Pretty Things - Parachute (1970) *New Rip* 24-bit/96kHz
Rock, Psychedelia | 1970 UK 1st press | Harvest SHVL 774
If S.F. Sorrow is the Pretty Things' Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, and Yellow Submarine wrapped in one, then Parachute is their more succinct White Album and Abbey Road. It's not just a time line comparison. The Pretties made this fascinating LP in the same studio as the Fab Four, London's Abbey Road, with Beatles engineer Norman Smith producing.
"The Good Mr. Square" replicates the three-part harmony the Beatles were so proud of on "Because." Two songs later, the group assembles a brief, interconnected three-song suite like the famous ones on side two of Abbey Road. Bassist Wally Allen's vocals on tracks such as "Sickle Clowns" have the same throaty, mad anguish that John Lennon exhibited on "Yer Blues" and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun."
If S.F. Sorrow is hard rock grandeur, then Parachute is its more bitter twist, the dream dying and the witching hour upon us. Yet, if this isn't as much of a triumph, the creative neurons are still firing throughout a multi-varied, cohesive LP. Like S.F. Sorrow, it's a surprisingly palatable concept LP. This time the topic is a generation caught between the conflicting calls of (rural) peace, love, and boredom, and (urban) sophistication, sex, and squalor in a harsh world. Somehow the departure of the band's main creative force, Dick Taylor, didn't diminish the writing and inspired variety. Allen stepped up big time into the collaborator role with singer Phil May. The harmonies remain a strong point on an otherwise rock-inclined record, and the nasty edge of perfectly balanced bombast in the best songs have been a lost art ever since -- it's not hard to see why Rolling Stone rated Parachute the best LP of 1970. Jack Rabid ,Allmusic.
Track listing:
01. Scene One
02. The Good Mr. Square
03. She Was Tall, She Was High
04. In The Square
05. The Letter
06. Rain
07. Miss Fay Regrets
08. Cries From The Midnight Circus
09. Grass
10. Sickle Clowns
11. She's A Lover
12. What's The Use
13. Parachute
Personnel:
Phil May: vocals
Wally Allen (aka Waller): bass, guitar, vocals
John Povey: keyboards, percussion, vocals
Vic Unitt: lead guitar
Skip Alan: drums
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Produced by Norman Smith
Technicals:
Knosti RCM.
Michell GyroDec full version.
Funk Firm FXR II Tonearm.
Audio Technica AT33PTG/II MC Cartridge.
Harman Kardon HK990 Integrated Amplifier.
Gold Interconnects. E-MU 0204 Audio Interface.
Recording, split and manual de-click with Adobe Audition 3.0.1
Click Repair 3.9.1
Vinyl transfer by son-of-albion, February 2014