Cet article de Kevin Swift est paru dans le numéro 17 du mensuel britannique Beat Instrumental, daté de septembre 1964. Les Pretty Things annoncent leur intention d’écrire leurs propres chansons de rhythm and blues, en s’inspirant comme les vieux bluesmen de leur vécu. D’où des titres comme « le blues du restaurant fermé » (parce qu’aucun restaurateur n’accepte de les laisser entrer) ou « le blues des cheveux longs » (parce que c’est à cause de ça qu’aucun restaurateur n’accepte de les laisser entrer).
Transcription
THE Pretty Things are thinking of writing a brand new bluesy number between them. In fact when I dropped in to see them Dick Taylor was already bashing out ideas on his “Western Twelve Stringer.” “We reckon this is the best thing to do,” he told me. “After all, the old authentic R & B numbers were always written from personal experience, and if we ever complete this number it’s going to be called “Closed Restaurant Blues’.”
“No,” said Phil May, who had just wandered in, “‘The Long Haired Blues’ would be better, because it’s our mops that cause all the trouble, one look at us and taxi drivers stick the hired sign up, and, as Dick says, restaurants always close down as soon as we walk in, it’s a pity because we need food to keep our hair growing!”
Besides their hair, the Pretties fame is growing at a fast rate too. “It’s surprising,” said Brian Pendleton, “we play at places which we have not heard of before, and yet people seem to welcome us as long lost friends. Perhaps it’s because the press has treated us all along as controversial characters.”
Certainly the boys have attracted a lot of interest. Could be that with the right sound, plus their now much increased fan following, their next release will sweep the charts.
Source : worldradiohistory.com (PDF).