ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 381 THE PRETTY THINGS - S.F. SORROW (1968)

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

We made it through Halloween, so what's up next? How about another album from the 60's? This week let's get into an album that I'm sure you are all very familiar with. Your CRB Album of the Week is S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things. What? You aren't familiar with S.F. Sorrow? Then let's definitely get into this album.

S.F. Sorrow is a rock opera. It pre-dated the release of Tommy by The Who. Does that mean it was the first rock opera? I can't answer that, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is what you think of it. Well, that's not entirely true either. But I digress. Does it's release prior to Tommy mean that Pete Townshend was influenced by S.F. Sorrow? I don't know the answer to that either. I certainly hear things throughout the album that make me think of The Who.

The album wasn't much of a success. As far as I can tell, it did not chart. And it's concept/story was told differently as well. Whereas albums like Tommy and The Wall tell the story lyrically, S.F. Sorrow used small paragraphs between the songs within the liner notes to develop the story. So maybe, just listening to the album won't allow the story to make sense. If that's the case, you only need to read the liner notes to know what's going on.

You can pick this up from Amazon if you are interested for 8.99. There is also a 2 CD version called S.F. Sorrow - Ressurection. It includes a second live disc recorded in 1998 and featuring David Gilmour on guitar and vocals and Arthur Brown narrating the passages between the songs. Amazon has that version used for under 5 bucks. I kinda wished I would have picked that one up.

Side One:

1. S.F. Sorrow Is Born

2. Bracelets of Fingers

3. She Says Good Morning

4. Private Sorrow

5. Balloon Burning

6. Death

Side Two:

7. Baron Saturday

8. The Journey

9. I See You

10. Well of Destiny

11. Trust

12. Old Man Going

13. Loneliest Person

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Permalink Reply by Jon on November 3, 2017 at 9:27am

Track #3 is a definite earworm. It's been stuck in my head.

Pretty bleak album cover.

In a way this does remind me of "The Wall". It's a very interesting listen but mostr of it is kind of a bummer. Kind of depressing, but kind of....not.

Well, at least the third song is bright and chipper.

Hold on....I like bleak stuff so I don't know what's going on.