If you’re unfamiliar with The Pretty Things’ music, drop everything, leave this page immediately, and check out some songs on Youtube or wherever else you go to hear music. Then go buy some of their albums (I recommend starting with S.F. Sorrow or Get The Picture?). You won’t be disappointed.
Seeing as how this blog is named after a Pretty Things song, it made sense to try and score an interview with the influential British group. Mission accomplished. I spoke to the group via email in two sections. First, with Phil May (Vocals) and Dick Taylor (Guitar), the core duo of original members, going back almost 50 years! Mark St. John (Manager/Producer) answered some of the more business-related question in that section as well. Then I spoke with “the new guys”: Jack Greenwood (Drums), George Perez (Bass) and Frank Holland (Guitar), who have done a tremendous amount to revitalize the band in recent years.
Enjoy!
Midnight To Six: Did you see a lot of American blues acts touring the U.K. in the first half of the 1960s? Do you remember any specific shows you saw that stand out from that period?
Phil May: I talked to Dick about this the other day because I have a strong image of going with him to see Bo Diddley when The Stones supported him in 1963 at the Woolwich A.B.C. But mainly my early blues feed came from import recordings.
Dick Taylor: I remember seeing Sister Rosetta Tharpe with her wonderful white Gibson SG. I was enthralled. The list could get quite long. One great one was Little Walter, he played at the Black Prince pub in Bexley and was just as good as the records. I remember waiting at the bus stop in the fog and seeing a bloke chase another with a huge axe. That certainly sticks in the memory. Later, when all the soul acts came over, we used to see people like Wilson Pickett in tiny clubs.
via Interview With The Pretty Things (July, 2012) | Midnight To Six.
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