Cet article signé « B. M. » est paru dans l’hebdomadaire américain Cash Box daté du 5 mai 1973. Il s’agit du compte-rendu d’un concert donné par les Pretty Things au Whiskey A Go-Go, à Los Angeles, pendant leur toute première tournée aux États-Unis. Ils partageaient la tête d’affiche avec Elijah, un combo jazz-rock californien dans la veine de Chicago.
Transcription
WHISKEY, L.A.—The Pretty Things forgot to put on all their make-up for their return engagement last week. Not that they weren’t all dolled-up with some nicely manicured material, but they seemed determined to stick to the dingy dressing of over-amping at the expense of some of the slower-paced cuts from their new Warner Bros. LP, “Freeway Madness.” Yet the six-member group were still knock-outs on “Peter” and “Onion Soup,” two tunes on opposite poles of the sound spectrum. The first used a skeletal coterie of sounds—uncomplicated melody and euphonius lyrics lacing as soft plucking of three guitars. The latter achieved a statement from its unrestrained, “the-devel-made-me-do-it” attitude. It was madness.
Elijah opened and was almost as rambunctious. The group has entrenched itself into the rock-blues camp with the usual trombone and trumpet emphasis. Their coup de main was a bluesy number, “It’s That Time,” featuring some nice work by Ken Walter and Tom Bray on the preceding instruments, respectively/ Lead singer Manny Esparza was effective on the act’s opening number, “Everywhere,” and on “Mean, Mean.” The Elijah group was kind of a pretty thing, too.
Source : WorldRadioHistory.com (PDF).