I consider SF Sorrow a desert island album, their 1999 comeback album Rage Before Beauty pretty damn good too!. At least the band got a great send off at the end of 2018 with their farewell concert.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...-rgEENRpQU4y1M
I'm glad a I caught him live a couple of times. A pioneer.
RIP.
Another one bites the dust! I met Phil a couple of times in the early 60's...always lived on the edge. A great singer and I gave the Pretty Things new respect on hearing the classic album SF SORROW, an absolute masterpiece!
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
R.I.P.
Terrific front man, singer and performer.
Bugger. RIP.
Just a couple years ago...
And back in the day (check out Twink)...
Last edited by Paulrus; 05-15-2020 at 02:39 PM.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Well if he lived on the edge I suppose 75 years is a good run. S.F. Sorrow is a top-drawer album for me. RIP.
Sad News. Longtime fan of the PrettyThings. Rest in peace.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
This is sad,
I think the Pretty Things are very underrated, they should have filled stadiums but instead their last tour (which I was extremely fortunate to see) was held in small clubs... go figure.
Just less than 2 years ago Phil was raising the roof:
RIP
The second half of this tune with OLD MAN GOING is awesome!Originally Posted by flytomars
This is sad,
I think the Pretty Things are very underrated, they should have filled stadiums but instead their last tour (which I was extremely fortunate to see) was held in small clubs... go figure.
Just less than 2 years ago Phil was raising the roof:
RIP
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
Wow, this is a hard one.
Stupendous frontman and - given a rather one-dimensional voice to start with - a versatile performer. Taken as one of the main antecedents of garage-rock, the Pretty Things were almost ridiculously influential. Together with the Stones and the Yardbirds - The Who not being very well known in the US at the time - they exerted substantial influence on developments.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
'Rosalyn' is such an explosive debut, especially when you look at The Rolling Stones' and The Kinks' fairly tepid debut singles. And they pretty seamlessly moved into more sophisticated territory by the later 60s.
I'm afraid I don't agree with this..
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
What is it you don't agree with??? I certainly don't think 'Come On' or 'Long Tall Sally' are anywhere near as good as 'Rosalyn' and you've already praised SF Sorrow.
I am a little biased..I am of age to say "I was there" I knew the Pretty Things personally and always regarded them as Rolling Stones impersonators...Phil & Mick were from the same town and shared a competitive spirit...I thought Rosalyn & Dont Bring Me Down were crap at the time. I loved Chuck Berry, so Come On was magic for me...I took my baby home was a B side that I had a copy on a the first Kinks album..I didn't think it was great but it was what was being played at the time. You Really Got Me...that really got me! I never heard anything from the Pretty Things until SFS, and what can you say about that, brilliant! I could not believe it was the Pretty Things.What is it you don't agree with??? I certainly don't think 'Come On' or 'Long Tall Sally' are anywhere near as good as 'Rosalyn' and you've already praised SF Sorrow.
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
^Fair enough! (I do at least like the Stones' BBC session version of 'Come On'.)
I like the snotty attitude of those early Pretty Things singles, and much later David Bowie covered them on Pin-Ups. I probably heard those Bowie covers before the originals.
That's a great track from a great album...I believed that they were on a real progressive roll in 1970, however my hopes were dashed when I bought Freeway Madness.
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
RIP. I love SF Sorrow but the followup, Parachute, got album of the year from Rolling Stone magazine. If they had only been able to keep up the streak.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
In retrospect, regarding SF SORROW, I can see a huge Beatles / Moody Blues influence, however the writing is top notch and played by top notch musicians
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
I've been kicking myself for 20 years for not going to see the 1999 reunion tour in Los Angeles. I think it was at the House of Blues. Heavily promoted too so I have no one to blame but me... While I did not know the early PT material at all (and still don't for the most part), SF Sorrow is a masterpiece and I subsequently found out they played a lot of it. Well RIP.
The last time I saw Phil was with the Pretty Things / Yardbirds Blues Band in the early 90's
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
A pretty tuff UK R&B group early on, loud, fast, and bratty. And the hair; even longer than the Hullabaloos!
...and Parachute
RIP
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
I've played SF Sorrow so many times, and consider it one of the best 60's albums. Surely ahead of its time in many aspects.
I hardly know any of their other material, but listening to Parachute now and it sounds like a pretty great record to me.
RIP Phil May
As I wrote in an earlier post, after Parachute, they released Freeway Madness, which was back to straight ahead rock. Phil, like another Phil, "liked the ladies" and realized that most of the audiences were guys.
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
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