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 Isn't Rock And Roll
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's getting to my feet,
Starts to ring a bell that tells me
When to get up,
Starts to move, it ain't my groove.
There's only one thing that I
Really could be sure about.
It's getting to my soul,
Starts to ring a bell that tells me
When to get up,
Starts to move, it ain't my groove,
There's only one thing that I
Really could he sure about.
You know it isn't rock 'n' roll
The lyrics to The Pretty Things' song "It Isn't Rock 'N' Roll" are open to interpretation, but they seem to describe a feeling of restlessness and disconnection from the popular music scene of the time. The opening lines suggest a physical discomfort caused by the heat, which serves as a metaphor for the emotional intensity of the music that the singer is hearing. The ringing bell represents an inner call to action, telling the singer when to get up and move. However, despite being moved by the music, he can't identify with it. The phrase "it ain't my groove" suggests that the music doesn't align with his personal taste or identity.
As the chorus repeats, the singer emphasizes that this music "isn't rock 'n' roll" and yet it's still affecting him deeply. The phrase "getting to my soul" suggests that the music is touching a primal part of him, regardless of genre labels. The repetition of the phrase "there's only one thing that I really could be sure about" implies that even though the singer is confused or unsure about the music, he still trusts his own feelings.
Overall, the song seems to be an expression of the tension between individual taste and the urge to belong to a larger cultural movement. The title itself, "It Isn't Rock 'N' Roll," suggests that the singer is grappling with what does and does not fall under that category, and how he fits into that definition.
Line by Line Meaning
Can you hear the heat,
Do you feel the intense energy and excitement in the air?
It's getting to my feet,
It's starting to affect me physically and emotionally.
Starts to ring a bell that tells me
When to get up,
It triggers a sensation or instinct that lets me know when to take action.
Starts to move, it ain't my groove.
The rhythm or style of music isn't appealing or fitting to my taste.
There's only one thing that I
Really could be sure about.
I have a strong certainty or confidence in this one thing.
You know it isn't rock 'n' roll
It's getting to my soul,
Despite being labeled as rock 'n' roll, this music is having a profound effect on my innermost emotions.
Starts to ring a bell that tells me
When to get up,
That same instinct or sensation tells me it's time to take action.
Starts to move, it ain't my groove,
The music still doesn't fit my preferred style or taste.
There's only one thing that I
Really could he sure about.
My confidence in this one thing remains strong and unwavering.
You know it isn't rock 'n' roll
Despite being labeled as such, this music doesn't fit the typical characteristics or expectations of rock 'n' roll.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JONATHAN POVEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Postman Terry
Great tune by the late Gordon Edwards & Jack Green written prior to the Pretty Things involvement. Jack Green has 11 new tunes on Tunited.com one of which is a tribute to Gordon Edwards.
Mary Jane Bivens
Thanks. I had never heard this. It is great!
shadow play
seen them open for the Strawbs, those were the days.
Lamel Hanna
dude YOU ROCK. !
Patrick Marchal
"dude YOU ROCK. !"
It's a Beautiful Day
Jon Povey wrote this one.