The Pretty Things

Editors’ Notes

The Rolling Stones’ embryonic stage featured guitarist Dick Taylor on bass before he left to form The Pretty Things. They're easily one of the most underrated British Invasion bands; many musicologists regard their 1965 eponymous debut as one of the most seminal garage rock records. Like the Stones’ first album, The Pretty Things comprises mostly blues covers. But from the opening take on Bo Diddley’s “Road Runner,” it’s evident that these guys played with a harder, grittier, and raunchier attack than their contemporaries. Frontman Phil May’s raspy howls somehow sound simultaneously pained and enraptured, though the musical rave-ups and freakouts here gave this band an instant chemistry. With Taylor and Brian Pendleton’s amps cranked to 11, drummer Viv Prince could really lay into his kit, forcing May to put his lungs and larynx to the test. May could still belt it out under mellower circumstances, as heard in the smoldering original “Unknown Blues.” The outstanding maraca-laden “Rosalyn” sounds like a much tougher Kinks and is a perfect example of proto-punk.