided the new songs sounded rather empty so he enlisted arranger Reg Tilsley to write and conduct orchestral arrangements for most of the tracks. Again, the band were not pleased by this but to appease Fontana and be able to break free, they went along with the idea. Tilsley was given tapes of demos and work in progress of the songs and wrote the arrangements. Some were fairly simple, requiring a brass section, whilst others were more elaborate, bringing in strings. [IMG]http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/8874774/img/8874774.jpg[/IMG] Whilst some of these arrangements were overdubbed on what had already been recorded, Dick Taylor has recalled there were a couple of sessions where the band and Tilsley's ensemble were together in the studio. Because the songs had mostly already been written, the new members Waller and Povey weren't able to contribute much to the writing nor add their harmonies to most of the album. The new harmonies did make an appearance on "Children" which was chosen to be the single released in May 1967 on Fontana TF 829. The harmonies also appeared on "Out In The Night", "Bright Lights Of The City" and "My Time" where they were used in a more spareful ethereal manner. Outside the studio, the bands live sound had changed drastically as they became involved in the burgeoning psychedelic scene. By the time "Emotions" was released, the contrast between the band on the record and on stage was enormous. The band were not happy with the end result and did nothing to promote it. Once released, their obligations to Fontana had been fulfilled and they were free to seek a new record contract. [2] [IMG]http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/8874777/img/8874777.jpg[/IMG] After release None of the songs from "Emotions" were played live preceding or following its release by the band. They simply ignored the album, but around the time of the single release of "Children" they did play the song live onstage in Paris which was broadcast live on French TV. It would not be until the mid to late 1990s that The Pretty Things resurrected "Growing In My Mind" for occasional airings in live shows since that was the one song Phil May admitted liking and didn't feel embarrassed by. When the album was remastered for the Snapper CD, manager Mark St.John went back to the original three track tapes to remix "The Sun", "There Will Never Be Another Day", "The Sun", "Photographer" and "My Time" as well as preceding single "Progress" minus Reg Tilsley's embellishments. These were presented as bonus tracks on the remastered CD. In December 2009, Wally Waller and John Povey released "Sunstroke", a CD of rare unissued recordings from their days in The Fenmen. To fill out the CD, under the name of The Bexley Brothers, they recorded 8 new songs with a couple of guest appearances from Dick Taylor. Amongst them was a brand new recording of "The Sun" with Povey taking the lead vocal. Track listing Side 1 1. Death of a Socialite (May, Stirling, Taylor) - 2:44 2. Children (May, Taylor, Waller) - 3:05 3. The Sun (May, Waller) - 3:06 4. There Will Never Be Another Day (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:22 5. House of Ten (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:54 6. Out in the Night (Stirling, Taylor) - 2:44 Side 2 1. One Long Glance (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:54 2. Growing in My Mind (May, Taylor) - 2:21 3. Photographer (May, Stirling, Taylor) - 2:07 4. Bright Lights of the City (May, Waller) - 3:02 5. Tripping (May, Taylor) - 3:26 6. My Time (May, Taylor, Waller) - 3:09 Personnel * Phil May – Vocals * Dick Taylor – Guitar * Skip Allen – Drums * John Povey – Vocals, Keyboards * Wally Waller – Bass, guitars, Vocals * Brian Pendleton – Rhythm Guitar * John Stax – Bass Note - Pendleton and Stax were present when sessions began for the album, but it is still unknown precisely which tracks they played on. .................................................................. The Sun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ayo93CYxc8&feature=related Tripping...pure raw R&B in earlier Pretties/Stones style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1OONf7iEF0&feature=related Children http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUEZKxr5J28&feature=fvwrel ................................................................... [b]I missed this fine release as I was so enthralled with SF SOrrow & Parachute...but it is well worth the time....a fine listen indeed![/b] [8D] ________________________________________________ HIGH ALL THE TIME... -Mad River http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature. Check here to subscribe to this topic.