Formed in London in 1963 by singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor, The Pretty Things played raw R&B that shook up the English music scene. In addition to being musical pioneers, The Pretty Things were among the first of the Brit bands to experiment with LSD (they recorded a song of the same name) and the first to be arrested for drugs.

Sounding like an American garage band with a punk attitude, the Things were the least celebrated of the bands on the scene at the time, which included The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds. It wasn’t until the late 60s / early 70s that group had both commercial and critical success with Parachute (1970 Rolling Stone Album of The Year) and concept album SF Sorrow. David Bowie covered two of their tunes for his Pin Ups album. Phil May left the group in 1976, but the band continued with shifting personel.He later rejoined the group and he and Taylor continue to perform till this day with various sidemen.
 

 
In this video from 1966 (a pristine master copy), The Pretty Things exude an effortless cool that makes Mick Jagger’s tar baby shtick seem absolutely vaudevillian.

(Mick Jagger, Mick Taylor and Keith Richards goofing with guest musicians in front of Villa Nellcote)
 
Just got back from purchasing, that’s right, purchasing, the newly remastered version of Exile on Main St. (I’m about to pop in the bonus disc.  Wow, alternate versions of both Loving Cup and Soul Survivor).  As mentioned previously, I’ve been looking forward to this thing with equal doses of curiosity and dread (no harm done, says Pitchfork, who score it a perfect 10), but, echoing Mr. Laner, what I’m really waiting for comes out June 22nd, the BBC’s making-of-the-album doc, The Stones In Exile.

Judging here by Mick’s grin at Cannes (and despite his periodic downplaying of the album’s signficance), he’s definitely pleased with the end product.  As the mythology behind Exile taps into so many things I’m particularly resonant to beyond the Stones themselves—Los Angeles, the eye of Robert Frank, notions of, well, “exile”— I’m sure I’ll be, ahem, happy, too.

What follows is a stellar clip off Exile, the Stones’ cover of Slim Harpo‘s Shake Your Hips.  Recorded in Montreaux in ‘72, various versions of this have been floating around online, but this one’s looking sharp! 

 
More on Exile:

The Rolling Stones shine a light on ‘Exile on Main St.’ reissue

Rolling Stones set to top British album charts for first time in 16 years

Cannes Film Festival 2010: Stephen Kijak rolls with ‘Stones in Exile’

Sympathy for the tongue: an interview with the logo of wealth and taste

Rolling Stones bonus track: Following The River

 
Feeling more than a little torn and frayed from the ‘00’s, Mick and Keith look forward to a brand new decade of Dangerous Minds Rolling Stones posts!

 
It’s been, what, weeks since the last Dangerous Minds Rolling Stones post, so here’s my last one…for the decade.  The tragedy at Altamont happened 40 years ago yesterday, but rather revisit that chapter in Stones history, here’s some little-seen footage of Mick Jagger taking the stage at Hyde Park to eulogize Brian Jones, who’d died under mysterious circumstances just two days earlier.  Five months after Hyde Park, the Stones played Altamont.

 
Yesterday’s paper, in this case the Daily Mail, suggests, finally, some fresh interest in solving the case that is the strange and tragic death of Brian Jones:

Police are reviewing the death of Rolling Stone Brian Jones ?

With all the name-brand dying going on these days, I thought I’d mention the passing of someone less well-known who probably touched many of us more deeply and intimately than, oh, Walter Cronkite.  Tom Wilkes, celebrated album cover designer for The Rolling Stones, George Harrison and The Who died recently, in, of all places, Pioneertown, California.  Beyond Beggars Banquet, though, Wilkes was wildly talented, wonderfully prolific.  For a good taste of it all, including his artwork for Monterey Pop, click the link below:

Tom Wilkes homepage