Excellent English Psychedelia
a music fan | Portland, OR United States | 06/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Unbelievably great 2-cd compilation of the Pretty Things' late-60s zenith. It contains most of SF Sorrow and Parachute plus much of Emotions and some truly great singles like "Defecting Grey" and "Walking Through My Dreams". Highly recommended for anyone who loves the Beatles' Revolver, Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and the Dukes of Stratosphear."
Pretty Things-'The Psychedelic Years 1966-1970'(Recall) 2-CD
Mike Reed | USA | 02/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Top of the line 35 song anthology of the Pretty Thing's most vital era,like the title reads,their psych years.Many of these tracks are pulled from their key lp's,like 'Get The Picture?'('65),'Emotions'('67),'S.F.Sorrow'('68)and 'Parachute'('70)plus a few singles and several live cuts performed at the Abbey Road studio,such as "I See You","Well Of Destiny","Alexander" and "Baron Saturday"(have always liked Twink's version of this tune).Nearly every tune here is a winner,but the ones I found myself playing over and over were "She Says Good Morning","L.S.D.","October 26","Can't Stand The Pain","Walking Through My Dreams" and "One Long Glance".Line-up:Phil May-vocals,Dick Taylor-guitar,John Povey-rhythm guitar,Wally Waller-bass and Skip Alan-drums.Should appeal to fans of the Byrds,Small Faces,The Creation,Yardbirds and The Action.Highly recommended."
Uneven
Talking Wall | Queen Creek, AZ | 10/28/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I heard 'bout the Pretty Things whilst reading a book about Brian Jones (Rolling Stones for you youngsters) who lived with them in the infamous house at 13 Chester St. Maybe it's the sequencing? I don't know. This just didn't do anything for me at all. I prefer the sister release "The Rhythm and Blues Years". I've been a musician for 40 years and was listening to the Rolling Stones in 1965 when I was 10 years old. In general, I like the music from 1966 and 1967 when LSD was all the rage. So it isn't a matter of taste... I just don't think this is a particularly good collection but it may have more to do with the fact that this music came off of Lps where the song sequencing was extremely important. This is also peppered with stuff recorded by a reformed Pretty Things during a live session at Abbey Road some years later. If I had it to do again, I'd just buy SF Sorrow and Parachute and skip this collection altogether."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1