Classic 60's Albums: The Pretty Things-"Get The Picture"

 

 

THE PRETTY THINGS-"Get The Picture" U.K. LP Fontana TL.5280 1965

The Pretty Things launched their second U.K. LP "Get The Picture" in December 1965. By then the band were firmly settling in to recording more of their own material instead of churning out beloved U.S. blues/r&b covers. The band were also in a state of flux in regards to their troublesome drummer Viv Prince, who by its release date, was summarily ejected. The sessions saw him play on some tracks, with the rest of the drumming on the album done by session man extraordinaire Bobby Graham and Fairies drummer Twink (who would later become a full time member in 1967). The band's sound was also in a state of metamorphosis with them moving slightly out of the raw British r&b harp wailin'/maracas shakin' sound and including more jangly, melodic numbers whilst also absorbing a lot of the harder edged "mod" sound (fuzz, feedback, Nicky Hopkin's ivory tinkling etc).

SIDE ONE

1. "You Don't Believe Me" (Page, Graham, May, Merrell)

2. "Buzz The Jerk" (May, Taylor)

3. "Get The Picture" (May, Taylor)

4. "Can't Stand The Pain" (May, Taylor, Graham)

5. "Rainin' In My Heart" (West, Moore)

6. "We'll Play House" (Aldo, Gandy, May, Taylor)

Side One opens with the jangly neo folk rock of "You Don't Believe Me", co-authored with Jimmy Page it sees the band doing something they'd never really done before: a beat ballad! Which works! Band original (all but one track one Side One are band originals) "Buzz The Jerk" is next with it's intro borrowed from Alvin Cash and The Crawler's "Twine Time" with Dick Taylor's blistering fuzz licks laying perfectly with John Stax murky bass line, easily the most "danceable" thing the band after crafted! "Get The Picture" also benefits from Dick's fuzz guitar riffs on top of a mid tempo track and perfectly illustrates the new direction the Pretties were headed in. "Can't Stand The Pain" (also utilized as the flip of their current single "Midnight To Six Man") is magical. Delivered in hushed tones with bluesy licks and a desolate feel it's accented with faint piano tinkling and a discordant vibrato. Slim Harpo's "Rainin' In My Heart" is next, slowing things down a bit and harking back to their blues interpreter phase that they were just shifting away from. "We'll Play House" with it's feedback intro and constant cow bell is an interesting mix of styles but all too often sounds like filler to me despite the cool mod power chords.

SIDE TWO

1. "You'll Never Do It Baby" (B. Smith, T. Fox)

2. "I Had A Dream" 

3. "I Want Your Love" (J. Dee, J. Tarr)

4. "London Town" (Taylor)

5. "Cry To Me" (Russell)

6. "Gonna Find A Substitute" 

Side Two kicks off with a track penned by fellow r&b devotees The Cops N' Robbers, adds a dash of the bluesy Pretties that's part Chuck Berry and part Prettie's '66, especially with the soulful pauses. "I Had A Dream" is uncredited on the original album and is a bluesy barroom ballad with call and response backing vocals beneath smoky guitar licks and ivory tinkling that call to mind Them. "I Want You Love" plumbs the call and response backing vocals again with some nifty chord changes and stops and occasional bursts of uptempo raving with blistering licks. British folk standard "London Town" (originally penned by Mick Taylor, NOT the Stones guy) fords into uncharted territory for the band with it's acoustic guitar, bongos and echo drenched blues licks, easily my favorite interpretation of this number!! Betty Harris' blues belter "Cry To Me" (previously covered by The Stones on their "Out Of Our Heads" album) is next, though I prefer the Stones reading, this isn't without charm thanks to the backing vocals and the moody backing. "Gonna Find A Substitute" closes the album, though uncredited it's actually an Ike Turner composition culled from Ike & Tina's rare as hell (U.K.) Sue E.P. "The Soul Of..". The Pretties make it their own with trademark gusto: thundering bass and blistering bluesy guitar before the number gradually fades out like they'd had enough!

Dutch pressing Fontana 858 039 FPY 1967

From The Brothers Gibb Part Two

1. DAVE BERRY-"Forever" U.K. Decca F 12651 1967

Dave Berry's career was much like that of Georgie Fame's (see below) in that by the mid 60's he was moving into M.O.R. territory and giving up raving beat/r&b tunes. This track attempts to grab some contemporary street cred with it's phased vocals and oscillating horns (arranged care of the great Keith Mansfield) it's of interest for historical note only as it's easy to hear why the Bee Gees never bothered with it. Next!

https://youtu.be/ll5RMQGvK20?si=-sSIQLHr_jTomosM

2. THE CYRKLE-"Turn Of The Century" U.S. Columbia 4-44366 1967

Short lived American two hit wonders The Cyrkle cut this cover from the Gibb's debut U.S. LP hot on the heel's of it's release as their sixth single. It's not bad but suffers from being pretty much a note for note carbon copy of the original, however well executed it may be in vocals, musical backing and production it's rather pointless. 

https://youtu.be/PfOr0oDXUq8?si=A1cA8wodZwrEKfNX

3. GEORGIE FAME-"Words" U.K. United Screen Arts U.S.A. 2 1967

This mega rare 45 was from a version that Fame recorded for the 1967 film "The Mini Affair" (also released as "The Mini Mob") that he also apparently starred in! Coming from his post r&b career with CBS records when he was being pushed into a more M.O.R. area it actually works thanks to his vocal skills. Sadly I can't find it on YouTube!

4. ADAM FAITH-"Cowman Milk Your Cow" U.K Parlophone R5635 1967

This ladies and gents is the stuff of legends! Allegedly backed by The Roulettes AND Peter Green on guitar (according to the liner notes of an EMI Adam Faith collection), Adam Faith joined the ranks of Gibb brothers interpreters with this track that the Bee Gees never recorded themselves (and mores the pity because it's incredible). The Bee Gees are vocally present on the track but what's never been clarified is whether Faith and Co. were recording over a Bee Gee's demo (a common practice, see Aussie artist and Gibb brother's interpreter extraordinaire Ronnie Burns) or if they were at the session singing backing vocals.  Reardless it's an incredible cool and even dark psych pop number!

https://youtu.be/VCUGCCarzi0?si=XM3U6goAHOrqtexZ

5. PAUL JONES-"And The Sun Will Shine" U.K. Columbia DB 8379 1968

Ex-Manfred's lead singer Paul Jones cut his version of of a track from The Bee Gee's "Horizontal" LP as his sixth single (backed by the INCREDIBLE "The Dog Presides") . Heavily orchestrated (care of Paul's ex bandmate Mike Vickers) and produced by Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon, Jone's impassioned delivery is incredible and mixed with the stellar musical backing it takes this mundane track and makes it shine !

https://youtu.be/lk_ejMYsEaU?si=WXUlT3LK1HWLoVkP

6. O'HARA'S PLAYBOYS-"Spicks And Specks" U.K. Fontana TF 793 1967 

Curious U.K. mod/soul combo O'Hara's Playboys took the Gibb's first U.K. hit and ran with it as their second single. It doesn't differ much from the original but works because of their heavy duty horn section and cheezy combo organ (that adds a cool metronome feel to it).

https://youtu.be/3vdwkrY_H70?si=_vCzJFigDM2EPAWj

7. GERRY MARSDEN-"Gilbert Green" U.K. CBS 2946 1967

"Gilbert Green" would not sound at all out of place on The Bee Gee's LP "The Bee Gees 1st" nestled in between the likes of "Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy Of Arts" or "Cucumber Castle". It suits Marsden's voice but in retrospect to his previous recordings one can't help but get the feeling that he sounds, well, uncomfortable? Regardless it's lavishly orchestrated and musically reminds me of one of the many unsung pop-psych acts on Decca or Deram in '67-68 (I can easily imagine it being a Toby Twirl or The World Of Oz song), which I guess is what makes it enjoyable for me.

https://youtu.be/F_KJOMktwik?si=uE827NqzBBI4sk7M

8. MIKE FURBER-"Secondhand People" Australia E.P. Kommotion KX-11, 253 1967

Tragically doomed British born Downunder teen idol Mike Furber cut this Gibb brothers track (along with their "Where Are You") for his third Australian E.P as well as both tracks gracing a single on Kommotion (KK-1602). It's an excellent mid tempo social commentary that's delivered with some excellent harmonies (I swear I hear Barry Gibb's voice during the chorus) that works REALLY well.

https://youtu.be/2Aix5AOA6j8?si=Gu-suWfoINOIh80z

9. ASTRUD GILBERTO-"Holiday" U.S. Verve VK-10651 1970

The Bee Gees of course, like The Beatles were embraced by the mainstream recording industry once they found fame which explains where this interesting version came from! Delivered in a very up tempo manner (with prerequisite Latin trappings) it's actually quite interesting with some trippy vocal interludes interspersed with jazzy breaks!

https://youtu.be/G4VLLEEYs1s?si=5ktCIs9Xcwtrvg02

10. BONNIE ST. CLAIRE-"Marley Purt Drive" Netherlands Phillips 336 102 JF 1969

Dutch siren Bonnie St. Claire cut this "Odessa" album track as a B-side and applied the heavily Band  slant of the original to it (at times you almost expect her to break into the chorus of "The Weight" at any moment) as well as some very countrified pedal steel and sweeping strings. Quite interesting!

https://youtu.be/F7QV5uSUi2k?si=kapur4MhCuFJozUR

All scans courtesy of 45cat.com

For Part One of this series go here. 

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: Twiggy

TWIGGY-When I Think Of You/Over And Over U.S. Capitol 5903 1967

 In the 60's being a celebrity pretty much guaranteed you a recording contract (see Capitol label mate "Ted Cassidy") so it should be no surprise that Swingin' London icon and model Lesley Lawson aka Twiggy released a record. Actually she released several, but this was her U.S. recording debut and curiously it preceded the U.K. release (Ember S244) by seven months!

Surprisingly Twiggy's voice is not at all bad! "When I Think Of You" is a full on party, with brass, female Breakaways style backing vocals and a blistering guitar underneath it all as Twiggy croons confidently . It was produced by Tommy Scott who co-wrote it with Peter Law.

The flip, "Over And Over" is a mediocre tune drenched in double tracked echo that makes her sound like she's singing in the bottom of a well with this annoying cheezy piano tinkling (no doubt care of Phil Coulter who co-wrote the track with Tommy Scott). Next!

"When I Think Of You" has appeared on a variety of compilations, most recently Grapefruit's various artists comp "You Can Walk Across It On The Grass (The Boutique Sounds Of Swinging London)" which is also available on streaming. 

Hear "When I Think Of You":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBQZe0jcdCU

Hear "Over And Over":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F7BWg0ohYw

The Searchers-"Someday We're Gonna Love Again"

THE SEARCHERS-Someday We're Gonna Love Again/No-One Else Could Love Me U.S. Kapp 609 1964

Liverpool's Searchers hold the distinction of being the second most successful Liverpool 60's band in the United States in both chart and sales wise, with seven Top Forty hits all in the relatively brief window of just a year (1964-1965). 

"Someday We're Gonna Love Again" was their ninth U.S. single released in July of 1964 where it reached #34. It was simultaneously issued in England as Pye 15670. It was previously recorded by Barbara Lewis. Back in my younger years I bought an amazing Searchers 10" EP on PRT and this was one of my favorite tracks on it. The single would also be their last with bassist Tony Jackson, who left after being ousted following a ham fisted power struggle that saw him threaten to "out" drummer Chris Curtis in an attempt to gain leverage in leading the band (a position that was for all intents and purpose, held by Mike Pinder). 

For the uninitiated "Someday We're Gonna Love Again" is the epitome of "The Searcher's sound": jangly/chiming guitars, double tracked harmony vocals and a chirpy, uptempo feel to it all. It's catchy, and the infectious "do dit doo do doo do dit" chorus sticks pleasantly in one's brain. 

The flip side, "No One Else Could Love Me", was penned by drummer Chris Curtis . Sadly it's fairly unimpressive, and though it showcases the band's incredible harmonies the song itself is a fairly pedestrian beat ballad. 

Both sides are available on a host of Searchers collections that thanks to the likes of Castle Communications are NEVER out of print. Both sides are also available on streaming. 

Hear "Someday We're Gonna Love Again":

https://youtu.be/gUehZ7elW-U?si=ZtmCF1x9B7peLkuK

Hear "No One Else Could Love Me":

https://youtu.be/Jxy3NmE6Itc?si=pbZqaRJObDpBVwhK