{"id":3781,"date":"2020-05-19T14:21:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T13:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=3781"},"modified":"2021-04-19T18:42:42","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:42:42","slug":"from-the-archive-the-pretty-things-the-british-evasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=3781","title":{"rendered":"From The Archive: The Pretty Things – The British Evasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a tribute to Phil May, who tragically passed away on 15th May, and \u00a0forerunner to our forthcoming\u00a0S.F. Sorrow<\/em><\/strong> Family Album feature,\u00a0which\u00a0is told in the surviving members’ own words, we are running this fine article about THE PRETTY THINGS’ psychedelic era\u00a0from issue #9<\/a> (2009)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Illustration by PETE FOWLER.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For a few months in the late \u201960s, THE PRETTY THINGS ditched their successful R&B template and embraced the blooming influences of psychedelia. So wholeheartedly in fact, that they ended up pioneering a new sound and redefining British rock forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

LENNY HELSING talks to PHIL MAY and WALLY WALLER about the band\u2019s lysergic adventures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCity it leaves without traces \/ blind sparrows carry me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most arresting lyrics from an imagination that knew no limits. It\u2019s the opening line from \u2018The Journey\u2019 on The Pretty Things; 1968 LP S.F. Sorrow<\/em>. But that\u2019s getting ahead of ourselves, so let\u2019s trip a little further backwards in time and see\u2026<\/p>\n

They were arguably Britain\u2019s most dangerous and uncompromising rhythm \u2019n\u2019 blues group, but The Pretty Things also helped instigate the transformation into new, uncharted musical territory. With their mainstream profile in slow decline, strong foundations and a survivor\u2019s instinct made them hunger for change. Literally, their psychedelic origins can be traced back to the knowing 1966 track \u2018LSD\u2019, flipside of the ultra-formidable \u2018Come See Me\u2019 45; the atmospherics that colour \u2018Midnight To Six Man\u2019s coupling, \u2018Can\u2019t Stand The Pain\u2019 also point to the future. Both tracks contain embryonic flashes of the new dimensions about to be explored.<\/p>\n

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Early in \u201967 the Pretties lost two original members \u2013 rhythm guitarist\/backing vocalist Brian Pendleton, and bassist\/occasional harp wailer John Stax. The subsequent drafting in of ex-Bern Elliot and The Fenmen guitarist Wally Waller and drummer Jon Povey, would prove a most pivotal decision in the Pretties\u2019 history. \u201cAt the time I was in a band called The Fenmen,\u201d recalls Waller, \u201coriginally Bern Elliot & The Fenmen, but Bern Elliot decided, after two hit records, that as he was a huge star (history would later attest that he was suffering delusions of grandeur, and was in fact quite mistaken), then he should have most of the money, whilst we should continue on a straight wage. Naturally enough he got an absolutely unanimous two fingered salute (and it wasn’t the one Winston Churchill was famous for), hence The Fenmen \u2013 a vocal harmony band was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waller and Povey were initially brought in to add vocals to the remainder of the Emotions <\/em>sessions. \u201cPhil and I had been best friends since we were four years old, living opposite each other in the same street, in suburban Kent,\u201d relates Wally. \u201cBut I went off to be an electrical engineer, and he went off to Sidcup Art School.\u201d Realising this offered very little in the way of excitement, Wally soon had other ideas. \u201cI found there was more electricity in music, and I took a huge swerve and became a professional musician with The Fenmen. Phil was familiar with The Fenmen line-up, having seen a few gigs, and he asked me, to ask Jon Povey (who used to take all the falsetto parts) if he would like to join also. The only trouble was that Jon was our drummer, and the Pretties drum stool already had an occupant.\u201d This was Skip Alan, who replaced Viv Prince during recordings for the Pretties\u2019 magnificent second LP, Get The Picture<\/em>. \u201cThe solution was that Jon would play keyboards \u2013 he had had some piano tuition when he was much younger. The only other situation vacant was for a bass player (which I had never played before), so it was a bit of a learning curve for both Jon and myself, and a brave move by Phil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disliked by many fans, and the group itself, Emotions<\/em> appeared in spring \u201967. Fontana, in an effort to make the group sound more commercial, had Reg Tilsley add superfluous orchestration. The group, understandably aggrieved, were dismayed by such label manipulations. Time still hasn\u2019t softened some opinions, as Wally attests. \u201cI’m not sure I have any ‘vivid’ memories from the Emotions\u00a0<\/em>sessions, but if you pressed me, I would have to say it was listening in utter disbelief, at the sheer inappropriateness of most of the orchestral arrangements.\u201d Tracks like \u2018The Sun\u2019, \u2018My Time\u2019 and \u2018Growing In My Mind\u2019, to those familiar with the LP, are certainly subdued affairs, yet there\u2019s intensity, some deft playing too, and charmingly evocative lyrics.<\/p>\n

\u2018One Long Glance\u2019 is particularly strong, penned by the group\u2019s new chief writing triumvirate, Waller, May, and Taylor. No unwanted brass or string interjections, only Dick Taylor\u2019s stinging guitar and snatches of those exquisite vocal harmonies they would become expert at creating. \u201cJon and I were used to singing three and four part harmonies, counterparts, and call backs,\u201d reveals Wally, \u201call these things were second nature to us, and that was our first major contribution to the Pretties sound. Phil had no background in harmony singing, and I think he found the discipline difficult at first, but it soon started to gel, and a very distinctive blend emerged from our efforts. All the more surprising since individually our voices were, and still are, as different as chalk and cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t care what anyone says; Emotions <\/em>still gives off sparks here and there, and is shot through with enough of what can only be described as infant blossoms of the next few year\u2019s psychedelic experimentation. Who could deny the self-explanatory \u2018Tripping\u2019, where Phil spells out the words LSD over the verses, in reference to their psychedelic pal Donovan. \u201cThere were some great musicians on the sessions, and I had no problem in principle with orchestral augmentation,\u201d volunteers Wally. \u201cIt was quite simply not very sympathetic to what we were trying to do, but I was one of the ‘new boys’ so I kept my counsel. I do have some fond memories of the album. I suppose my favourite track would have to be ‘The Sun’, mostly because it was the first song Phil and I ever wrote together. It was after we wrote that, and a couple of others in an afternoon, that Phil invited me to join The Pretty Things.\u201d That Waller and Povey could also play a variety of other instruments was a major benefit for the new-look, new-sound Pretty Things.<\/p>\n