These 12 songs were recorded by Twin Engine in 1971 with the intention of getting an album together for release on United Artists, but they weren't issued until more than 30 years later. The music has very much of a 1970 aura, mightily influenced at different points by the Let It Be-era Beatles (particularly in the guitar sound of "Give My Love a Chance," "The Time Is Now," and "Mistress of the Morning"), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (a riff in "The Time Is Now" seems airlifted directly from Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand"), American Beauty-era Grateful Dead, and the country-rock being laid down by the Flying Burrito Brothers/Byrds axis in Southern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (That last influence may not have been entirely due to chance, as Byrds and/or Burritos members Chris Hillman, Clarence White, and Sneaky Pete Kleinow are all referred to in the packaging as having played on the sessions, though it's not specified who played on what track).
It's very accomplished, and Twin Engine's duo harmonies are quite cheerful and invigorating. What it lacks is a sound of its own, and it's easy to see that a label of the time might have passed on it due to its similarity to some other bands of the era, or at least encouraged the pair to keep working up material until something more distinctive evolved. Now that competing in the marketplace isn't a concern, it's actually a pretty pleasant listen -- derivative, yes, but considerably stronger and more polished than most albums that are heavily derivative of their surrounding times and styles. There are the makings of a solid country-rock band here, albeit one more pop-influenced than most, like a less-slick Eagles. While it's too bad they didn't get any further, this relic of their abortive flight isn't at all bad.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Give My Love A Chance - 2:30
2. My Life Gets Better Every Day - 3:08
3. Secrets - 2:32
4. Mistress Of The Morning (Randy Naylor) - 2:22
5. No Time Is Better Than Now - 2:48
6. Darlin' (Randy Naylor) - 3:06
7. Flowered Wall - 3:06
8. Can't Keep My Mind Off Of You (Randy Naylor) - 3:12
9. Gold Mine - 2:22
10.When Will I Be Loved (Phil Everly) - 1:50
11.The Time Is Now (Randy Naylor) - 2:50
12.Same Train (Randy Naylor) - 3:00
Words and Music by Constantine Gusias except where noted
Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944, Staveley, Derbyshire, England. An underestimated talent, this inventive guitarist began his career in a beat group, the Vulcans, prior to following a haphazard path touring in country bands and supporting cabaret attractions on the cruise ship Himalaya. Spells backing Alan Price and Paul Jones preceded Spedding’s involvement in the Battered Ornaments where he established a reputation for technique and imagination. The guitarist was subsequently heard on Jack Bruce’s 1969 debut Songs For A Tailor, and on early releases by Nucleus, a leading jazz rock ensemble. Session work for Lulu, Roxy Music, John Cale, Dusty Springfield and others was interspersed by two low-key solo albums, Backwood Progression (1970) and The Only Lick I Know (1972). Spedding also formed the much-touted Sharks with former Free bass player Andy Fraser, but internal ructions undermined the group’s potential. The guitarist resumed studio work in 1975, but also joined UK artist Roy Harper in Trigger, the singer’s short-lived backing band. The following year he produced the Sex Pistols’ first demos.
Spedding’s clinical approach resulted in several career-based anomalies during the 70s. He donned the requisite costume to perform with the Wombles and contrived an ill-fitting leather-boy image for a series of pop punk singles under the guidance of producer Mickie Most. ‘Motor-Biking’, in 1975, provided the UK Top 20 single the guitarist doubtlessly deserved, but these unusual interludes provided a distorted perception of his other work. Spedding has since balanced studio and live work for artists such as Elton John, Tom Waits, Bryan Ferry, Marc Almond and Katie Melua with occasional solo releases. His albums have maintained an impressive consistency while ranging over a diverse stylistic range.
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin
"Only Lick I Know" a very unusual second album from Chris Spedding – one that came out quite a few years after his first solo set, and definitely shows the result of Spedding's countless work on other rock, jazz, and soul sessions! There's still a rootsy, personal feel to the music – but there's also a much more tuneful approach, too – not one that's trying to be commercial, just a quality that clearly comes from all of Chris' work with top-shelf artists and producers as one of the most in-demand guitarists of his generation. Spedding handled a good amount of the instrumentation himself – save for the drums – and the album's got a relaxed feeling that really reflects the time that Chris took to get things right during the recording process. Tracks include "White Lady", "London Town", "A Hard Woman Is Good To Find", "The Only Lick I Know", and "Saw You Yesterday" – plus a surprising cover of "The Dark End Of The Street"
Tracks
1. White Lady - 3:55
2. A Hard Woman Is Good To Find - 2:41
3. London Town - 5:14
4. Don't Leave Me - 5:27
5. Honky Tonk Blues (Hank Williams) - 2:43
6. Saw You Yesterday - 3:28
7. The Dark End of the Street (Chips Moman, Dan Penn) - 3:26
8. The Only Lick I Know - 3:02
9. Listen While I Sing My Song - 3:21
All songs by Chris Spedding except where noted.
Musicians
*Chris Spedding - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards
*Linda Lewis - Baiking Vocals
*Laurie Allan - Drums
*Harold Fisher - Drums
*Alan Hawkshaw - Piano
*Paul Francis - Drums
*Phil Dennys - Keyboards
*Tony Campo - Bass
Born in Dallas, Texas, on January 3, 1945, Stephen Stills is an American folk musician, best known as a member of the bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. In the 1970s, Stills re-emerged as a solo artist, producing several successful albums. In 1997, he made history as the first person inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice in one night—with both Buffalo Springfield as well as Crosby, Stills and Nash.
During CSN&Y's early years, Stills continued to produce solo material, releasing Stephen Stills (1970) and Stephen Stills 2 (1971). In 1972, he joined the band Manassas, and released a self-titled album that same year.
In December on 1975, another album of Stephen's would be released titled "Stephen Stills Live", a collection of live in concert songs. And following this in 1976, with not only a brand new album under his belt, "Illegal Stills," he would then embark on a new venture with his fellow compadre Neil Young, an album and tour for "Long May You Run."
It would be 1977 when he would rejoin and he and friends Graham and David would make amend, to record their album "CSN", putting out such great passion envoked tunes including "Shadow Captain" and "Dark Star."
In 1978 he would take a chance and release of another solo album titled "Thoroughfare Gap"*This album was not popular among critics, but well received by many fans. From dance beats in "Can't get no booty," to the pure awesome beauty of "Thoroughfare Gap," the title song*Spacing himself, a few years later in 1982 he would continue to record more albums with CSN such as "Daylight Again", and "Allies," both inspiring the "Daylight Again" tour.
Tracks
Disc 1
Stills 1975
1. Turn Back The Pages (D. Dacus, S. Stills) - 4:04
2. My Favorite Changes - 2:50
3. My Angel (S. Stills, Dallas Taylor) - 2:25
4. In The Way - 3:35
5. Love Story - 4:11
6. To Mama From Christopher And The Old Man - 2:15
7. First Things First (Joe Schermie, Jon Smith, S. Stills) - 2:10
8. New Mama (Neil Young) - 2:21
9. As I Come Of Age - 2:33
10.Shuffle Just As Bad - 2:39
11.Cold Cold World (D. Dacus, S. Stills) - 4:38
12.Myth Of Sisyphus (Kenny Passarelli, S. Stills) - 4:28
Illegal Stills 1976
13.Buyin' Time (S. Stills) - 3:36
14.Midnight In Paris (D. Dacus, Véronique Sanson) - 4:00
15.Different Tongues (S. Stills, D. Dacus) - 3:09
16.Soldier (D. Dacus, S. Stills) - 2:59
17.The Loner (Neil Young) - 4:16
18.Stateline Blues (S. Stills) - 1:59
19.Closer To You (D. Dacus, Warner Schwebke, S. Stills) - 3:36
20.No Me Niegas (S. Stills) - 3:33
21.Ring Of Love (D. Dacus, S. Stills) - 4:02
22.Circlin' (Kenny Passarelli, S. Stills) - 4:20
All songs by Stephen Stills except where indicated
Disc 2 Thoroughfare Gap 1978
1. You Can't Dance Alone - 4:14
2. Thoroughfare Gap - 3:31
3. We Will Go On - 2:41
4. Beaucoup Yumbo (S. Stills, Joe Vitale) - 3:33
5. What's the Game - 3:32
6. Midnight Rider (Gregg Allman) - 3:39
7. Woman Lleva - 3:13
8. Lowdown - 3:46
9. Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) - 3:26
10.Can't Get No Booty (Danny Kortchmar, S. Stills) - 3:44
All songs by Stephen Stills except where indicated
Though advertised as the long lost 1968 home recordings of the band that would become King Crimson, Giles, Giles and Fripp’s The Brondesbury Tapes reveal the early work of Robert Fripp and company to be a freewheeling world apart from their more celebrated work as the brooding godfathers of prog-rock.
At the time the tapes were recorded, brothers Michael and Peter Giles (drums and bass) and Robert Fripp (guitar) were on the downward trajectory of a disappointing fifteen-month existence. Unhappy with the bland production and Monty-Python-esque annoyance of their first full-length (a heavy-handed provincial-pysch concept album entitled The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp on Decca / Deram that sold less than 500 copies), Giles, Giles & Fripp hoped to flesh out their sound by enlisting the help of the ever-comely miss Judy Dyble, the ethereal pre-Sandy Denny vocalist for folk-heroes Fairport Convention, and Ian McDonald, whose piano, flute, sax, guitar, and clarinet would later feature prominently in King Crimson’s debut In The Court of The Crimson King as well as in the decidedly un-hip ‘70’s arena-rock of Foreigner, to record some new songs in the cozy confines of Peter Giles’s new home.
The revitalized ensemble shows up suprisingly shimmery on the primitive Revox stereo reel-to-reel recordings, somehow knitting the Canterbury School of spacey prog-autumns characteristic of early Soft Machine and the more psychedelic side of Fairport Convention with 1968’s wave of cheeky British-literate-pop like The Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society and The Zombies’ Odyssey and Oracle into a seamless and subtle whole.
Listening to the digitally re-mastered version of this charming and unassuming lo-fi gem with Dyble oozing the vocals and Fripp content to noodle and fuzz in the background, it’s hard to believe that these sessions of The Brondesbury Tapes were recorded and then scrapped just one short year before In The Court of The Crimson King, a Hell of a concept album (featuring the god-awful Greg Lake of the even God-awfuler Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on the lead vocals) with a garish, pink, and fleshy cover giving only a slight and paranoid hint to its huge and cacophonous contents: redemption through muscular instrumental passages that knot the anacondas of psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical virtuosity ((check out Fripp’s seven fret stretch!)) into a sound of fury not heard again until Neil Michael Hagerty and The Royal Trux’s decadent guitar-miasma opuses.
The Brondesbury Tapes, in contrast and in sweet oblivian, had no idea that cheesy Frippertronics and Post-Syd Barret Pink Floyd were on their way. Lyrics like “She’s so full of the decimal stuff / I’ll fall in love if I try hard enough,” sung in four part harmonies against sprightly jazz waltzes and sunny day tremolo studies, remind us that those sweaty anacondas were once daft little garden snakes and that those guilty of prog-pomp once recorded an endearing and altogether inspiring math-rock version of The Basement Tapes.
by Daniel Dineen
Tracks
1. Hypocrite (P. Giles) - 3:41
2. Digging My Lawn (A) (P. Giles) - 1:58
3. Tremelo Study in a Major (Spanish Suite) 1:41
4. Newly Weds (P. Giles) - 1:52
5. Suite No. 1 (Fripp) - 5:34
6. Scrivens (P. Giles) - 2:15
7. Make It Today (A) (McDonald, Sinfield) - 3:26
8. Digging My Lawn (P. Giles) - 1:55
9. Why Don't You Just Drop In (I) (Fripp) - 3:40
10.I Talk to the Wind (1) (McDonald, Sinfield) - 3:17
11.Under the Sky (McDonald, Sinfield) - 3:53
12.Plastic Pennies (Fripp) - 2:18
13.Passages of Time (Fripp) - 3:32
14.Under the Sky (McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:49
15.Murder (P. Giles) - 2:41
16.I Talk to the Wind (McDonald, Sinfield) - 3:15
17.Erudite Eyes (Fripp) - 6:46
18.Make It Today (B) (McDonald, Sinfield) - 4:46
19.Wonderland (Fripp) - 6:08
20.Why Don't You Just Drop In (II) (Fripp) - 3:42
21.She Is Loaded (P. Giles) - 3:12
Beginning in 1964 on a trajectory similar to that of the Yardbirds, Blossom Toes was eventually embraced by their producer Giorgio Gomelsky, who set them up with gigs, digs and studio time, insisting that they make a hit for his newly formed Marmalade label. While their first album, 1967’s We are Ever so Clean, garnered positive critical reception and seems to embody the Toes' legacy among the public, members of the band distance themselves from it now.
BrianGodding , the group’s chief songwriter, maintains that it really didn’t speak to the group’s sound at all, that the orchestrations and arrangements, good as they are, really detracted fromBT’s collective identity. I enjoy the album, and frankly, the arrangements are its strongest suit. A somewhat pithy track like “Look at Me, I’m You” is aided in no small part by marimba glissandi, airilyreverb'd vocal harmonies and sped-up backward guitars. The instrumental version, included as one of the many bonus tracks, demonstrates the disparity in vision all too well. Similarly, a beautiful track like “Love Is,” which would have worked quite well stripped down, is given a very convincingSpector-esque Wall of Sound treatment. The album is pleasantly diverse, and even the most insipid excursions, including “Saga of a Frozen Dog,” are treated with a heartwarming mixture of respect and whimsy.
Some personnel changes and a bit of the older-and-wiser potion, not to mention a few other substances, led to a radical transformation for the second album, 1969’s If Only for a Moment. The album is darker, more broodingly introspective but also heavier, shorn of the first disc’s contentious orchestrations. “Peace-loving Man” exemplifies the shift perfectly, and while it is certainly of its time, the constant shifts in dynamic and effect-induced environment keep things fresh and interesting almost 40 years later.
Even their sitar-soaked cover of Richie Haven’s “Just Above My Hobby Horse’s Head” looks inward more than it smiles, symptomatic of the encroaching sobriety that was to signal the group’s demise by year’s end. A shame really, as a track like “Listen to the Silence” shows real promise, the often jazzy, egalitarian guitar lines of Brian Godding and Jim Cregan especially effective and the many meter and mood shifts proving powerful.
by Marc Medwin
Tracks
1. Peace Loving Man (Brian Godding) - 4:53
2. Kiss Of Confusion (Brian Godding) - 4:44
3. Listen To The Silence (Jim Cregan) - 4:49
4. Love Bomb (Brian Godding) - 7:38
5. Billy Boo The Gunman (Brian Godding) - 7:06
6. Indian Summer (Jim Cregan) - 5:53
7. Just Above My Hobby Horse’s Head (Richie Havens) - 2:51
8. Wait A Minute (Jim Cregan) - 5:49
9. Postcard (45 A-Side) (Brian Godding) - 2:54
10.Everyone’s Leaving Me Now (45 B-Side) (Poll Palmer) - 4:45
11.Ever Since A Memory (Demo) (Brian Godding) - 4:20
12.Nobody But (Demo) (Brian Godding) - 4:02
13.Peace Loving Man (Demo) (Brian Godding) - 6:28
14.Listen To The Silence (Live) (Jim Cregan) - 3:56
15.New Day (Demo) (Brian Godding) - 5:16
It wasn’t strictly necessary to be a musician to be a member of Hawkwind, the proto-punk space-rock commune from Notting Hill; longtime associate Stacia’s contribution consisted of stripping nude, painting herself blue and gyrating energetically to the rhythms. Robert Calvert’s efforts were a little more artistically substantial: he was an established poet and playwright who featured at intervals during the 1970s as the band’s lyricist and singer. His first “solo” album was originally conceived as a stage play, but in the pilled-out experimental spirit of the times, and with the willing assistance of most of Hawkwind’s musicians and some suitably eccentric guest vocalists, it became a studio-produced concept album alternating songs with darkly-comic sketches and Monty-Pythonesque dialogues. Though having nothing thematically in common with the Monkees’ Head album, its structure is not dissimilar and it’s just as absurd and disorienting. Bob Calvert was famously bipolar, always teetering between rationality and madness and passing occasional intervals in institutions; unsurprising, then, that he produced such an off-the-wall opus.
Calvert had nursed a boyhood yearning to become an RAF jet pilot, an ambition thwarted by a perforated eardrum. His simmering regret for this is probably reflected in his choice of theme for Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters: the German Luftwaffe’s F-104G scandal. The story is well known, but briefly the air arm of West Germany was persuaded to purchase the Lockheed Corporation’s F-104 Starfighter, conceived for the USAF as a supersonic daylight interceptor, as an all-weather strike fighter, a role for which it was totally unsuited. The story also allegedly involves ruthless hard-sell tactics by the manufacturer, bribes accepted by high-ranking German officials, a lamentable lack of training for flight and ground crews and various technical shortcomings including ejector seat failures, the end result being 292 lost aircraft and 115 dead pilots and the nicknaming of the plane as “Widowmaker”. Calvert was clearly familiar with all these factors and included them all in his hard-hitting and highly satirical libretto.
The eight songs commonly employ familiar Hawkwind motifs: driving, repetitive riffs, pounding bass and drums and howling lead guitar and sax, with Calvert’s unhinged vocals wailing over the top. “The Right Stuff”, “The Widow Maker” and “Ejection”, all of whose themes are obvious from their titles, follow this template closely. “The Song Of The Gremlin Part One” and its subsequent companion “Part Two” are more intriguing, with freeform arrangements and some fine synthesiser work. The closing “Catch A Falling Starfighter” is a blackly-humorous dirge resting on the obvious tasteless pun. The intervening spoken-word interludes follow the uniquely British late-sixties fashion of absurdist comedy, seemingly largely improvised in the studio by Calvert, Arthur Brown, Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzos and, unexpectedly, Jim Capaldi of Traffic. Stanshall’s stereotyped hysterical voicing of the German officers is desperately non-politically-correct by today’s standards but hilarious to anyone who appreciated John Cleese’s contemporary “Don’t mention the War” routine, and on “Ground Crew (Last-Minute Reassembly Before Take-Off)” Stanshall and Capaldi recall the best moments of Peter Cook’s and Dudley Moore’s witless, peerless partnership.
One reviewer subsequently described the work as “Vaudevillean rock’n’roll theatre from a time when rock was intelligent (and) dangerous”, which seems to me to sum it up admirably. Normally anything this far leftfield would have sunk without trace, but its Hawkwind associations at a time when the band was at its popularity zenith meant it enjoyed considerable appreciation among the Hawk-faithful. Resuscitated for CD in 2009 by Cherry Red, its unique, utterly offbeat nature means that it doesn’t sound at all dated today.
by Len Liechti
Tracks
1. Franz Josef Strauss, Defence Minister, Reviews The Luftwaffe In 1958 - 1:40
2. The Aerospaceage Inferno - 4:35
3. Aircraft Salesman (A Door In The Foot) - 1:41
4. The Widow Maker (Dave Brock, R. Calvert) - 2:42
5. Two Test Pilots Discuss The Starfighter's Performance - 0:41
6. The Right Stuff - 4:23
7. Board Meeting (Seen Through A Contract Lens) - 0:58
8. The Song Of The Gremlin (Part One) (Arthur Brown, R. Calvert, A. Wagner) - 3:21
9. Ground Crew (Last Minute Reassembly Before Take Off) - 3:17
10.Hero With A Wing - 3:20
11.Ground Control To Pilot - 0:52
12.Ejection - 3:35
13.Interview - 3:55
14.I Resign - 0:27
15.The Song Of The Gremlin (Part Two) (Brown, R. Calvert, A. Wagner) - 3:10
16.Bier Garten - 0:38
17.Catch A Falling Starfighter - 2:54
18.The Right Stuff (Extended Version) - 8.07
19.Ejection (Single Version) - 3.47
20.Catch A Falling Starfighter (Single Version) - 3.00
All songs by Robert Calvert except where stated.
Musicians
*Robert Calvert - Vocals
*Arthur Brown - Vocals On "The Song Of The Gremlin" Parts 1 And 2
*Paul Rudolph - Lead And Rhythm Guitar, Bass Guitar
*Dave Brock - Lead Guitar On "The Widow Maker"
*Lemmy - Bass Guitar
*Nik Turner - Saxophone
*Brian Eno - Synthesizer
*Del Dettmar - Synthesizer
*Adrian Wagner - Keyboards
*Simon King - Drums
*Twink Alder - Funeral Drum On "Catch A Falling Starfighter"
*The Ladbroke Grove Hermaphroditic Voice Ensemble - Back Up Vocals
Actors
*Vivian Stanshall - Most Leads (E.G. Ground Control, Bright Mechanic)
*Jim Capaldi - American Salesman, Recruiting Officer, Dim Mechanic
*Robert Calvert - Pilot
*Tom Mittledorf
*Richard Elen (Mis-Credited As "Richard Ealing")
The Mint Tattoo was born as an offshoot of the legendary 60's proto punk acid band Blue Cheer. Bruce Stephens and Ralph (Burns) Kellogg had played together in Blue Cheer on band's self titled album in 1969, but after that one album, Stevens left the band to pursue other interests. Kellogg stayed on with Blue Cheer until the demise of the band in 1971, but during his tenure with Blue Cheer he reunited with Stevens along with drummer Gregg Thomas to form the band Mint Tattoo. Produced by James William Guercio (Chicago) and recorded at A&R Studios, and engineered by Phil Ramone in New York.
An interesting oddity from 1968...With, cult group,Blue Cheer emerged two formations: Silver Metre (with Leigh Stevens), Pilot (not to be confused with the British) and the Mint Tattoo - where he played Burns Kellogg and Bruce Stevens. the only one album of this formation very nice, definitely guitar heavy album with a big dose of improvised music!
Primarily blues based rock of above average quality, this group has almost progressive ambitions at times. While they don't always measure up, they do go in some fascinating directions. Unusual song structures and lyrical ideas share space with hard rockin' blues. It's no where near the quality of Jeff Beck's Truth, but this album grows on me a little more with each listen (I have an old vinyl copy I picked up second hand). The band obviously needed a little more time to grow, but they fell apart before they really had a chance to establish their sound and direction.
Bruce Stephens' raspy vocals fit the rockers, but can wear thin on some of the other numbers. He's certainly no Steve Marriot. He and keyboardist Burns Kellog show up in Blue Cheer a year later to finish out the New! Improved!! album. Kellog would hang in for a few years and albums, but Stephens would depart before finishing B.C.'s self titled album of late '69, going on to form Pilot. I suppose the songs he did with B.C. can give you a hint at what this disc sounds like, and if you enjoy those you'll probably like this. I like this album, but it falls short of its potential. Interesting artwork and ideas.
Mint Tattoo is a mixture of blues styled original songs, a cover of classic a blues numbers and some rather uninspired, typical for the era hard rock tunes. Not an overly exciting album, compared to the early Blue Cheer material, but none the less a period piece and better than most material that was being released in the early 70's. This reissue contains one bonus track and has faithfully reproduced the original graphics in digipack Akarma CD format as it originally appeared LP Record Label Dot Records DLP25918 in 1969
by Adamus67
Tracks
1. Sister Fleu (First Movement) - 3:53
2. Leper's Epitaph (Second Movement) - 1:34
3. Policeman's Ball (Third Movement) - 2:24
4. Littal Lieu Lieu's Revenge (Fourth Movement) - 0:15
5. Faces Of Roses - 3:37
6. I'm Talking About You - 3:25
7. Scorpio Woman - 6:46
8. Mark Of The Beast - 2:37
9. Moanin' - 4:21
10.With Love - 2:30
11.I Hear The Spirits - 3:22
Mint Tattoo
*Bruce Stevens - Lead, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals, Kazoo
*Ralph (Burns) Kellogg - Bass, Keyboards
*Gregg Thomas - Drums
Orphan Egg album originally released on gnp subsidiary carole in 1968 - formed in 1967 in San Jose Orphan Egg was one of the lengthy list of bay area groups inspired by the psych movement spreading its tentacles from the sounds spiritual home in San Francisco. The album which also boasts some strong uk beat psych influences features lashings of incredible heavy fuzz guitar psych on a number of tracks. Aside from a handful of covers the self-penned tunes really are the stand-outs here with the feisty fuzz guitar bass drums a little recorder & a smattering of harpsichord combining along with beautiful trippy vocals to produce an ethereal floating psych sound.
Tracks
1. Falling - 3:40
2. That's The Way Love Is - 2:30
3. Mourning Electra - 2:16
4. Bird Dog (Boudleaux Bryant) - 2:45
5. It's Wrong - 2:30
6. Ain't That Lovin You Baby - 2:55
7. Look At Me - 2:50
8. Deep In The Heart Of Nebraska - 2:15
9. Don't Go To Him (Dratleaf, Guy Hemric, Mirby, Jerry Styner) - 2:05
10.Circumstance - 2:50
11.Unusual State Of Mind - 1:40
12.Rock Me Baby (Joe Josea) - 5:50
All songs by Dratleaf, Orphan Egg, Mirby except where noted.
In accordance with their label's (and not the band's) wishes, the Pretties were teamed with a middle-aged orchestra directed by Reg Tilsley on this album, which saw the Phil May-Dick Taylor songwriting team making an effort to move beyond R&B knockoffs into more sophisticated territory. Sometimes the arrangements (dubbed onto tracks without much involvement from the group) worked; more often, they were an unnecessary hindrance. An interesting failure, it contained some genuinely top-rank originals that saw the group expanding their vision into social observation and tentative psychedelia, including "My Time," "The Sun," and especially the moody, folk-rock-ish "Death of a Socialite."
by Richie Unterberger
And here is this enchanted garden of psychedelia. The Pretty Things' third album has its admirers - but The Pretty Things are not among them. Released in May of 1967, "Emotions" saw this stubborn band embarking, just for once, on a path that was not of their choosing. Doubtful of the Pretty Things' place in a changing music scene, Fontana's hierarchy thought the beat group formula was fading and needed dressing up with mainstream pop arrangements. So they summoned new producer Steve Rowland. But the most radical colouring of the Pretties' sound was done by another outsider, one Reg Tilsey, who overdubbed the elaborate arrangements, much to the bands disgust.
But thanks to the helping of bonus tracks, you can hear some of the "Emotions" sessions as nature intended them - free of the poppy brass and string embellishments imposed upon the music. However to neutral ears, the record sounds rather charming - a period of transition from the bands blistering R&B roots to full flowering of psychedelia. It's surely true the songs themselves were softer than before. The "Emotions" material has, at least, a definite leaning towards the wistful. As May says "we were using personal incidents to make the songs out of. Normally someone would get a musical idea and the lyrics would be made to fit that, but these were lyric-led songs. It was a completely different way of writing".
Also, stereo had become 'good'. Listening to the album with headphones will drive you insane in no time. Whereas common sense is used to create a stereo sound nowadays, at the end of the sixties the preference was to pull everything apart as much as possible. After the setback of "Emotions" the band moved to EMI, and found themselves at work in the Abbey Road studios alongside The Beatles and Pink Floyd. They went down on to make the classic record "S.F. Sorrow".
by Henri Bos
Tracks
1. Death Of A Socialite (P. May, D. Taylor, I. Stirling) - 2:44
2. Children (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 3:01
3. The Sun (P. May, W. Waller) - 3:05
4. There Will Never Be Another Day (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 2:20
5. House Of Ten (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 2:50
6. Out In The Night (D. Taylor, Stirling) - 2:40
7. One Long Glance (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 2:54
8. Growing In My Mind (P. May, D. Taylor) - 2:19
9. Photographer (P. May, D. Taylor, I. Stirling) - 2:07
10.Bright Lights Of The City (P. May, W. Waller) - 3:02
11.Tripping (P. May, D. Taylor) - 3:23
12.My Time (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 3:05
13.A House In The Country (R. Davies) - 2:58
14.Progress (B. Halley, C. Spencer) - 2:40
15.Photographer (Alternate Mix) (P. May, D. Taylor, I. Stirling) - 2:15
16.There Will Never Be Another Day (Alternate Mix) (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 2:25
17.My Time (Alternate Mix) (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 3:10
18.The Sun (Alternate Mix) (P. May, W. Waller) - 3:09
19.Progress (Alternate Mix) (B. Halley, C. Spencer) - 2:55
20.Children (Alternate Version) (P. May, D. Taylor, W. Waller) - 3:00
The Pretty Things
*Phil May - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
*Dick Taylor - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
*John Povey - Percussion, Vocals
*Wally Allen Waller - Bass, Vocals
*Skip Alan - Drums, Vocals
Of all the original British Invasion groups, perhaps none were as underappreciated in the United States as the Pretty Things. Featuring the hoarse vocals of Mick Jagger-lookalike Phil May and the stinging leads of guitarist Dick Taylor (who actually played in early versions of the Rolling Stones with Jagger and Keith Richards), the Pretties recorded a clutch of raunchy R&B rockers in the mid-'60s that offered a punkier, rawer version of the early Stones sound.
Their first two albums, 1965's The Pretty Things and the same year's Get the Picture, as well as a brace of fine major and minor British hits (of which "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Honey I Need" were the biggest), featured first-rate original material and covers, and remain the group's most exciting and influential recordings. Unfortunately, the band remained virtually unknown to American audiences, most of whom would first hear "Don't Bring Me Down" on David Bowie's Pin Ups album (which also included a version of the Pretties' "Rosalyn").
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Roadrunner (E. McDaniel) - 03:13
2. Don't Bring Me Down (J. Dee) - 02:12
3. Big Boss Man (Smith, Dixon) - 02:40
4. Buzz The Jerk (May, Taylor) - 01:56
5. Sittin' All Alone (Taylor, Sterling, May) - 02:49
6. Come See Me (P. Tubbs, J.J. Jackson, S. Barnes) - 02:40
7. London Town (Taylor) - 02:28
8. Judgement Day (Arr. J. Stax, P. May, D. Taylor, V. Prince, B. Pendleton, B. Morrison) - 02:47
9. Progress (B. Halley, C. Spencer) - 02:42
10.We'll Play House (Aldo, Gandy, May, Taylor) - 02:34
11.Can't Stand The Pain (P. May, D. Taylor, B. Graham) - 02:42
12.Midnight To Six Man (P. May, D. Taylor) - 02:21
13.Big City (J. Duncan, A. Klein) - 02:03
14.Get The Picture (May, Taylor, Graham) - 01:56
15.We'll Be Together (B. Taylor, P. May, J. Stax) - 02:12
16.Rainin' In My Heart (J. West, J. Moore) - 02:32
17.I Can Never Say (Pretty Things) - 02:37
18.Gonna Find A Substitute (M. Turner) - 02:58
19.Get A Buzz (Pretty Things) - 04:01
20.Me Needing You (D. Taylor, P. May) - 01:58
21.Honey I Need (Smithiling, Taylor, Button) - 02:00
22.Cry To Me (Russell) - 02:52
23.Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut (E. McDaniel) - 03:00
24.LSD (D. Taylor, P. May) - 02:27
25.A House In The Country (R. Davies) - 03:00
26.Rosalyn (J. Duncan, W. Farley) - 02:20
The Pretty Things
*Phil May - Vocals
*Dick Taylor - Guitar
*Skip Alan - Drums, Vocals
*Brian Pendleton - Rhythm Guitar
*John Stax - Bass
*Viv Prince - Drums
