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.
Sickle Clowns
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Three sickle mounted souls,
Lay wined on the green leaf,
Digging their rock 'n' roll,
Hey hey, digging their rock 'n' roll.
Slashed by the wild geese,
The silence it did tear,
Sticks swung in violence,
Hey hey, young america murdered there.
As one soul lay dying,
Only two were there to care.
On through the valleys,
Sad sickle clowns they ride.
Pressed tight against morning,
Beneath the blackened sky.
Hey hey, beneath the blackened sky.
There on a hill of gold
Wild children play.
They bend to pick the flowers.
The sun dissolves the day.
Hey hey, the sun dissolves the day.
If you can't close one eye,
Then turn the other way.
Faces bark in anger,
With savage bitter words,
Twist against the friendship,
With rapid shots they're blurred.
Hey hey, with rapid shots they're blurred.
There by the highway
Two sickles melt in flames.
They burn without the knowledge
Of why their lives were claimed,
Hey hey, why their lives were claimed.
As the smoke drifts skyward
We search for those to blame .....
The Pretty Things's "Sickle Clowns" depicts a group of three riders who are on horseback and intoxicated while digging their "rock 'n' roll" music by the river. Suddenly, they are attacked by wild geese and in the resulting chaos, sticks are swung in violence and young America gets "murdered" there. One of the riders is on the brink of death, but only two are there to care. The remaining two ride away as "sad sickle clowns" through the valleys beneath the blackened sky. The lyricism is quite visceral, as it paints a melancholic picture of a gruesome encounter that resulted in severe injuries and death.
The lyrics become even more intense as the song progresses. The faces of the riders contort with anger and they engage in a violent clash against each other with "savage bitter words". The fight is so violent that it causes a blur, as they twist against the friendship with rapid shots. Two sickles melt in flames, and nobody knows why their lives were claimed. The song ends with smoke drifting skyward as people search for those to blame.
Line by Line Meaning
Down by the river
The scene is set by describing a location as near a river
Three sickle mounted souls,
Three individuals, possibly on horseback (or alternatively, with sickle tattoos) are present at the location
Lay wined on the green leaf,
The aforementioned individuals are drunk and sprawled out on leaves
Digging their rock 'n' roll,
The individuals are playing music, most likely rock 'n' roll
Hey hey, digging their rock 'n' roll.
Repeated line to reinforce the activity of playing rock 'n' roll music
Slashed by the wild geese,
Something surprising has occurred - geese attacked the individuals
The silence it did tear,
The silence is broken by the commotion caused by the geese attack
Sticks swung in violence,
The individuals retaliate to the attack by swinging sticks in a violent manner
You america murdered there
A metaphorical statement - something (or someone) symbolizing America was killed
Hey hey, young america murdered there.
Repeated line to reinforce the metaphorical murder of America
As one soul lay dying,
One of the individuals is gravely injured
Only two were there to care.
The remaining two individuals are the only ones present to tend to the injured individual
On through the valleys,
The location changes to valleys
Sad sickle clowns they ride.
The remaining two individuals are described as sad sickle clowns (possibly a metaphor for their state of mind)
Pressed tight against morning,
They are riding through the morning and possibly feeling anxious or nervous
Beneath the blackened sky.
The sky is described as black
Hey hey, beneath the blackened sky.
Repeated line to reinforce the dark imagery of the setting
There on a hill of gold
The location changes again, this time to a hill made of gold
Wild children play.
Children are present and are playing actively
They bend to pick the flowers.
The children are picking flowers
The sun dissolves the day.
The day is coming to an end with the setting sun
Hey hey, the sun dissolves the day.
Repeated line to reinforce the imagery of the sun setting
If you can't close one eye,
A statement on how to cope with disturbing sights
Then turn the other way.
If something is too difficult to handle or face, simply look away
Faces bark in anger,
Faces (most likely of angry people) are described as bark, indicating a rough or harsh appearance
With savage bitter words,
The angry people are speaking in a cruel and malicious manner
Twist against the friendship,
The friends are going against each other (possibly because of external pressure)
With rapid shots they're blurred.
The situation has escalated and shots are being fired, causing confusion and uncertainty
Hey hey, with rapid shots they're blurred.
Repeated line to reinforce the chaos and tension of the situation
There by the highway
The location changes back to a highway
Two sickles melt in flames.
Two sickle-shaped objects are burning
They burn without the knowledge
The burning sickles are unaware of their own destruction
Of why their lives were claimed,
The reason behind their destruction is unknown
Hey hey, why their lives were claimed.
Repeated line to reinforce the senselessness of the destruction
As the smoke drifts skyward
A description of the aftermath of the destruction
We search for those to blame .....
A statement on humanity's tendency to assign blame in difficult situations
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALAN WALLER, PHILIP MAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind