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.
Old Man Going
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hopscotch of life will lead you to the grave.
Wet faces line the street, they will not be saved.
Black house you've built it will soon disappear,
Another corporation dig this year.
Old man going.
Traffic thins as you drive slowly by,
Streets filled with bouquets from a cloudy sky
They'll soon forget the field in which you lie.
Old man going.
The lyrics to The Pretty Things' song "Old Man Going" paint a vivid picture of the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. The opening line, "Old man going," sets the tone for the rest of the song as it speaks to the fleeting nature of life. The line "Hopscotch of life will lead you to the grave" suggests that life is like a game, where we jump from one square to another until we reach the end. The image of "wet faces" lining the street is a haunting one, as it speaks to the mourning and sadness that comes with losing a loved one. However, the next line, "they will not be saved," takes on a deeper meaning as it suggests that no one can escape death.
The second verse of the song continues to depict the final moments of life. The idea of "traffic thins as you drive slowly by" suggests that, in the end, we all reach a point where we must face our mortality alone. The image of a friend wiping a flower from an eye suggests that, even as we face death, we are not alone. The final lines of the song, "They'll soon forget the field in which you lie," speak to the fleeting nature of life and the fact that, in the end, we are all forgotten.
Overall, The Pretty Things' "Old Man Going" is a haunting meditation on the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. The song's powerful imagery and poignant lyrics make it an enduring classic that continues to resonate with listeners today.
Line by Line Meaning
Old man going
The singer is acknowledging that an old man is about to pass away.
Hopscotch of life will lead you to the grave.
Life is a game, and it will eventually lead everyone to their death.
Wet faces line the street, they will not be saved.
People are crying and grieving for the old man, but their emotions cannot save him from death.
Black house you've built it will soon disappear,
The legacy that the old man has built will soon be forgotten and fade away.
Another corporation dig this year.
The old man's death will be just another event for the business world to capitalize on.
Traffic thins as you drive slowly by,
As the procession for the old man passes, traffic naturally clears out of respect.
A friend wipes a flower from an eye.
One of the old man's friends is wiping away tears as they say their final goodbyes.
Streets filled with bouquets from a cloudy sky
The streets are full of flowers and other funeral decorations that will eventually wither away.
They'll soon forget the field in which you lie.
People will eventually forget where the old man is buried and move on with their lives.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALAN EDWARD WALLER, JOHN CHARLES ALDER, PHILIP ARTHUR DENNIS MAY, RICHARD CLIFFORD TAYLOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tommasoguarducci4619
Old man going
Hopscotch of life will lead you to the grave
Wet faces line the street, they will not be saved
Black house you've built it will soon disappear
Another Corporation dig this year
Old man going
Traffic thins as you drive slowly by
A friend wipes a flower from an eye
Streets filled with bouquets from a cloudy sky
They'll soon forget the field in which you lie
Old man going
@kiethblack3870
This track always blows me away. Recorded in 1967 -- released '68! Along with Love's '7 & 7 Is' (1966) proved that metal was already in the womb -- just waiting to be born a few years later!
@lucymoody4927
I agree. As far as Ive heard this is the first TRUE metal track.
@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms
Does basically sound like NWOBHM here.
@paulfake
Two years before Black Sabbath's Debut Album..... This is Heavy Metal before there was any Heavy Metal...
Happy Birthday Dick Taylor..... \m/
@chuckobscure
All of you that are here from James Rolfe's playlist, may I recommend "Defecting Grey" next.
@strawberrypancake2866
thank you
@Mustang_Sally_
sweet
@Tsotha
the Pretty Things were really ahead of their time on this album in many ways
@earljones920
The Pretty Things had all the right tools to prepare them for the 1970s hard rock era, which was the Golden age of of Heavy Metal, they could've easily sailed through the late 70’s with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Bang, AC⚡️DC, The Scorpions into the 80’s and continued their onslaught
@jillimyjilikers2036
This is pretty heavy.
The delivery,vocals,intensity,everything,not just guitars