Pretty Things
1970-08-25 ::: Hampstead, London, England :: The Country Club
210a Haverstock Hill ::: M?-AUD (48kHz/24bit files)

~*~ Mk2 version, carefully remastered fixing various issues, with differential EQ + lite NR ~*~

01-[11:22]. Cries From The Midnight Circus
02-[01:15]. ==applause/talk/equipment testing==
03-[06:24]. Blue Serge Blues
04-[00:32]. ==applause/tuning//talk==
05-[03:45]. She's A Lover
06-[03:21]. Old Man Going -> drum solo (fragment)// ->
07-[01:23]. Mona ->
08-[04:34]. drum//solo ->
09-[08:04]. Roadhouse(?) -> Mona (etc) -> "FULL-ON JAM"
10-[00:30]. ==applause/talk/tuning==
11-[04:59]. Sickle Clowns//

Total Time ::: 46:09

::: VG(Mk1)/VG+(Mk2) AUD that YOU GOTTA HEAR! Mk2 version ROCKS! Check samples for a laugh, a prayer, a tease.
::: Warts: Some distortion from poor recording equipment & overloaded bass/PA & some hiss (especially from ALC) - both issues greatly improved in Mk2! Taper shut off deck (battery savin'?) in drum solos #06B (essentially not recorded) & #08 (cut after 4:34). #09 start has splice into song from #08. #11 cuts (maybe ~2mins missing?).
::: CONTRAST CLAUSE: This is the more enjoyable Mk2 EQ+NR version. The Mk1 NO EQ or NR version is available elsewhere.
::: 5th studio album"Parachute"recorded Sept'69-April'70. Released June'70, 2 months before this gig.
::: "Cries From The Midnight Circus/She's A Lover/Sickle Clowns"all on"Parachute"-Heaviest 3 songs on the LP.
::: "Old Man Going"was on"S.F.Sorrow"('69). "Blue Serge Blues"was 45B-side of "The Good Mr. Square ('70).
::: Anyone know proper title for #09 ("Roadhouse")?
::: "Mona (etc)" (2nd part) seems somewhat freeform & even includes lines from "Satisfaction"!
::: Aadrvark was the opening act. I do not know if they were taped by this source.
::: Phil May, "The parachute isn’t the answer to everything because maybe the f*cker isn’t going to open."
::: Might as well ask if anyone has a longer version of this show or more live '70 sets aside from the few BBC trax.
::: Aside from this & BBC trax, DO any other 1970 Pretty Things live shows circulate?
::: To see what the band LOOKED like in this era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SSPWZWYnYQ
::: Shame there isn't a live"Rain"here-HEAVY live song (tho'71) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4zKTZbptAQ
::: The next album "Freeway Madness" didn't appear until 1972 & by then a LOT of things had changed.

Recording Information ::: unknown mono tape recorder/microphone with ALC -> master tape -> unknown tape generations (almost certainly analog-only) -> unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette with NO Dolby.

Playback 2021-06-xx ::: unknown generation Maxell XLII-90 cassette on Nakamichi 680ZX cassette deck, Dolby off, azimuth adjusted for individual tape, heads cleaned & demagnetized -> Sony Linear PCM Recorder PCM-M10 (48kHz/24bit wav file) -> computer -> Audacity [normalisation to remove DC offset (NOT to normalize volume), channel/phase alignment, fades, manual one-at-a-time glitch, bump, clap, pop, click, dropout & dullspot repairs, volume adjustments, -1.2% averaged pitch (speed) fix with single pass after frequency analysis & with CD pitch verification, differential equalisation applied plus 3 notches, lite noise reduction used to compensate for ALC & reduce hiss] -> CD Wave (track splits) -> 48kHz/24bit flacs (Trader's Little Helper) -> yr ears. (NOTE: Tape recorder had HORRIBLE ALC which steadily raised levels between/in songs (pumped up hiss/volume immediately in quiet parts, then drop way down at slightest loud sound. Now between songs & drum solo parts are greatly fixed, & Mk2 NR really helped. However, music is LOUD due to ALC, sorta brickwalled, as levels tend towards constantly full volume whenever there is music). ONLY used much better Rchan (7000R>6200L) of MONO recording after remastering/patches). Freed 2021-07-xx.

Line-up ::: Philip Dennis Arthur "Phil" May (†R.I.P. 2020†) - vocals // Peter Tolson (†R.I.P. 2016†) - lead electric guitar, backing vocals // John "Jon" Povey - keyboards, electric guitar (#06 presumably him), vocals // Alan Edward "Wally" Waller - electric bass, vocals // Alan Ernest Skipper - drums, percussion.

Nothing here ever commercially released to my knowledge. If I'm wrong, please advise & I'll take the offending trax offline.

DimeTravel 778 ::: Thanks to the original taper & traders! Thanks to zongo for a bit o' research, along with DIMERS prettything & boombox. Sincere thanks to whomever uploads this for me. ::: Corrections welcome ::: "It has been a long time, hasn’t it?” Well, FIFTY ONE YEARS LATER... Wash your ears in this electric "Parachute" glory. Stick a little volume on it & pretend the quality is just a lame sound system in a small bar & the band is playing WAY TOO LOUD. Chug a brew or whatever you do. If you aren't blowing bubbles outta yr brain around 8 minutes in the 11+ minute "Cries From The Midnight Circus", maybe it's time you gave away your 14 versions of "SF Sorrow", 7 versions of "Parachute" AND all the other 287 Pretty Things albums, CDs, remasters, tapes & singles you've amassed over the years & join your local glee club - or give up music altogether and get into oyster farming. (I KNOW a couple of you DIMERS still have your "Freeway Madness"&"Silk Torpedo"8-tracks as well - out they go!). Quality be damned, this set is a GAME-CHANGER for sure, if nothing else CONFIRMATION of "LIFE after Sorrow". "Cries From The Midnight Circus" is a pretty differently styled version of the song - I rather prefer it's forward motion feel/arrangement to the album version & over 11 minutes of it will leave you breathless - pretty much double the length of any other vintage version I know of. Check out the intensity/unbelievably guitars In "Old Man Going". I just listened to "Parachute" & the heaviest songs are the ones which are played here in this set - but these are still a step MUCH further off the deep end - This is a HEAVY rock act. We need more audio evidence! Listen, enjoy, show appreciation, share, give, spread peace. Yrs truly, Knees

Support the artists and/or their families! http://www.theprettythings.com -- myspace.com/skipalan

Do whatever you want with it except sell it, 'cause that ain't cool!