Oh You Pretty Things

There was some confusion in the lead up to this gig. Some websites said that The Pretty Things were playing at a venue in Birmingham on the same night as they were due to play London's 100 Club. An entire performance of SF Sorrow with the original line up at The Shepherd's Bush Empire for tonight has been cancelled. Rumours of poor ticket sales and original members' more pressing commitments were floating around so it was inevitable that the audience at the 100 Club may have been slightly apprehensive as to what they might expect.

What they got was a raucous night of fine Garage R'n'B (sixties style, of course) with original members Phil May (vocals and maracas) and Dick Taylor (lead guitar). Dick Taylor is something of a legend in sixties influenced garage circles as he has quite a pedigree, longevity and loyalty as far as this band is concerned. Originally, he was part of an early incarnation of The Rolling Stones featuring fellow Sidcup art college student Keith Richards. Taylor, not fancying a move to bass guitar duties, decided to leave The Stones after Brian Jones was recruited and has since said in interviews that he's not bitter about missing out on the mega-party of The Stones' multi-platinum success...of course you're not, Dick.

What is true is that there'd be no Pretty Things without Mr Taylor and the same can be said about Phil May, whose voice is fucking powerful as well as tuneful - years of gigging experience bearing the fruit of such an awesome instrument that go hand in hand with natural talent. Both men are essential for a Pretty Things' gig.

I was hoping for the SF Sorrow concert (the groups' psychedelic release from '68) although they played the opening number ("SF Sorrow is Born"), hoping at least for a blast of "Baron Saturday" but it's hard to do a track like that without a Mellotron on stage. All was not lost though, when Dick played the most powerful and rousing blues on slide guitar; let's face it, he has all the mileage for this style of music and on listening to him play - I mean, to really listen to him play slide - you just think "Seasick Steve, who's that?". Although not always note perfect, Ry Cooder would be well pleased with the soul that Taylor puts into his guitar playing.

An encore of early favourite "Rosalyn" proceeded gems like "LSD" and something from "Freeway Madness" and something else from the band's Electric Banana period. Electric Banana was a pseudonymous 1967 album of the band, they recorded this album and two subsequent ones for the DeWolfe Music Library. DeWolfe provided stock music for film soundtracks and their music wound up on various horror and soft-porn films of the late 1960s, such as What's Good for the Goose (1969). When the album was released, the stage name The Electric Banana was used to hide the band's identity.

Great variation, great stuff.

And then suddenly, it was time to go home.