The Pretty Things - Loneliest Person (1968)

Taking their name from the 1955 Bo Diddley song, “Pretty Thing,” this band formed in 1963 when Dick Taylor met Phil May at the London Central School of Art, as previously mentioned on this site. With Taylor playing lead guitar and May on lead vocals, the duo sought to fill up the missing positions. They chose Brian Pendleton as their rhythm guitarist, John Stax as their bassist, and Viv Prince on the drums. Prince was actually the group’s third drummer, having replaced Viv Andrews (who had replaced Pete Kitley), and thus solidifying the “golden age” lineup of the band. Many of the slots in the band were vacated more than once over the coming years; Prince left in November ’65, Pendleton left in December ’66, and Stax left in January ’67. As it was (and as it still is), Dick Taylor and Phil May have been the only consistent members of the band since their incarnation. In 2012, the group returned to New Zealand for the first time since 1965, having been banned for lighting a bag of crayfish on fire during the middle of a domestic flight. In 2013, they celebrated their 50th anniversary with a tour around the UK and Europe. The band has never broken up and continues to perform with its two most recognizable members up to this very day.

As with the previously featured song, “Private Sorrow,” this song appears on the band’s most critically acclaimed album, S.F. Sorrow. It’s the album’s closing song, akin to a novel’s epilogue, and was written by Dick Taylor, Phil May, Wally “Waller” Allen (the band’s newest bassist), and John “Twink” Alder. Twink, who had previously been in the band Tomorrow, had come in to help the band finish recording the album after their then-current drummer, Skip Alan, spontaneously quit the band amidst a torrid, hectic, and romantic relationship. Noted as the first ever rock opera (even predating The Who’s Tommy), the album primarily unfolded its story through the narrative paragraphs that appeared in the liner notes between each track listing. Sometimes in concert, the man who sang “Fire,” Arthur Brown, would appear on stage and read the liner notes to the audience at the appropriate times between the band playing songs.



The Pretty Things - Loneliest Person (1968)

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Lyrics:

You might be the loneliest person in the world
You'll never be as lonely as me
Yes you might be the loneliest person in the world
You'll never be as lonely as me

Oh, the sky, it seems dark
As I'm walking through a park
But the face, it is too bright to see
Oh, the sun might rise high
On an orange kind of sky
But the day, it seems too dark for me

Yes, you might be the loneliest person in the world
You'll never be as lonely as me
Yes, you might be the loneliest person in the world
Your name, it would have to be me

The Pretty Things - Private Sorrow (1968)

In early 1962, Dick Taylor, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger were in a band called Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys. When they met Brian Jones and Ian Stewart in mid-1962, the bands merged and took on Jones’ band name, the Rollin’ Stones. By November of the same year, Taylor had left the group due to his acceptance at London Central School of Art, where he met Phil May and formed this band. Meanwhile, his old bandmates went on to become The Rolling Stones.

This song comes from S.F. Sorrow, one of rock’s first concept albums. The entire album surrounds around the life of Sebastian F. Sorrow, a character developed by Phil May in a short story. The members of The Who claim this album had no influence on their similarly themed rock opera, Tommy, but many critics have insisted it did.



The Pretty Things - Private Sorrow (1968)

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Lyrics:

Heaven's rain falls upon
Faces of the children who look skyward
Twisting metal through the air
Scars and screams
So you might know its fury

Seashells whistle
Let your mind drift away
Seashells whistle
Let yourself hide away

Men walking tall
Looking so small
Green trees of life disappearing
Mouthing the sounds
Face, clowning the frowns
Black, the lips of command
Torn in the heart
You're playing the part
Courage, it is so demanding
Loud brass in bands
Marching through lands
Life snatching hand is near

Heaven's army falls upon
The skirts of mother Earth
And then flies skyward
Twisting wings through the air
Lift the souls
So you might know his fury

Seashells whistle
Let your mind drift away
Seashells whistle
Let yourself hide away

Dressed in white silk of rain
You marry the pain
As you kneel in a church of bright steel
A new morning arrives
You share the same skies
Umbrella’ing a land full of peace
As the memory fades
On the edge of a blade
You'll return; you're sure that you will
From the frame in your hand
A smile expands
Hangs from a thread of glass tears