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.
It´s Been So Long
The Pretty Things Lyrics
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Where the blind fish do swim.
I saw the face on the drowning moon
And I nearly jumped in.
Sad sirens on the water
They call to me through the night.
They sing of you, their song is blue,
It 's been so long.
Oh lord, won't you help me,
Now I'm in such distress,
My song is blue, and so are you,
That's why I'm in such a mess.
It 's been so long.
Out in the moonlight,
Beside macadam highway,
You put out your thumb, maggie baby
You sure went a long way.
The neon angel passed you by,
He said old river seemed to sigh,
Separated, from you past,
We sometimes die.
It 's been so long.
The Pretty Things's song "It's Been So Long" can be interpreted in many ways, but the overall theme is one of sadness and reflection. The first verse describes the singer's journey down to a muddy river, where he sees the face of a drowning moon and almost jumps in. This imagery suggests that the singer may be feeling overwhelmed by his emotions and is contemplating suicide. The second verse introduces the sad sirens on the water who call to him through the night, singing of the one he loves and their pain. The use of the color blue throughout the lyrics suggests a feeling of sadness or depression that the singer is experiencing.
In the chorus, the singer pleads with the Lord for help, as he is in such distress and his song is blue, just like the pain he is feeling. The third verse describes a past lover, "maggie baby," who left and went a long way, leaving the singer alone out in the moonlight on a macadam highway. The use of the term "neon angel" to describe someone passing by suggests that this person has a certain allure or mystique, but ultimately cannot help the singer. The final line of the song, "It's been so long," suggests a feeling of longing or nostalgia for what once was.
Overall, "It's Been So Long" is a melancholic song that explores themes of love, loss, and loneliness, and invites the listener to join the singer in his sadness and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
I went down to the muddy river
I visited the river with muddy water
Where the blind fish do swim.
There were blind fishes in the river
I saw the face on the drowning moon
A face was visible on the moon that looked like it was drowning
And I nearly jumped in.
The sight almost made me jump into the river
Sad sirens on the water
There were mournful voices on the water
They call to me through the night.
The voices were calling me during the night
They sing of you, their song is blue,
The voices were singing about somebody, whose song was sad
And so is the pain.
The pain was also sad in nature
It 's been so long.
A lot of time has passed
Oh lord, won't you help me,
Asking God for help
Now I'm in such distress,
Currently, I am in a lot of pain
My song is blue, and so are you,
The person who the song is about is also sad in nature
That's why I'm in such a mess.
That's why I am in such a difficult situation
Out in the moonlight,
Outside, under moonlight
Beside macadam highway,
Next to the macadam road
You put out your thumb, maggie baby
Maggie baby stuck out her thumb, probably to hitchhike
You sure went a long way.
Maggie baby travelled a long distance
The neon angel passed you by,
Somebody or something illuminated like an angel passed Maggie baby by
He said old river seemed to sigh,
The illuminated angel remarked about the river seeming to make a sound of a deep breath
Separated, from you past,
Separated from Maggie's history
We sometimes die.
At times, people don't make it alive
It 's been so long.
A lot of time has passed
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HAROLD ADAMSON, WALTER DONALDSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind