It seemed like every band that were worth their salt was plunging mind-deep into the genre of Psychedelia around 1968. The Pretty Things were only one of the myriad of bands setting rock or R&B aside and tinkering with mellotrons, tablas and phasing. Departing from their longtime label Fontana and settling into the EMI fold and eventually their newly founded Harvest offshoot, The Pretty Things set out to record some pretty extraordinary sessions. Working with Norman Smith (who did the first Pink Floyd albums and who later gained fame as "Hurricane" Smith . . .but that's another ball of wax), they crafted a series of singles and albums that stand out as high points in the bands career, with their masterpiece album S.F. Sorrow as something of a legendary forgotten classic.
One of those tracks we're playing tonight, Talkin' About The Good Times was their second single under the new label and direction. Released in February 1968 and three months after the release of their initial single Defecting Grey (which we'll play at some point, don't worry), The Pretty Things quickly established themselves as the arch purveyors of all things musically hallucinogenic and would keep them in that direction until they up and changed once again. But that wasn't for a few years into the future.
Tonight it's black lights, calico walls and no looking back.
