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.
Honey I Need
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You'd better set me free
I just can′t come to your feet
And live in misery
I tell you baby just the time
I don't know where you by
If you miss me then just before me
You give alibi
Oh honey
I need your love
All the time
All the time
And don't
Ever leave me
Or be unkind
Or be unkind
Wa ha bed
I don′t you love the things to try
Kill my love so bad
But every time I′ve felt a chill I
Left them on the shelf
The things you try to do to me
I'm doing them myself
Every time I come on home
You deal with someone else
Oh honey
I need your loving
All the time
All the time
And don′t
Ever leave me
Or be unkind
Or be unkind
Oh honey
Need your loving
All the time
All the time
And don't
Ever leave me
Or be unkind
Or be unkind
The Pretty Things's song "Honey I Need" is about a relationship that is not going well. The singer is making a plea to their partner to make things better. The first verse is about the singer wanting to be set free if the partner is not interested in reciprocating the love. The singer cannot be at the mercy of their partner and live in misery. They are warning their partner to be honest with them and not give any alibis if they miss them.
The chorus of the song is an expression of the singer's love for their partner, and they are asking for the same love in return. They are pleading for their partner not to leave them or be unkind, and they repeat this plea throughout the song. The second verse talks about the singer's reluctance to try out new things in their relationship because their love for their partner is so strong. They have left all the other alternatives on the shelf because they don't want to jeopardize their relationship. The singer is accusing their partner of trying to do things to them, that they themselves are doing.
Overall, "Honey I Need" portrays a relationship that is on the brink of breaking down and the singer trying by all means to put things back together again. It is a plea for honesty, mutual love, and respect in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
If you don’t want paying for
If you don't want to be paid for
You'd better set me free
You should let me go
I just can't come to your feet
I can't grovel at your feet
And live in misery
And be miserable
I tell you baby just the time
I only tell you the truth
I don't know where you by
I don't know where you are
If you miss me then just before me
If you miss me then come to me
You give alibi
You make excuses
Oh honey
Oh my dear
I need your love
I need your affection
All the time
Always
And don't
And never
Ever leave me
Abandon me
Or be unkind
Or be cruel
Wa ha bed
A nonsense syllable with no clear meaning
I don't you love the things to try
I don't love the things you try
Kill my love so bad
To hurt my love so much
But every time I've felt a chill I
But every time I've been scared
Left them on the shelf
I ignored those feelings
The things you try to do to me
The things you try to do to harm me
I'm doing them myself
I'm hurting myself
Every time I come on home
Every time I come back home
Writer(s): Taylor, Smithling, Button
Contributed by Grayson M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
David Herridge
Brilliant band, I always thought they were equal if not better than The Stones
Gilmar Alves Santana
Freak beat,já era um som bem nervoso,geralmente abordavam temas como drogas,sexo, ocultismo e realidade juvenil rebelde diferente do mod que era um som mais comportado falando de namorinhos inocentes,as pessoas acham que só existia Stones,Beatles e the who,tinham centenas de bandas no reino unido ,Europa ,América do norte e do sul igual ou ate melhores que as citadas
Ellen Moreira M.
Legal, gostei. O vocalista tem um jeito bem maluquinho. Esse vídeo é bem antigo. O som é bom 😊👍
Kees Van Baaren
Underrated Top Band👍
armjos1
Brilliant band
Emmanuel Garcia
Really good music
Tropimalus
G E W E L D I G !
Ash Sol
Dis fantasties!!
reuireuiop0
Fun how camera man zooms in on bass player making the show on his knees, whereas guitarist had a hard time finding his strings thru his shades :p
Graeme Kornicki
Is this viv prince on drums.