I saw the Pretty Things on Saturday.  It was the first time in more than 40 years.  I was expecting to be disappointed. I was not.

Dick Taylor was a founding member of the Rolling Stones, pushed out to make way for Brian Jones.  He was always a great guitarist.  We tend to forget that when he formed the Pretty Things with Phil May they became the third best band in the UK quite quickly.  There was them, the Beatles and the Stones,  and they were not a distant 3rd.  I rated them above the Beatles.

They released an album called SF Sorrow that should have propelled them into the stratosphere in the 60s.  Why it didn’t I do not know.  True, it has not aged well.  I played it the other day and was not impressed.  However, how many albums from the 60s really stand up?

In any event, I saw the Pretty Things on Saturday.  Phil May is still there, as is Dick Taylor.  May’s voice holds up.  Taylor’s guitar is a revelation.

Taylor looks like a good old boy.  If you saw him in the street, shuffling down the road, you would assume that he was on his way to the bookies, or the pub.  Put a Gibson in his hand and he plays up a storm.  He can show most of the young axe men  how to do it.  He has nuance, balance and power in his playing.  When he did a few blues slide numbers he showed feeling and touch.

A good night, no, a very good night was had by all.  If they come anywhere near you you HAVE to go to see them.

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