The Pretty Things – The Same Sun (Ltd. Colour 7”)

The Pretty Things! Coloured vinyl! Acidic psych-rock! What's not to like!?!

The word legendary is is often mis-used or over-used when it comes to bands. But in reference to The Pretty Things it's apt. Not only have they been around since since the '60s Brit-Beat & Blues Boom, they were the only band (The Beatles aside) to make The Rolling Stones feel threatened. And you can go see them play live without having to re-mortgage your house to do so.

They made some of the '60s most vital records and unlike The Stones they still make music that has an edge. Anyone who doubts this should take a listen to this four song EP set for release early in the new year on Fruits de Mer. The Lead track 'The Same Sun' is taken from their most recent LP The Sweet Pretty Things (Are in Bed Now of Course...). It's a modern psych-rock classic extolling the virtues of communion and wide-eyed wonder.

Next up the band cover The Byrds' 'Renaissance Fair'. As far as I can gather this studio version is exclusive to this release. It's fairly faithful to The Byrds' version albeit injected with a dose of acid-punk attitude.

The two live tracks on the B-side are from the band's box set Bouquets From A Cloudy Sky, thought to be from a late '60s Hyde Park gig. They'll be familiar to fans of the band's '60s output. 'She Says Good Morning' is of course from S.F. Sorrow with Alexandra being from the Electric Banana Sessions.

If you're a longtime fan you'll want to bag a copy of this very special piece of plastic. Newbies are well advised to check it out too. It encapsulates all that's great about one of this country's most marvellous musical treasures.

Click here for the Fruits de Mer website.

Click here for more on The Pretty Things.

Interview with author Richie Unterberger

The next best thing to rock 'n' roll is reading about rock 'n' roll. There's a whole feast of music books out there with more and more big names lining up to release autobiographies. One of the finest music books I've read recently is Richie Unterberger's Wont Get Fooled Again. An insightful, thoroughly researched account of a fascinating period of The Who's history. There are not many writers who could have done such a sterling job. Based in San Francisco, Unterberger has been at the coalface of music journalism for over 25 years, having contributed to publications such as Ugly Things, Mojo, Record Collector and Pulse among others as well as penning books on The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds along with two books celebrating lesser known artists (Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll, and its sequel, Urban Spacemen & Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators & Eccentric Visionaries of '60s Rock). On top of this he's also written many liner notes and is a much  respected travel writer.

I recently contacted Richie to see if he'd be willing to answer some questions for my humble blog. Good guy that he is, he said yes.

Click over the jump to read for the interview.