Emotions (The Pretty Things album)
Encyclopedia
Emotions is the third LP
by the British
rock group The Pretty Things
, released in 1967.
who was producing hits for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
hoping that Rowland would help the band regain a commercial sound to improve sales. The band were not pleased by this intervention and were keen to leave Fontana, so they simply went along with Fontana's demands to fulfil the contract which included a third album.
Sessions for "Emotions" began towards the end of 1966. The first result, "Progress" was released as a single in December 1966. This featured the band with a brass section and though commercial, it failed to sell. Brian Pendleton was unhappy with the direction the band was heading in and with money being rather short, he quit the band that Christmas. A month later, bassist John Stax, similarly unhappy also quit the band. Phil May called upon a childhood friend Wally Waller whose band The Fenmen had recently split to help record the rest of the album. In the event, Waller took over the bass duties and brought in the Fenmens' drummer, John Povey who was also a keyboardist. Waller and Povey were huge Beach Boys fans and between them had developed their own distinctive harmonies which when paired with Phil May's vocals gave The Pretty Things a new dimension.
The bands old R'n'B style was barely present as Phil May and Dick Taylor wrote songs of a more whimsical nature, going for a more adventurous pop style displaying a definite Ray Davies
influence. Steve Rowland decided the new songs sounded rather empty so he enlisted arranger Reg Tilsley to write and conduct orchestral arrangements for most of the tracks. Again, the band were not pleased by this but to appease Fontana and be able to break free, they went along with the idea. Tilsley was given tapes of demos and work in progress of the songs and wrote the arrangements. Some were fairly simple, requiring a brass section, whilst others were more elaborate, bringing in strings.
Whilst some of these arrangements were overdubbed on what had already been recorded, Dick Taylor has recalled there were a couple of sessions where the band and Tilsley's ensemble were together in the studio. Because the songs had mostly already been written, the new members Waller and Povey weren't able to contribute much to the writing nor add their harmonies to most of the album. The new harmonies did make an appearance on "Children" which was chosen to be the single released in May 1967 on Fontana TF 829. The harmonies also appeared on "Out In The Night", "Bright Lights Of The City" and "My Time" where they were used in a more spareful ethereal manner.
Outside the studio, the bands live sound had changed drastically as they became involved in the burgeoning psychedelic scene. By the time "Emotions" was released, the contrast between the band on the record and on stage was enormous. The band were not happy with the end result and did nothing to promote it. Once released, their obligations to Fontana had been fulfilled and they were free to seek a new record contract.
It wouldn't be until the mid to late 1990s that The Pretty Things resurrected "Growing In My Mind" for occasional airings in live shows since that was the one song Phil May admitted liking and didn't feel embarrassed by. When the album was remastered for the Snapper CD, manager Mark St.John went back to the original three track tapes to remix "The Sun", "There Will Never Be Another Day", "The Sun", "Photographer" and "My Time" as well as preceding single "Progress" minus Reg Tilsley's embellishments. These were presented as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
In December 2009, Wally Waller and John Povey released "Sunstroke", a CD of rare unissued recordings from their days in The Fenmen. To fill out the CD, under the name of The Bexley Brothers, they recorded 8 new songs with a couple of guest appearances from Dick Taylor. Amongst them was a brand new recording of "The Sun" with Povey taking the lead vocal.
Side 2
Note - Pendleton and Stax were present when sessions began for the album but it's still unknown precisely which tracks they played on.
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock group The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
, released in 1967.
Recording
The sessions for "Emotions" were spread across a few months during which there were major change in the bands line up. Their record company Fontana had not been happy with how their three 1966 singles "Midnight To Six Man", "Come See Me" and "A House In The Country" had sold. For the latter single, Fontana assigned them producer Steve RowlandSteve Rowland (record producer)
Steve Rowland is singer, columnist, record producer and actor. He grew up in Beverly Hills. His father is film director Roy Rowland, his mother Ruth was a writer, whilst Louis B...
who was producing hits for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...
hoping that Rowland would help the band regain a commercial sound to improve sales. The band were not pleased by this intervention and were keen to leave Fontana, so they simply went along with Fontana's demands to fulfil the contract which included a third album.
Sessions for "Emotions" began towards the end of 1966. The first result, "Progress" was released as a single in December 1966. This featured the band with a brass section and though commercial, it failed to sell. Brian Pendleton was unhappy with the direction the band was heading in and with money being rather short, he quit the band that Christmas. A month later, bassist John Stax, similarly unhappy also quit the band. Phil May called upon a childhood friend Wally Waller whose band The Fenmen had recently split to help record the rest of the album. In the event, Waller took over the bass duties and brought in the Fenmens' drummer, John Povey who was also a keyboardist. Waller and Povey were huge Beach Boys fans and between them had developed their own distinctive harmonies which when paired with Phil May's vocals gave The Pretty Things a new dimension.
The bands old R'n'B style was barely present as Phil May and Dick Taylor wrote songs of a more whimsical nature, going for a more adventurous pop style displaying a definite Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
influence. Steve Rowland decided the new songs sounded rather empty so he enlisted arranger Reg Tilsley to write and conduct orchestral arrangements for most of the tracks. Again, the band were not pleased by this but to appease Fontana and be able to break free, they went along with the idea. Tilsley was given tapes of demos and work in progress of the songs and wrote the arrangements. Some were fairly simple, requiring a brass section, whilst others were more elaborate, bringing in strings.
Whilst some of these arrangements were overdubbed on what had already been recorded, Dick Taylor has recalled there were a couple of sessions where the band and Tilsley's ensemble were together in the studio. Because the songs had mostly already been written, the new members Waller and Povey weren't able to contribute much to the writing nor add their harmonies to most of the album. The new harmonies did make an appearance on "Children" which was chosen to be the single released in May 1967 on Fontana TF 829. The harmonies also appeared on "Out In The Night", "Bright Lights Of The City" and "My Time" where they were used in a more spareful ethereal manner.
Outside the studio, the bands live sound had changed drastically as they became involved in the burgeoning psychedelic scene. By the time "Emotions" was released, the contrast between the band on the record and on stage was enormous. The band were not happy with the end result and did nothing to promote it. Once released, their obligations to Fontana had been fulfilled and they were free to seek a new record contract.
After Release
None of the songs from "Emotions" were played live preceding or following its release by the band. They simply ignored the album, but around the time of the single release of "Children" they did play the song live onstage in Paris which was broadcast live on French TV.It wouldn't be until the mid to late 1990s that The Pretty Things resurrected "Growing In My Mind" for occasional airings in live shows since that was the one song Phil May admitted liking and didn't feel embarrassed by. When the album was remastered for the Snapper CD, manager Mark St.John went back to the original three track tapes to remix "The Sun", "There Will Never Be Another Day", "The Sun", "Photographer" and "My Time" as well as preceding single "Progress" minus Reg Tilsley's embellishments. These were presented as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
In December 2009, Wally Waller and John Povey released "Sunstroke", a CD of rare unissued recordings from their days in The Fenmen. To fill out the CD, under the name of The Bexley Brothers, they recorded 8 new songs with a couple of guest appearances from Dick Taylor. Amongst them was a brand new recording of "The Sun" with Povey taking the lead vocal.
Track listing
Side 1- Death of a Socialite (May, Stirling, Taylor) - 2:44
- Children (May, Taylor, Waller) - 3:05
- The Sun (May, Waller) - 3:06
- There Will Never Be Another Day (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:22
- House of Ten (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:54
- Out in the Night (Stirling, Taylor) - 2:44
Side 2
- One Long Glance (May, Taylor, Waller) - 2:54
- Growing in My Mind (May, Taylor) - 2:21
- Photographer (May, Stirling, Taylor) - 2:07
- Bright Lights of the City (May, Waller) - 3:02
- Tripping (May, Taylor) - 3:26
- My Time (May, Taylor, Waller) - 3:09
Personnel
- Phil MayPhil May (singer)Phil May is the stage name of an English vocalist...
– Vocals - Dick TaylorDick TaylorRichard Clifford 'Dick' Taylor is an English musician who was an early bass guitarist for The Rolling Stones. He left to become an art student at Sidcup Art College and while there formed The Pretty Things in September 1963...
– Guitar - Skip Allen – Drums
- John Povey – Vocals, Keyboards
- Wally Waller – Bass, guitars, Vocals
- Brian Pendleton – Rhythm Guitar
- John Stax – Bass
Note - Pendleton and Stax were present when sessions began for the album but it's still unknown precisely which tracks they played on.