- Get the Picture? · 1965
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
- Greatest Hits · 1965
- Greatest Hits · 1965
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
- Parachute · 1970
- Parachute · 1965
- Get the Picture? · 1965
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
- Get the Picture? · 1965
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
- S.F. Sorrow · 1968
Essential Albums
- The Pretty Things’ second album, Get the Picture?, continues where their debut left off, featuring more raw R&B standards alongside a greater amount of original material from the group. But at this point in their career (still 1965), The Pretty Things were less concerned with song craftsmanship than pure expressive energy and aggression. It’s immediately evident from the opening track, “You Don’t Believe Me” and subsequent tunes “Can’t Stand the Pain” and “We’ll Play House” that the group’s range has grown, but singer Phil May still tears it up with a primal yawp that cares little for the finesse of the pop radio song. In its place, the group adheres to a rough, tough sound where guitars do battle and the singer always sounds frustrated, put-upon, surly and agitated. This angst would find its way into the sound of hundreds of garage bands of the era. Comparisons to the early Rolling Stones are inevitable as well (guitarist Dick Taylor played with the group for a spell). “Rainin’ in My Heart” could easily fit on the Rolling Stones’ own 1965 release Now. Reissues of this collection add songs from singles and EPs for a well-rounded look at the era.
- 1980
- 1975
- 1974
Live Albums
Compilations
Appears On
About The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things were one of the toughest and most celebrated artists to rise from the British Invasion era, and among the very best British R&B bands of the '60s. Taking their name from a Bo Diddley song, they were intentionally ugly: their sound was brutish, their hair longer than any of their contemporaries, their look unkempt. The high points of their R&B period are 1965's The Pretty Things and Get the Picture?; 1968's S.F. Sorrow is their psychedelic touchstone; and 1970's Parachute is an ambitious mix of psychedelia, pop, and hard rock. Their cult was drawn to either their vicious early records, where they sounded like a meaner version of the Rolling Stones, or to S.F. Sorrow, which inspired Pete Townshend to write Tommy for the Who.
- ORIGIN
- Kent, England
- FORMED
- 1967
- GENRE
- Rock