Parachute . The Pretty Things....What an album!! & other undervalued gems.

He is not. Wally ruled things at this point, it must be said.

Check out Pete's brain-melting solo, though...!

 

I just discovered this band, ordered the lp and playing it for the first time. Wow!

My first thought was this could be placed inside my recently acquired Beatles Mono Box and be enjoyed on the same level.

I was surprised to see a small label like Madfish actually recut it from the analog master tapes.

 

If this was done by a label like Audio Fidelity, Analogue Productions, etc. people would be all over this.

This is the reason I love all analog vinyl!

 

Pleased to hear I'm not the only one who prefers Parachute to SF Sorrow. I too discovered Parachute only a couple of years back and was amazed. The sound and production very much echo Abbey Road in some places - in particular The Good Mr. Square/She Was Tall, She Was High - those harmonies, that guitar sound! It's a shame they'd moved on to a different sound by the time their next LP came out. I wonder how much Norman Smith's production had to do with the magic they created on Parachute?

 

Better than Pink Floyd? Sure. Generally not the late Beatles.

Some of that stuff from the late 60's and early 70's - the other Pretty Things albums like Silk Torpedo (another great record) and Mott the Hoople through "Mott"- really hold up well and resonate relevantly today. Very solid songwriting and performances. None of these bands came through the 60's unscathed, and in their own way had 'roots'. None of this stuff sounds dated to me (My guess is that about 35 years from now Autotuned 'singing' will be regarded as highly as 80's 'Syn-drums' are today. Had to get that in)

 

I totally agree with everyone that believes this LP is a classic, and that it may even trump a few of it's contemporaries. I'm sure Mr. Smith had a lot to do with it as well. About 6 years ago, after hearing Dream/Joey (Silk Torpedo) by chance, and being jolted by the major oversight that my Pretties collection had quite too many missing pieces, I started grabbing everything available. Of course, they then released the box set last month which I ordered two of!!! Lots of great music from a great, great band.

 

After reading about the Parachute lp on this forum I just picked up a very nice copy on vinyl. Just finished giving it a spin and wow it is quite an interesting Lp. I must admit the first part of side 1 was a bit different than what I was expecting but it soon put a smile on my face. I was only familiar with Silk Torpedo and Savage Eye which I like a lot. Parachute is a welcome addition to my collection. Now moving on to rediscover Camel.

 

I haven't listen to this album, and judging by comments, it should be pretty good,
but boy what a cover art, I mean its really strange, what does it mean?
Why people at the '70 had this kind of imagination, is it all over now?

 

I have been looking for the is album for a while. Just yesterday I finally found it. Pure luck - as anyone who has been to the House of Guitars in Rochester would know. I had looked for it there before. I was there yesterday looking for something else and happened to notice another bunch of albums on the floor arranged by letter that I had not noticed before. I looked through the P's and there it was.

Just listened to it. It is the 2014 reissue.

 

I love that era of the Pretty Things and think they have been overlooked compared to a few of their contemporaries.
Still going strong as well I believe.

 

Yes! Count me in the "Parachute" camp too. You're so right about the harmonies in the "She Was Tall..." section of the song. That's exactly what hit me the first time I heard the song. As I remember, it was on the Harvest "Picnic" sampler but I may be wrong about that. Hearing that track made the album a must buy for me. Then, "Grass" with the melodic bass so up-front in the mix was another highlight for me. Finally, the ending title track is a gorgeous way to finish the record. What an album.

 

Daft question but: What is "Miss Fay Regrets" actually about? Most likely a pun ("Miss Otis Regrets") but was this inspired by "Sunset Boulevard" or an actual meeting? And with whom? The name would suggest Fay Wray but she didn't have a comedown like that.

 

The Harvest Heritage LP 2-fer with Parachute and SF Sorrow is a possibly economical and definitely excellent sounding way to hear both albums.

 

The Pretty Things in general are great. The early R&B garage sounding material is also good in my opinion.

Get the box set if you don't already have it. Their most recent studio album The Sweet Pretty Things (Are In Bed Now, Of Course) is also enjoyable.

 

Their recent "Balboa Island" is also very good. Amazing they've had sort of a parallel career to the Stones, sometimes rivalling them in terms of songwriting and performance. Yet I wonder if they could sell out a 300 seat club in most U.S. Cities. Did they ever open for the Stones during one of their grand tours?

 

Regarding the Electric banana stuff very nice fits well with this period, if you can find it the Phillipe De Barge CD which was issued a few years back is cut from similar cloth being that its mainly Pretty things anyway.

i also recommend the XPT's re-recoding which is fun, RIP Peter Tolsen