the pretty things Midnight to six men: (l-r) Brian Pendleton, John Stax, Viv Prince, Dick Taylor and Phil May. Words: Claudia Elliott On the 50th anniversary of the iconic band’s debut album, phil May and Dick taylor look back on the r&B-fuelled mayhem of the 60s. cruffier, louder and more offensive the world. In addition to the two founding members, than the Rolling Stones, the Pretty their current line-up is bolstered by a young rhythm Things were the prodigal sons of section (Jack Greenwood on drums and George Perez the 60s R&B scene. Dartford-born on bass), and guitarist Frank Holland, who joined the guitarist Dick Taylor provided the band in the late 80s. missing link between Mick Jagger The source of the group can be traced to the same and Keith Richards, a young David Dartford spring as the Rolling Stones. Growing up in Bowie worshipped frontman Phil May as ‘God’, and the 1940s, Dick Taylor’s earliest exposure to music S in Viv Prince they had a drummer who taught Keith was hearing cowboy songs and crooners such as Perry Moon how to loon. The Pretty Things are also regarded Como on the wireless. Spending Christmases with his as “one of the greatest R&B bands of all time” by Van granddad introduced him to the wondrous world of Morrison, a man not generally noted for his fulsome stringed instruments, including the mandolin and the praise of fellow musicians. guitar. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh God, I’m never going They enjoyed a certain notoriety but didn’t bask in the to be able to do this!’ I really wanted to play but this was creative admiration afforded to The Kinks, nor were they something unattainable.” respected for their blues purity like The Yardbirds. Yet Then came rock’n’roll – and a certain bespectacled they produced some of the most adrenalin-fired singles youth from Lubbock, Texas inspired Dick and his of the 60s, including Rosalyn and Don’t Bring Me Down schoolfriends to buy plastic ukuleles and learn a few in 1964, and Come See Me in 1966, influencing a slew of chords. “It was seeing the cover for the Buddy Holly snotty young garage bands in the US (despite being one album (The Chirping Crickets) and thinking, ‘Wow, look of the British Invasion bands that didn’t actually invade) at those guitars, I’d really like one of those.’ I didn’t and distantly inspiring the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. know what I was looking at until I figured out the Their reputation for bad behaviour, unlike that of the Gibsons, Fenders and what have you.” Stones, wasn’t contrived by marketing or management, After a short-lived flirtation with trumpet lessons but happened just because they were being themselves. – “I wanted to be Miles Davis” – Taylor formed his first The day The Blues meets Phil May and Dick Taylor, the band with fellow Dartford Grammar School classmates Pretty Things are preparing to play at the wedding of Bill Robert Beckwith and Michael Jagger. “There was so Nighy’s daughter – it turns out the suave actor is a long- much music of all sorts going on – modern jazz, trad, time fan and friend of the band (after our interview, Dick skiffle, rock’n’roll – I loved all of it. I remember seeing lets slip that Strange Fruit’s Ray Simms in Still Crazy is a film about Big Bill Broonzy [Low Light And Blue Smoke, affectionately played as Phil May). It’s a funny thought 1956. Keith Richards also saw it and decided he wanted but, although they have had their ups and downs over to be black]. Mick and I were both into rhythm and blues 50 years, they are far from a comedy old-farts rock band. – he’d bring albums into school, the band would practise These days, career options for their contemporaries round my house and gradually learnt how to play Jimmy who didn’t burn out or fade away range from selling out Reed stuff and Chuck Berry.” soulless stadiums to recycling three hits on a nostalgia At 16, Dick went to Sidcup Art School, where he package tour. The Pretty Things, meanwhile, are met Keith Richards, and the pair would sit in the boys’ celebrating 50 years in the biz with a live LP recorded cloakroom and play their guitars until the head teacher at one of their 1960s strongholds, London’s 100 Club. came out of his study and shooed them away. They’re still one of the most exciting rock’n’roll outfits “Keith found out that I was in a band with Mick, who REX around and draw followers of all ages and tour around he’d known when he was a kid, but he was too 46 classicrockmagazine.com the pretty things of his life was being pinned up against an amp the pub over the road wouldn’t were on another ill-matched The earliest known sighting of three Pretty Things: Phil May (left), John Stax (right) and Dick with the Pretty Things roaring away at the Mojo. serve him.” package tour with Sandie Shaw Taylor (front) in 1963, with John’s Singer Le Mans. Quite something, given all his groupies. We fell Dick: “And the reason the and Eden Kane. Was that Viv’s Below: a press clipping from an incident while on out with him. We got up there one night and pub wouldn’t serve him is… fault as well? (Phil and Dick tour in New Zealand. there was a huge queue of our fans outside. They Phil: “… because he pause to ponder the question. were all moaning because they couldn’t get in smashed it up with The This is beginning to feel like because they had jeans and long hair. How could Kinks the night before.” reading a charge sheet instead you fucking turn our audience away? We look like Dick: “Behind the pub was the of conducting an interview.) them! They had rules, a dress code. So we never hotel they stayed in and caused “No, that was down to all of played there again.” a load of aggro, he had been there, us,” Phil cackles. “The whole Their progress from the art-school R&B so when the barman saw him tour was unruly. The fans were explosion to record contract, TV shows and tours and said ‘you’re barred’, he thought it was because unruly, they set light to some of the seats because was also an amphetamine rush. “It seemed to me he was a scruffy oik. In fact, he was being barred they cut our shows short. They pulled the plug on like 10 days,” remembers Phil. “One night this because of the night before. His logic was, they’re us in the theatre. We had trouble with the police. drunken Geordie actually fell up the stairs into our serving all the people who are going to see our Our manager ended up with a duodenal ulcer dressing room and said, ‘I’m a talent spotter from gig but they won’t serve him so he’s not going to in hospital in Auckland with the pressure of the Phonogram.’ We thought, ‘Yeah yeah, go and have play for them.” whole thing. Sandie Shaw fired her father, who another drink.’” Phil remembers: “We had to get the drummer was her manager, because we’d got him to play Taylor adds: “A week or so later he did get us into from Hedgehoppers Anonymous in, which is cards and got him drunk. Fontana and we did a demo. The only caveat to like chalk and cheese, just so we didn’t get sued. “It was chaos,” he continues gleefully. getting signed was, ‘You need a different drummer,’ We played half a set just to cover our arses. He “Wonderful, absolute madness. Especially in who turned out to be Viv Prince, so it was all quite was playing in Manchester and someone had to Gisborne. The whole tour landed together. Before easy – there was no traipsing round the country.” whizz him over to the Stockport Manor Lounge.” the plane stopped, the fans surrounded the plane Prince, a Loughborough-born, ex-civil And then there’s the small matter of being and were hanging on the wings upside down, servant and jazz sessioneer, was brought in by ordered to leave New Zealand in 1965, where they looking in this guy’s plane. He started revving management who felt the band needed a steadying, the engine – he wanted to take off again – and professional hand at the helm. To put it mildly, we said, ‘Hang on, there’s people on top!’ They he turned out to be a bad influence on an unruly were running around the plane. We got to some bunch who didn’t need any encouragement in that Viv was theatres and the janitors put a chain across the direction. On the day of John Stax’s wedding in door – ‘We have decent artists, we’re not being 1965, Viv was arrested and spent the night in the sacked after sullied by these reprobates’ – so we had to run cells for knocking a policeman’s helmet off. he set fire to a the show ourselves. They went on strike.” May says: “Viv made Keith Moon look like At one gig, Viv continued drinking while a choirboy. Viv was so much ahead, everything he rotten crayfish drumming, then took off a shoe, poured booze did. I know that Keith used to come and sit at his into it and walked around the stage drinking from feet at the 100 Club and just study him.