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.
The Letter
The Pretty Things Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the green fields it came.
She wrote me a letter,
Trying to explain.
Now living came easy,
In velvet valleys of sun,
She wrote me a letter...
She wrote me a letter,
She knew I just couldn't answer,
For they were all in the past,
City life was too heavy,
So she had run for the hills,
She wrote me a letter, in the rain
The Pretty Things's song The Letter is a poignant and introspective ballad about receiving a letter from a lost love. The first two lines of the song establish the setting of the letter - it comes from the "green fields", indicating a rural area or countryside, and immediately sets a tone of nostalgia and simplicity. The singer is then faced with the task of deciphering the letter's contents, which are fraught with difficult questions about their past relationship that he is unable to answer.
As the song progresses, we learn that the writer of the letter has fled the stresses of city life for the "velvet valleys of sun". This description further emphasizes the contrast between the peaceful, idyllic countryside and the harsh, fast-paced city. The final line, "She wrote me a letter, in the rain", adds a layer of melancholy to the already bittersweet tone of the song. The rain could represent tears, or simply serve as a symbol of sadness.
Overall, The Letter is a beautifully crafted song that explores themes of loss, regret, and the power of communication. The lyrics are evocative and poetic, and the instrumentation supports the emotional weight of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
She wrote me a letter,
The singer received a letter from someone.
From the green fields it came.
The letter was sent from a rural area.
Trying to explain.
The letter's purpose was to provide an explanation.
Now living came easy,
Living was easy for the recipient of the letter.
In velvet valleys of sun,
The recipient lived in an idyllic, sunny location.
She wrote me a letter...
Repeating the first line for poetic effect.
So many questions she asked,
The letter contained numerous questions.
She knew I just couldn't answer,
The recipient could not answer the questions asked in the letter.
For they were all in the past,
The questions related to events that had already occurred.
City life was too heavy,
The author was unhappy in an urban environment.
So she had run for the hills,
The author had recently moved to a rural area.
She wrote me a letter, in the rain
The letter was completed in wet weather conditions.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALAN WALLER, PHILIP MAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind