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.
Falling Again
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the moonlight's on the sleeping sea
A pretty girl stood there at the bus stop
She said hey Johnny come and see about me.
She said Doop Doop.
So many seamen able and willing
Have passed through these arms on their way to the sea
When I drank from her lips I tasted the sea.
She said Doop Doop.
How can a young girl hope to survive
Living alone when there's no-one alive
Out in the night she swallows her pride
And she says catch me Johnny I'm falling again.
I jumped a freighter bound for Mombassa
I worked every day neath a burning sky
l wrote her sea poems and nautical letters
I remember her words till the day that I die.
She said Doop Doop.
The Pretty Things's song "Falling Again" talks about a man named Johnny who takes the last bus down to the harbor, where he meets a pretty girl at the bus stop. She then invites him to see her, and they both go towards the sleeping sea's moonlight. The girl then tells Johnny about the many seamen who have gone through her arms while going to the sea and left her tokens of love and affection. When they kiss, he tastes the sea. The girl tells Johnny that living alone when there is no one alive is difficult, and that every night she swallows her pride and says catch me Johnny, I'm falling again. Johnny then decides to jump a freighter bound for Mombasa, where he works daily under the burning sky and writes sea poems and nautical letters to the girl he left behind. Even though he remembers her words until the day he dies, she is still falling again, and Johnny is not there to catch her.
The theme of the song is loneliness, love, and the longing for emotional security. The girl in the song represents someone who has endured many emotional storms, but is still fighting to survive on her own. She invites Johnny to join her in facing her demons, but he is unable or unwilling to stay, which leads to a sense of loss on both sides. The line "when I drank from her lips, I tasted the sea" has many interpretations, one of which could be that their kiss had a salty taste, reminiscent of the sea.
Line by Line Meaning
I caught the last bus down to the harbour
The singer traveled to the harbour on the last bus available.
Where the moonlight's on the sleeping sea
The singer arrived at a place on the harbour where the moonlight is falling on the sleeping sea.
A pretty girl stood there at the bus stop
At the bus stop, the singer saw a beautiful girl.
She said hey Johnny come and see about me.
The girl asked the artist, whose name is Johnny, to come and check on her.
She said Doop Doop.
The girl repeated a sound that has no specific meaning.
So many seamen able and willing
There are numerous sailors who are capable of falling in love with the girl.
Have passed through these arms on their way to the sea
The girl has given many sailors a farewell hug or embrace as they left for their sea voyage.
They leave me tokens of love and affection
The sailors leave behind small gifts that show their love and affection for the girl.
When I drank from her lips I tasted the sea.
The artist became involved with the girl, and kissing her made him feel as though he was also kissing the sea.
How can a young girl hope to survive
The girl is very young and must wonder how she can survive on her own.
Living alone when there's no-one alive
The girl lives alone with no one to depend on.
Out in the night she swallows her pride
The girl must force herself to swallow her pride when outside alone at night.
And she says catch me Johnny I'm falling again.
The girl calls out to Johnny for help because she feels she is falling apart.
I jumped a freighter bound for Mombassa
The singer boarded a freighter to Mombasa, a Kenyan city, leaving behind the girl he loved.
I worked every day neath a burning sky
In Mombasa, the singer worked every day under the hot sun.
l wrote her sea poems and nautical letters
The artist wrote letters and poems about the sea for the girl he left behind.
I remember her words till the day that I die.
The artist will forever remember the girl's words.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BOB MCDILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind