Come See Me: The Very Best of the Pretty Things
Pretty Things
Producer: Gary Stewart
Shout! Factory, 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: 34132
EAN: 0826663413229
UPC: 826663413229
You save: 25%
Liner Note Author: Alec Palao.
Recording information: 1964 - 1970.
Though they're seldom accorded the same status as 1960s UK rock legends like the Rolling Stones, Beatles, etc., the Pretty Things produced a discography fully worthy of comparison with such contemporaries. From '63 to '65, they churned out raging blues and R&B easily the equal of the early Stones (whose original formation had, in fact, included head Pretty Thing Dick Taylor). That period is handily covered here, from A-plus covers (Bo Diddley's "Road Runner") to original songs (garage-rock rave-up "Midnight to Six Man"). The Pretties matured right alongside the Beatles, as evidenced by tracks from their 1968 conceptual masterwork, S.F. SORROW, and at the start of the '70s were turning out such treats as the Kinks-like "Dream/Joey" and the Badfinger-meets-Thin Lizzy rocker "Singapore Silk Torpedo." If iconic status were accorded more for musical content than for units sold, the Pretty Things would sit comfortably atop the British rock pantheon. Until then, COME SEE ME is an excellent place to find out why they're deserving of such attention.
Tracklist
Pretty Things
The party line on the Pretty Things is that they were early British blues-rockers as good as (or better than) the Stones but never got the same breaks. While this notion has merit, it overlooks the fact that in the late 1960s, they went on to create a psychedelic-tinged concept-rock masterpiece (S.F. SORROW) on par with the artiest creations of the Beatles. Though the band went through numerous breakups and personnel changes, they emerged in the '90s with their core membership intact, playing live and releasing new material.
