SF Sorrow

I've been a fan from day one largely because they hail from South London and I was lucky enough to be able to sneak in and watch them at the Orpington Civic Hall by the railway station aged 12. As I read many reviews of the Pretties albums the common theme is how come they never made it big like the Beatles or Stones? Image, that's all. They did not manage their image and combine it with the music. Look how the Beatles moved from Twist and Shout in drain pipe trousers to long hair, beards and psychedelic clothes on Sgt Peppers but always maintaining the nice guy image. Look how the Stones did the opposite, the band who peed up against garage walls and bar Satanic Majesties retained that image for decades and Keef remains someone you probably wouldn't want to take home to mum! The Pretties? Well with Dick Taylor a founder Stone on board they started out trying to out stone the Stones in terms of being anti establishment and growling and snarling at every available opportunity, but whilst SF Sorrow is a brilliant piece of music it did not fit the image and I for one only purchased it in 2012! I did not like it at the time, I liked the Buzz the Jerk Pretties. I also don't like the title "SF Sorrow" to this day. Pipers and Sgt Peppers and indeed Tommy work for me, but SF Sorrow sounds more like the name of a ship than an opera. The Stones realized their "error" with Majesties and produced 4 of the best albums of the century, Beggars, Exile, Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed. The Pretties produced Parachute which is for me their pinnacle and right up their with those 4 Stones albums. But after that they lost the plot. SF Sorrow? Superb if you are a fan of the Beatles, Beach Boys or Hollies, you'll love it. It is melodic, it flows, and is right up there with the albums it is often compared to being Sgt Peppers, Pipers and Tommy. However, if you liked the Buzz the Jerk type of Pretties and if you like hard blues and rock and roll then pass on this offering. Why 5 stars? Because as a piece of music it is superb, but what was incongruous was that it came from guys whose image had been to out stone the Stones and liked hammering out the blues - and their mistake was that they did not change their image to fit with the music! Enjoy!

Nothing defines as a "hidden gem" in music as much as this obscure and underrated psychedelic/concept album from 1968. I first discovered it at my local record store where the owner was playing it. Unfortunately, he did not even have a CD of it because of it's rarity. I was so involved with it, I was almost hypnotized. Finally, after a few more visits he had a CD of it and I played it from start to finish trying to wonder why this great album never made it big. Eventually, after looking for what the best press of this album is on vinyl since the originals are unbelievably expensive. I settled with the 2016 Madfish and it's pretty good. It contains the mono mix of the album, which I prefer the stereo mix. But, being able to listen to it on my turntable and read along with the lyrics and story in the gatefold was like a new experience for this album. It follows the life of a man named Sebastian F. Sorrow and how life at first is normal but then turns gloomy quick. This album has brilliant songwriting, the instrumentation is done very well and I like the cover design a lot. I think this holds up well to Pink Floyd's earlier work like their first LP "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and their second "A Saucerful of Secrets". If you've never heard those, I suggest you check them out if you like psychedelia.

This is one of the greats, the best! The reason I'm excited enough to include a question-mark at the end of the last sentence isn't just that I've discovered yet another English band that never got any promotion whatsoever in the USA, even though they're one of the great bands. It's also because this album shreds, as far as concept goes.Yep, Who founder Pete Townshend said himself that S.F. Sorrow inspired him to write Tommy. The official big accomplishment that is, in fact, The Who. Or, well, it used to be anyway.Things have changed now. Most people who love The Who's music, prefer Quadrophenia over Tommy. Quadrophenia came out in 1973, a good 4 years after the hit Tommy, and was The Who's second and final "rock opera," or in this case, "concept album." But "Quadrophenia" was so much better than "Tommy." Even the movie version, which was almost a non-musical affair, as opposed to the wonderful Director Ken Russell's waayyy musical version of "Tommy," was better overall. That is, even though it featured plenty of great music from the original album, it was better than the Russell movie, in retrospect. I would never have admitted that back in the day, but now--"Quad" is a better movie than "Tommy"!!!Anyway, back to this album by The Pretty Things!It's classic. It's psychedellic, it's wonderful! It is the Beatles, Stones, or whichever group from those days that you love the most-- this is that album they did but you never heard. You know, as if they just never released it for god-knows-what-reason.Heaven!

If your going to reproduce a album like this. Print the original liner notes. the CD ver has them. Why not this 1? at least give a PDF so we print are own.

S.F Sorrow by The Pretty Things is a very good psychedelic album from the 1st psych era. If you are looking for psychedelic albums then you should also check out the following: No1 - 'The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus' by Spirit, No2 - 'Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles', No3 - 'Forever Changes' by Love, No 4 - 'Psychedelic Music For Mind And Body' by Country Joe And The Fish, No5 - 'In Search Of The Lost Chord' by The Moody Blues, No6 & 7- 'Summerlong' and 'Earth Trip' by Rose City Band ( lovely sounding Countryfied contemporary Psyche and anything by The Amorphus Androgynous (formally known as The Future Sound Of London). They produce their own psyche albums but have also produces a very good series of psyche compilations called 'A Montrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind'. These are tightly mixed compilation albums, drawing on the bands favourite tracks from both the original psyche era and contemporary psyche. If you get that lot, then you will have some of the very best Psychedelia has to offer, my friend!

I had been aware that this was considered to be a landmark recording but the music of the Pretty Things had not crossed my musical radar at that time. When I saw the vinyl edition available at Amazon for a reasonable price I thought it a good opportunity to revisit the album via Spotify. I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the music was after 50 years and I placed an order. The LP record was produced by Madfish on 180 gram vinyl, from the best Abbey Road sources and is one of the best sounding of my vinyl pressings, as clear as a modern CD. Full marks to Madfish on producing an excellent product!

'S.F. Sorrow' is often billed as the 'best kept secret of the 1960s', in addition to being regarded as the first complete rock opera to see the light of day (after various delays it was finally released in late 1968). Despite the high critical praise that the album received, 'S.F. Sorrow' failed to trouble the chart compilers; nevertheless, this is a wonderful concoction of psychedelia, pop and searing rock - a world away from the R&B roots laid down by the Pretty Things just a few years prior to this transformation. I have to admit that I was really impressed by this LP and I can heartily recommend it to anyone who likes challenging music. The bonus tracks are a lovely addition to this package so I have no hesitation in awarding a 5 star rating.

A classic masterpiece of British psychedelia.The Pretty Things at their most active and creative leading to an album to equal to the Beatles "Sgt Peppers" and leaving the Rolling Stones way behind. A must have for anybody looking so swing to a groovy beat .

Initially arrived with a small amount of sleeve damage due to the way it was packaged - returned and received another pristine copy in a couple of days. Great, unfussy, and fast service. I know the album well as have had it in various forms over the years, so I'll leave the in depth reviews for others, apart from to say that it's a fine album by a great band and it certainly rises to it's remit as a U.K. psych masterpiece.R.I.P. Phil May