Pretty Things
Pretty Things were an English rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, including the debut The Pretty Things (UK Albums Chart #6) and S. F. Sorrow (being one of the first rock operas), four EPs and 15 UK singles, including the Top 20 UK Singles Chart "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Honey I Need". They reformed later in 1971 and continued through to 1976 issuing three more studio albums, and reformed once again from 1979 to 2020 releasing another five studio albums finalising with Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood.
For other uses, see Pretty Things (disambiguation).
Pretty Things
The group were formed by vocalist Phil May, who was an ever-present until his death in 2020, and guitarist Dick Taylor, who left before the end of their first incarnation but rejoined for the entirety of the third, with John Stax (bass), Brian Pendleton (guitar) and Pete Kitley who was replaced on drums by Viv Prince before any recording began. There have been many personnel changes with Peter Tolson (guitar), Jon Povey (keyboards) and Skip Alan (drums) being involved in all three incarnations, while bassist Wally Waller was involved in the first and third.
The group recorded stock music for film soundtracks which were issued as the Electric Banana series of albums, and collaborated with other artists and bands in the 1990s, such as Pretty Things & the Yardbird Blues Band, and Pretty Things 'N Mates.
History[edit]
1962–1964: Formation[edit]
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, among others. When Brian Jones was recruiting for his own band, all three joined Brian and Ian Stewart and were dubbed "Rollin' Stones" by Jones in June 1962. Because there were too many guitar players in the band, Taylor switched to bass. He quit the Stones five months later, when he was accepted at the Central School of Art and Design in London. Phil May, another Sidcup student, convinced him to form a new band.[1][2] Taylor was once again playing guitar, with May singing and playing harmonica. They recruited John Stax on bass, Brian Pendleton on rhythm guitar, and Pete Kitley on drums.[3] Kitley was soon replaced by Viv Andrews, also known as Viv Broughton.[4]
Bryan Morrison, a fellow student at the Art College where May and Taylor studied, 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 among many other bands. Forming a partnership with songwriter Jimmy Duncan, he got the Pretty Things a recording contract with Fontana Records in early 1964.[3] At this point, Viv Andrews was replaced by Viv Prince, a more experienced drummer who had played with Carter-Lewis and the Southerners.[3]
Growing Old Disgracefully - Alan Lakey
(http://www.shoreditchmusicagency.com/pretty-things The Pretty Things at Shoreditch Music Agency website]