The Pretty Things started as blues-rock band in the early 1960s, and they’re most often described as “meaner, louder, uglier and with longer hair” than the Rolling Stones. (Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor originally played bass in the Stones). Their gritty, primitive R&B sound was heavily influenced by Bo Diddley.

On their fourth album, S. F. Sorrow, recorded in the era of Sgt. Pepper’s and Pet Sounds, the Pretty Things decided to shake it up a bit and create a psychedelic rock opera some regard as a lost masterpiece (I am one of them). It’s held in the same high regard as another lost 60s classic, Odyssey and Oracle by the Zombies. In fact, S.F. Sorrow was the first rock opera, not Tommy. Although Pete Townshend has denied that S.F. Sorrow was an influence on Tommy, this seems unlikely at best. (They were of the same small London scene, The Who and the Pretty Things, so the idea that Townshend was unaware of S.F. Sorrow is bullshit. It’s got to be.)

S.F. Sorrow was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at Abbey Road Studios. The sound incorporates the sitar, Mellotron, flute, dulcimer and tripped out sound effects.. At the same time, the album’s producer, Norman “Hurricane” Smith was working with Pink Floyd on their A Saucerful Of Secrets album and The Beatles were recording their White Album.

The opera’s libretto came in the form of liner notes that told the story of one Sebastian F. Sorrow, an ordinary fellow who works at the “Misery Factory” and is drafted into World War I. His life descends into meaninglessness after he witnesses a hot-air balloon carrying his fiance crash and burn. Along the way he has an encounter with a mysterious whip-cracking character called “Baron Saturday” (based on the voodoo deity Baron Samedi).

Saturday “borrows his eyes” and takes Sorrow on a trippy trip through the Underworld (something that seems to mirror the Acid Queen’s unorthodox therapy in Tommy, don’t cha think?). The opera ends on a sad note as the desolate Sorrow realizes that he can trust no one and that he will die alone.

Following are a series of awesome vintage S.F. Sorrow performance from European television:
 

 
“Baron Saturday” on Tous En Scene, 1969
 
More clips of the Pretty Things performing songs from S.F. Sorrow after the jump…

 
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.