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After more than 45 years of continuous
service, The Pretty Things remain a significant, challenging
force in rock and roll. Despite their veteran status, their
contemporary relevance, undiminished energy & inspirational
commitment inspire emerging generations of new artists and young
fans, whilst retaining their devoted, fanatical, core fan base.
Their career is a tribute to righteous,
unswerving convictions, always chosen over a quick buck. It is
no surprise that guitarist Dick Taylor chose to leave The
Rolling Stones, which he had formed with Mick & Keith, to pursue
a more raw level of energy with The Pretty Things. And they
still retain that energy, as befits one of this country’s most
exciting live acts, whilst their recordings and song-writing
maintain the same levels of inspiration and innovation that were
set back in 1964, with the world’s first and best ever “Garage”
anthem – “Rosalyn”.
Under-rated and often overlooked, The
Pretty Things have had a seminal influence on rock music, which
is more far-reaching than any casual observation would suggest,
and their career is littered with many groundbreaking “firsts” -
most of which are not universally known or recognised. Their
diverse and unexpected history has spawned countless imitators,
many of whom have seen greater commercial success than their
heroes, but The Pretty Things remain the original and the best.
Not content with being the first ever “garage” band, glowingly
acknowledged by Iggy, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Nirvana, &
The Libertines, as a primal influence and guiding light. They
created a world of rock and roll attitude (the first ever rock &
roll drugs bust and a lifetime ban from Australia and New
Zealand provide credentials!) and still found time to create a
cult world of incredible ground-breaking music - which is as
influential now as their attitude was then...... Now read on:
The Pretty Things were responsible
for the world’s 1st
ever Rock Opera. Recorded in 1967 alongside The Beatles & The
Pink Floyd at Abbey Road – “S. F. Sorrow” was the acknowledged
template for The Who’s Tommy, and was, in 1998, another first,
when it was recorded live at Abbey Road, with David Gilmour on
guitar, for the world’s first ever Global Broadband Netcast.
This template for the Classic Rock Opera was often copied, but
never bettered. Their template for the live recording of a
classic album was picked up a few years later, & the shelves are
now filled with similar formats of great records - “Forever
Changes”, “Oddessey & Oracle”, and many others...... Where The
Pretty Things lead, it seems, the rest will follow.
Following “S.F. Sorrow” the band created
another, incredibly significant first. They wrote and recorded
the remarkable album - “Parachute”. Recorded again at Abbey
Road, it was voted Rolling Stone magazine’s first Record of The
Year of the 1970’s, outclassing Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, The
Stones, and The Who. More importantly, “Parachute” was the only
Rolling Stone Record of The Year, ever awarded to Berry Gordy &
Tamla Motown, who had cannily signed The Pretty Things the year
before, specifically to access the emerging and influential rock
and roll album market. Few realise that it took The Pretty
Things to grant Berry Gordy his most valued wish.... Album
credibility. “Parachute” was recognised by The Pink Floyd” as
the inspiration for “Dark Side of The Moon”...... and the rest
is history (albeit not that well known!).
In 1974 The Pretty Things were chosen as
the first band to sign to Led Zeppelin’s new label – Swansong.
This association re-kindled a long-standing relationship with
manager, Peter Grant, and the band’s old friends Jimmy Page (who
played with them on record in 1965) & Robert Plant. It also
spawned two great albums & gave the band their first ever US
chart LP, with “Silk Torpedo”. A raft of tours and shows with
Zeppelin, & a Hollywood Boulevard Billboard were a tribute to
the band’s US status at that time.... and their new profile
spawned a lifelong friendship with Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler –
who acknowledges Phil May, the band’s singer, as his primal
influence....
Throughout the 1980’s the band undertook
the huge task of attempting to get all their recorded copyrights
back from their original record companies, who had universally
failed to pay them or render any accounts. Undaunted by this
massive task, they became the first of the 1960’s bands in
history to gain control of all their work. And in 1995, after
ten years of court battles, they released another first – a
dedicated 2 CD long-box that set the standard for all catalogue
releases for the next ten years. The reviews were ecstatic and
the set highlighted their incredible career and work. Since the
catalogue long-box issue, the band has had all its’ history
lovingly re-mastered and re-issued, and their entire catalogue
is easily the best presented of almost any of their peer group.
They have remained busy in the last ten
years – two great studio albums – Rage Before Beauty & Balboa
Island - have been received with 5 Star reviews by the press,
and the sales have been parallel with contemporary Stones
records. This year they were awarded the first ever Mojo Hero’s
Award, presented by Seasick Steve and Kasabian. They played with
Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park (at his request) & headlined the
Childline Rocks show at the O2. They even found time to promote
a sell-out tribute concert at The 100 Club for lifelong friend
and inspiration – Bo Diddley – which was attended by Jimmy Page,
and half of London’s press and chattering classes. They work
constantly, and headline Festival shows throughout Europe,
including The I.O.W. Bestival this year, easily the coolest and
most influential of all the UK’s summer offerings.
Last year lifelong publisher and
original manager, Bryan Morrison, sadly died, and Phil May was
the music representative speaker at his funeral. Bryan built his
music and publishing empire on The Pretty Things, and freely
admitted he “bought me Polo Club” out of their original
royalties. Bryan was the first to acknowledge that he would
never have attracted Marc Bolan, The Pink Floyd, Captain
Beefheart, or any of his major publishing artists, without the
credibility that The Pretty Things provided as his initial
publishing act. Managers, agents and publishers who cut their
teeth on The Pretty Things include: Bryan, Steve O’ Rourke, Tony
Howard, Neil Warnock & Peter Grant. And they all learned how it
was done with these guys...
Through their entire career, The Pretty
Things have written, performed, and created informed,
intelligent, ground-breaking, and original music, enabled by
powerful, melodic writing that has kept this incredible band
alive for more than 45 years..... This should be a secret that
everyone knows.....
When explosive natural ability collides with
fiery, emotionally charged compositions, the result is Aynsley
Lister; an incredible guitarist whose brand of blues-based rock
delivers contemporary song writing fuelled with the kind of
heart and soul that’s missing from so much
modern music. Whether passionately writing and
recording his own material or mesmerising audiences at his live
shows one thing is abundantly clear: music is hard-wired to his
DNA and flows from his fingertips like sonic bolts of lightning.
With over 100,000 albums sold, lashings of critical acclaim and
years of high profile touring, Lister’s resumé speaks for itself
and firmly secures his position as a leading light in the
resurgence of British blues-infused music.
In hindsight, it's clear
Aynsley was born to be a musician. As a child he was hypnotised
by his dad's old guitar and at the age of eight was finally
gifted his very own. The moment he held that first six-string
the outcome was inevitable; he was going to be a guitarist.
Blessed with the coolest dad in town, regularly spinning
Hendrix, Cream, Fleetwood Mac and a whole host of bewitching
blues for his spellbound son, Aynsley taught himself to play
with relentless dedication and a precociously attuned ear,
spending hours copying his favourite records note for note.
Peter Green, Albert King, Clapton and Kossoff weren't just his
heroes; they became his teachers.
Blazing a trail in a bar
band from the age of 13 honed his skills and in 1998 Thomas Ruf
signed Aynsley to his label, hooking him up with Stevie Ray
Vaughan's producer Jim Gaines to record his self titled debut
disc, kicking off a successful relationship with Ruf Records
that saw him release 7 albums and 2 DVD's in ten years. Their
influence, coupled with his dynamite live shows and intense
touring schedule, earned high profile support slots with
established artists like Walter Trout, John Mayall and Robert
Cray, whilst rousing festival appearances alongside artists like
the Fun Lovin' Criminals cemented his standing as an artist
whose work, although rooted in blues, transcended the genre with
a fiery modern sound. In 2007 Aynsley was the only British
artist to be named in Classic Rock magazine's "Top 10
Contemporary Blues Artists", alongside John Mayer and Joe
Bonamassa.
In 2008 Aynsley's huge
crossover potential saw him sign to Manhaton Records and the
following year released 'Equilibrium', an album that exposed
Lister in his best ever form and stormed into Classic Rock’s Top
50 Albums of 2009. The subsequent tour saw Aynsley
playing to sold out shows to over 16,000 people
whilst opening for the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd, after which he
and his band relocated to the Tower Arts Centre and with the
tape rolling, nailed a cracking rendition of their high-octane
live set to produce the storming 'Tower
Sessions' record, which was consequently voted
‘Best Live Album’ in the 2011 Blues Matters Writers Poll.
Aynsley is currently
touring his latest album, Home, which is out now on his own
label, Straight Talkin’ Records. The album has featured in
recent issues of Guitarist Magazine, Classic Rock, Blues Matters
and HiFi Magazines among many others and has received some of
his greatest reviews yet! He has a new release due out in summer
2016 on his own label.
After back-pedalling on his solo career to start
a family, Simon McBride “the man who everyone wants in their
band” is back on the road with his own jet-fuelled outfit.
The turn of 2016 saw McBride touring with Ian
Gillan, filling the shoes of Ritchie Blackmore in a programme of
Deep Purple songs that played across Europe. The first half of
2017 has him touring with uber-keyboardist Don Airey (another
member of Deep Purple), followed by an outing with Whitesnake
offshoot, Snakecharmer.
With his band of fellow
Irishmen Marty McCloskey (drums) and Dave Marks (bass) Simon
delivers his own distinctive songs (“Hugely accomplished” MOJO)
along with crowd-pleasers from the likes of Hendrix and Free
plus of course, explosive guitar playing!
His guitar skills
(“Among the best blues-rock players anywhere in the world”
GUITARIST) have made him a go-to guitarist on the British
Blues-rock scene, admired among professionals, followed by
enthusiasts, and endorsed by some of the biggest brands on the
guitar scene.
Rewind to the early
nineties and you didn’t have to squint to spot future greatness
in the unassuming kid from Belfast, who picked up his first
guitar at ten, eschewing formal lessons to bend his fingers
around the music of Free, Jeff Beck and Hendrix. At 16 he turned
pro, leaving education behind to wow the world as a hired gun in
projects that ranged from filling Vivian Campbell’s shoes in
Sweet Savage, to R&B and soul with ex-Commitments vocalist
Andrew Strong. Touring in his own right he has supported Joe
Satriani, Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamassa and played major festivals
around Europe.
20 Year old Connor Selby has been a guitar and
music fanatic for as long as he can remember - first picking up
the instrument at around age 8. Since that day Connor has been
honing and developing his craft for almost the entire duration
of his life.
Musically Connor takes
inspiration from most of the British players that emerged in the
1960s citing Eric Clapton as his first and current major
influence, putting particular emphasis on his output with John
Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and Cream. Connor has also studied
the guitar playing of other players such as Paul Kossoff, Gary
Moore, Joe Bonamassa and of course, BB King, Albert King and
Freddie King . Although blues based guitar music has been the
most prominent style in terms of Connor's listening throughout
the years his musical taste extends much further and deeper than
just the blues. Connor's listening also includes a variety of
Folk, Soul, R and B, Gospel and Country and Western including
the music of Ray Charles, Donny Hathaway, Nick Drake and many
others. Connor describes these artists in particular as having a
huge impact on the way he listens to and thinks about music.
To date , Connor has
been focused on building his reputation with many local shows
and some support slots for headline artists such as Henrik
Freischlader, Dr Feelgood , Albert Lee and Erja Lyytinen.
2018 is looking to be a
breakthrough year for Connor and his Band , with the release of
their debut Album on 3Ms Music in the first half and several
higher profile gigs in the calendar, including a headline slot
at 100 Club and several Festival appearances.
The award winning Blues Rock Guitarist, Luke
Doherty, started playing Festivals when he was twelve years old,
and 10 years later, he hasn’t looked back. After achieving a
Rock School first, 2 grade 8’s by the age of 11, it lead to many
Newspaper and Radio interviews. While Luke was Ploughing his was
through his grades, he was encouraged to record his version of
Parisian Walkways of which Gary Moore had a copy. Luke has gone
on to play numerous Festivals, Blues Clubs and Music Venues up
and down the Country, including the Legendary Cambridge Rock
Festival, 100 club London and Upton Blues Festival, to name a
few.
Luke is never happier than when he is playing
Blues. It all started when he was 7 years old and he found an
old music VHS in a cupboard featuring several Blues players. He
was enthralled with the playing of Eric Clapton and B.B King,
both of which he was extremely honoured to meet a few years
later. Over time he also met the great Peter Green, Jeff Healey
and Andy Fairweather-Low, and John Mayell which enlightened his
passion for Blues even more.
Luke has been truly
blessed to share the stage with many fine Blues rock artists
including, Ansley Lister, Danny Bryant, Virgil and the
Accelerators, Connie Lush, Mike Estes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and
Skinny Molly, As well as the Legendary Buddy Whittington, who
told the crowd when Luke was on stage with him “This is how the
Blues should be played”.
2015 was an exciting
time for Luke and his band with the release of their all
originals album “Six Strings and a Stetson”. The album has been
played all around the world and to rave reviews. With such
enthusiasm from the public about the album it has propelled them
to go back into the studio to start on another long awaited
second all original album, which they hope will be available
very soon.Luke is very fortunate to have the backing of such
accomplished musicians in his band, such as:-
The legendary Paul
Morgan on vocals and harp, who has shared the stage with Dr
Feelgood, Deep Purple, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown to name a
few.
Simon Parratt, who has recently obtained a BMus
(hons) degree in jazz. His jazz and hard rock influence gives
their songs an edge, which makes their songs stand out in the
crowd and gives them a little twist. Throughout his musical
career Simon has done lots of session work and recording for
many Blues, Classic Rock and Jazz bands.
Ant Biggs has been
playing bass for many years and toured the world with Cajun
Rockers Folk band The Butter Mountain Boys, who received
international Musician and Recording Artist of the Year and Arts
Council Musician in Residence, with one album charting at number
17, which lead to many Radio and TV appearances throughout the
80s and 90s retiring from music 1995, Ant came out of musical
retirement to join the band and to playing Blues with Luke in
May 2014
"Band of the Year" in Blues Matters Writers Poll
2015. The band topped the UK blues radio stations (IBBA)
playlists for May & June 2015 – & again in June 2016.
Featured on the Paul
Jones BBC Radio 2 Blues Show who said "They’re really good, I
promise you!" Deep
Blue Sea have crashed onto the UK music scene with a new wave of
indie blues to great acclaim – a small selection of reviews are
here:
100 Club, London – It’s blues Jim, but not as we
know it. The quality of the playing alone would put this gig up
there with the best but this is also great fun; the band
obviously enjoy themselves and audiences will always pick up on
that. Great performances and big smiles all around the room -
that’s a good combination for a great night.
Allan McKay, Music Riot
Woodlands Blues Club - A
breathtaking performance from Deep Blue Sea with a flawless mix
of self penned songs and covers featuring a soulful harmonic
voice and driving guitar work - we knew this was something
special from the first song to the sudden rush to buy CDs at the
end. Andy Davies, Woodlands Blues Club
Mutate and survive! -
Deep Blue Sea evolved from Little Devils and have lost no time
in laying down some great music. The new vocalist brings a depth
and subtlety beyond her years; the lead guitarist knows his way
around a fretboard and plays with passion and conviction as well
as skill. This is a band whose whole sound shows you that they
know what they are doing and where they are going: the combined
experience of each member add up to more than the sum of their
parts. Together with strong songwriting, this must surely be a
recipe for continued success. I got to see the band play while
they were still evolving; I can’t wait to see them again now
that they are perfectly formed. Alex Cooray - Blues Engine
Blues in the South - The
new songs are simply outstandingly good. The instrumentation is
nicely balanced and beautifully played, and Muzz has a voice and
delivery to die for. Will this band will eclipse what has gone
before? One comment: Given this start, No problemo! Ian
MacKenzie, DJ
Deep Blue Sea - a tidal
wave of blues & rock! Jerry Da Costa, Robmont Promotions
The Blues Show on Bishop FM - Deep Blue Sea will
float your troubles away with their great new sounds, no
lifejacket required! Gary Grainger, DJ |