The Pretty Things was preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys which consisted of Dick Taylor, fellow Sidcup Art College student Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger. When Brian Jones joined Little Boy Blue and the Blues Boys as guitarist, Taylor was pushed from playing guitar to bass and the Rolling Stones were formed.
Several months later Dick Taylor (born Richard Clifford Taylor, 28 January 1943, in Dartford, Kent) quit the newly formed Rolling Stones to pursue his schooling when he was accepted at London Central School of Art, where he met up with Phil May (born Phillip Arthur Dennis Kattner, on 9 November 1944, in Dartford, Kent: died 15 May 2020) and they formed Pretty Things.
Taylor was once again playing his preferred guitar with May singing and playing harmonica. They recruited Brian Pendleton (born 13 April 1944 in Wolverhampton–died 16 May 2001 in Maidstone, Kent) on rhythm guitar; John Stax (born John Edward Lee Fullegar, 6 April 1944 in Crayford, Kent) on bass; and, after trying a couple of different drummers, including Pete Kitley and Viv Andrews, stuck with Viv Prince (born Vivian St John Prince, 9 August 1944, in Loughborough, Leices).
Early career
They caused a sensation in England, and their first three singles — "Rosalyn" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 — appeared in the UK singles chart in 1964-1965. They never had a hit in the United States, but had considerable success in their native United Kingdom and in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands in the middle of the decade. However, in the U.S. they, along with The Yardbirds and Van Morrison's Them, were a huge influence on hundreds of garage bands, including the MC5 and The Seeds.
Their early material was hard-edged blues-rock influenced by Bo Diddley (they took their name from Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" in humorous contrast to their unkempt long-haired appearance) and Jimmy Reed, much like that of their contemporaries The Stones and The Yardbirds. They were known for wild "rock and roll" behaviour and shocking the establishment; their song "Midnight to Six Man" defined the mod lifestyle. Around this time, the first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince the first to go late in 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan. Pendleton left late in 1966, and was not initially replaced. Then, Stax quit early in 1967 and Jon Povey and Wally Waller joined to make the band a five piece once again.
After an uncomfortable flirtation with mainstream pop on the Emotions album in 1967, they embraced psychedelia, producing the groundbreaking concept album S.F. Sorrow during 1967-68. This album, released in late 1968, is arguably one of the first rock operas, preceding The Who's Tommy by about a year. It was recorded in the legendary Abbey Road Studios six months after The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Each album shares a similar forward-thinking late-1960s psychedelic sound (as well as sharing the same record producer, Norman Smith, as the Floyd). S.F. Sorrow was followed by the highly-acclaimed record album Parachute, which continued the psychedelic sound and was named "Album of the Year" in 1970 by Rolling Stone Magazine. During this period they also recorded an album for a young French millionaire, Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among the man's social circle. The acetate has since been bootlegged.
Later career
From this point on, the group enjoyed less in the way of commercial success, but the devotion of a strong cult following, especially with critics and other rock musicians. Their material in the early 1970s tended towards more the hard rock and early heavy metal end of the spectrum, although still blues-based, on albums like Silk Torpedo. 1980's Cross Talk saw them incorporating influences of punk and New Wave into their hard rock sound; like most of their records, it was an artistic but not a commercial success.
With a new manager, Mark St John, they gigged sporadically during the 1980s. By the end of the decade their profile had almost disappeared, when founder members Phil May and Dick Taylor reformed the band for a successful European blues tour in late 1990 with Stan Webb's Chicken Shack and Luther Allison. This gigging outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay (Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonaut's with Jon Langford of Mekon Fame). This line up regularly toured the European mainland playing a revitalised set that show cased their earlier, rootsy blues and r'n'b materiel, until late 1994. By 1995, they reformed the Cross Talk line-up and added Frank Holland on guitar in place of Peter Tolson. Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD of a re-recording of S.F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios (with Dave Gilmour & Arthur Brown guesting). They toured more frequently, including a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades
Original rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton died of lung cancer on May 16, 2001.
In the early 2000's, they released new recordings, including a live album and the studio album Rage Before Beauty.
In 2003, Alan Lakey's biography of the band, Growing Old Disgracefully, was published by Firefly. The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to the legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s.
The band did their final tour in 2018.
Bridge of God
The Pretty Things Lyrics
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Heart double beating in a bright cage of fear,
Something he wanted, but the price was too dear,
His spirit's starting to float,
The bridge of God is his hope.
Choir voices calling as the priest reads the news,
Congregations falling, but incredible views,
Building a bridge to the sky,
Teaching the granite to fly.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
With chisels of steel,
He carved out the wheel
To carry you high,
With nail through bone,
He laid the first stone
That crosses the sky.
Stooped to the soil, bitter harvest passed by,
Dining on hunger, as his crops slowly die,
A distant church spire, points the way to the sky.
His pain is starting to melt,
Beneath the bridges he knelt.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
Old man is waiting for the end to arrive,
Grey Monday morning with the washing line skies,
Then without warning he just closes his eyes,
He knows he hasn't a care, he knows the brides are there.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
All his memories sold,
He's releasing his hold
To be carried on high.
With the juice of the past,
Turned to dust in the hearth
It's an easy goodbye.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
The Pretty Things's song Bridge of God is a mystifying and poetic piece about the promise of hope and transcendence. The first verse suggests a sense of danger and intimidation as the singer is hiding, and his heart is beating fast out of fear; he wanted something, but the price was too high, and now he is hoping to find salvation on the bridge of God. The chorus reinforces the idea of crossing the bridge for deliverance. The second verse appears to recall the history of the bridge's construction, possibly suggesting that it was built by a mason who was trained in making granite fly, using chisels of steel to carve out the wheel as he crossed the sky. The final verse features an old man who has gone through life's trials and tribulations as he approaches his end. He sees the washing line skies and crosses the bridge, knowing that he is free and all his memories are but dust that he is releasing.
The metaphors and allusions in the song are rich and varied, creating a sense of ambiguity that adds depth to the lyrics. The German Shepherds could be interpreted as the watchdogs of society, or possibly a representation of the singer's inner demons. The bright cage of fear is an evocative image that suggests a state of intense anxiety or panic. The bridge of God is a symbol of the path to enlightenment, the Mason's bridge possibly pointing to the spiritual tradition of masonry. The choir voices and congregations falling might signify a religious crisis, while the distant church spire could allude to the allure of faith that the singer is trying to grasp. The juice of the past turned to dust in the hearth is a poignant metaphor for the ephemeral nature of human existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Hide in the shadows, german shepherds are near,
He is hiding in the shadows because he is afraid of the german shepherds that are nearby.
Heart double beating in a bright cage of fear,
He is experiencing high levels of fear which are causing his heart to beat twice as fast.
Something he wanted, but the price was too dear,
There was something he desired, but the cost of obtaining it was too high.
His spirit's starting to float,
He is becoming uplifted in spirit.
The bridge of God is his hope.
He is placing his hope in the bridge of God.
Choir voices calling as the priest reads the news,
The choir is singing while the priest is reading the news.
Congregations falling, but incredible views,
Despite the falling congregations, the views are still amazing.
Long ago a mason earned a new pair of shoes
A long time ago, a mason received new shoes.
Building a bridge to the sky,
The mason was building a bridge that went all the way up to the sky.
Teaching the granite to fly.
The mason was able to make the granite fly.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
He is urging others to cross the bridge of God.
With chisels of steel,
He used chisels made of steel.
He carved out the wheel
He was able to carve out a wheel.
To carry you high,
The wheel would take you up high.
With nail through bone,
He used a nail to pierce through bone.
He laid the first stone
He placed the first stone.
That crosses the sky.
The stone was part of the bridge that crossed the sky.
Stooped to the soil, bitter harvest passed by,
He was bent down to the ground, the harsh harvest had gone.
Dining on hunger, as his crops slowly die,
He was eating with hunger since his crops had been dying slowly.
A distant church spire, points the way to the sky.
The spire of a far away church indicates the way to the sky.
His pain is starting to melt,
His pain is beginning to go away.
Beneath the bridges he knelt.
He knelt down beneath the bridges.
Old man is waiting for the end to arrive,
The old man is waiting for his end to come.
Grey Monday morning with the washing line skies,
It's a grey Monday morning with cloudy skies.
Then without warning he just closes his eyes,
He suddenly closes his eyes without any warning.
He knows he hasn't a care, he knows the brides are there.
He is aware that he has nothing to worry about and he believes the brides are present.
All his memories sold,
He has sold all his memories.
He's releasing his hold
He is letting go of everything he's holding onto.
To be carried on high.
He wants to be carried up high.
With the juice of the past,
Using his past experiences.
Turned to dust in the hearth,
It all turns to ash in the fireplace.
It's an easy goodbye.
Saying goodbye will be easy for him.
Cross the bridge of god, cross the bridge.
He is still urging others to cross the bridge of God.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PHILIP MAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind