Label: Victor Records (Japan), VICP-62641
Style: British Rhythm and Blues, Garage Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 48:57
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 164 Mb
Is
this album actually worth buying. The Pretty Things were certainly an
entertaining and mildly recommendable band at every stage of their
career, but at every stage of their career they also managed to drag
behind the Beatles and the Stones, always trying to catch up but hardly
even making number three in the race (only S. F. Sorrow might be truly
considered an innovative record - at least they beat Jethro Tull to the
flute!). And nowhere does this nagging "second-handness" show better
than on their debut LP. Consisting entirely of R'n'B covers and R'n'B
"originals" that are in fact disguised covers as well, the record is
little more than a vain attempt to outstone the Stones in their brand of
'ugly rhythm-and-bluesmaking' to scare the shit out of easily scared
mothers and attract their naughty children. Well, the Stones' connection
is not at all amazing, considering that the band's guitarist, Dick
Taylor, originally played bass in an early version of the Stones, before
being replaced by Bill Wyman; but if you ask for my opinion (and you
should!), it's also obvious that these guys don't hold a candle to the
Stones or to the Animals.
First of all, there ain't a lot of
imagination or inventiveness displayed on here. By early 1965, the
Pretties had only mastered three styles of playing: (a) the generic
Chuck Berry boogie, (b) the generic Bo Diddley beat, and (c) the generic
Muddy Waters blues shuffle. Practically all the eighteen tracks on here
fit into one of these three categories, and this makes up for a really
monotonous record (not to be rude or obnoxious or anything, but, in
comparison, the Stones' debut was at least thrice as diverse).
Second,
the instrumentation is extremely poor - no keyboards at all, just the
usual guitar/harmonica business all over the place. Dick Taylor is a
competent guitarist with a tasteful approach to his playing, but nowhere
near as masterful as Keith Richards: obviously, somebody hadn't done
his Chuck Berry homework as diligently as the Riffmeister. His interplay
with the second guitarist is usually draggy, with the guitars very
poorly separated in the mix and displaying no personality. The rhythm
section is competent, and at least they never mess up the rhythm, but
they're not able to keep up a firm, steady, never-wavering, and actually
threatening groove like the Stones' rhythm section could in those early
days.
And one really irritating factor on here is the lead singer.
Phil May tries to ape Jagger's approach to the material, with wild
screams, 'evil' intonations and gloomy vocal overtones everywhere, but
his voice, unlike Jagger's, isn't really suitable for such things, and
he ends up overemoting and producing a really bad effect. Don't get me
wrong: he ain't bad in a 'yeah, just another white boy trying to sound
like a bluesman' manner, like, say, Keith Relf from the Yardbirds.
Rather he's bad in a 'just another garage punk who's too feeble and limp
to be truly scary' manner. If I want true brawl 'n' brawn, I'll take
that guy from the Sonics, I guess.
(Full Version: starling.rinet.ru/music/pretty.htm)
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