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.
She Says Good Morning
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She's there waiting at the gates as the velvet Night sky is torn.
She says Good Morning, I smile and say the same.
She's STANDS waiting at the gate Smiling at the rain.
As I turn to wave to her I wish I could remain.
She [-EEE ] says Good Morning.
She's there waiting at the gate WARMING all she sees.
Threading through a web of gas The rain precedes the storm,
She said Good Morning I smiled and said the same.
She's STANDS waiting at the gate A picture in my brain.
The opening lines of The Pretty Things' "She Says Good Morning" set the scene for the rest of the song, depicting a woman waiting at a gate as the sun rises, creating a beautiful image painted by the dawn. The next line introduces a contrasting image of the velvet Night sky being torn apart. It seems like the two images represent the duality of the singer's life, where the beauty and serenity of the morning are disrupted by the harshness of reality. The woman then greets the singer with a friendly "Good Morning," and he reciprocates the sentiment with a smile despite his yearning to stay with her at the gate.
The singer then describes the woman standing at the gate, braving the rain and warming up everything she sees with her smile. The lyrics use vivid imagery to make the audience understand the significance of this woman and her actions on the singer's daily routine. The final lines describe the impact that the woman has on the singer, where she exists as a beautiful picture in his head.
Overall, the lyrics of "She Says Good Morning" are mainly about the duality of life and the impact that small moments of kindness can have on us. The singer seems to be going through a difficult time, shown by his coughing on his way to work. However, the presence of the woman waiting at the gate makes things bearable, and her simple "Good Morning" keeps him going. The song thus becomes a beautiful tribute to the people who make life worth living, even in the most challenging of circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
She's there waiting at the gate Painted by the dawn.
She's waiting at the gate as the morning sky is painted with beautiful colors by the rising sun.
She says Good Morning, I smile and say the same.
She greets me with a Good Morning and I return the greeting with a smile.
As I turn to wave to her I wish I could remain.
Although I have to leave, I wish I could stay with her longer.
She says Good Morning.
She greets me with a Good Morning.
She's there waiting at the gate WARMING all she sees.
She's standing at the gate, radiating warmth and brightening up everything around her.
Threading through a web of gas The rain precedes the storm,
Walking through the smoggy air, I notice the rain starting to fall before the storm arrives.
Coughing on my way to work Her smile keeps me warm
Despite coughing on my way to work, her smile warms my heart and keeps me going.
She said Good Morning I smiled and said the same.
She greets me with a Good Morning and I return the greeting with a smile.
She stands waiting at the gate A picture in my brain.
She's waiting at the gate and the image of her stays in my memory, like a picture.
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
Tarantulisimo
Phil May – vocals
Dick Taylor – lead guitar, vocals
Wally Waller – bass, guitar, vocals, wind instruments, piano
Jon Povey – organ, sitar, Mellotron, percussion, vocals
Skip Alan – drums*
Twink – drums*, vocals
*Drummer Skip Alan suddenly quit The Pretty Things during recording of the SF Sorrow album (to marry his French girlfriend), and John Charles Edward "Twink" Alder, of the recently-broken-up band Tomorrow, took his place -- It's unclear whose drumming is featured on the final version of "She Says Good Morning".....
T.C. Bramblett
The intensity versus the subject is perfect psych rock. Perfect poetry. He's flailing, screaming almost, in describing the simplest thing. words and music can't express it
Ron Mishra
T.C. Bramblett Couldn't have said it better!
Dan Goguen
no question, one of the best songs ever!!
Tarantulisimo
Phil May – vocals
Dick Taylor – lead guitar, vocals
Wally Waller – bass, guitar, vocals, wind instruments, piano
Jon Povey – organ, sitar, Mellotron, percussion, vocals
Skip Alan – drums*
Twink – drums*, vocals
*Drummer Skip Alan suddenly quit The Pretty Things during recording of the SF Sorrow album (to marry his French girlfriend), and John Charles Edward "Twink" Alder, of the recently-broken-up band Tomorrow, took his place -- It's unclear whose drumming is featured on the final version of "She Says Good Morning".....
armjos1
Great album,fantastic band
Robert Taylor
one of those songs that's hard to get out of my head!! absolutely perfect tune.
Farrah Teague
Love this song!!!!
electricvisions
thanks for putting this up! one of the greatest LP's of all time.....
mumujamm
Some days I wish the Yellow Submarine animators were really working on this album instead.
A. Iwasa
That would have been amazing! I can't seem to find anything online about this opera ever actually being acted out...