Parachute

• Artist: The Pretty Things
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1970
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Rock

Review

If S.F. Sorrow is the Pretty Things' Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, and Yellow Submarine wrapped in one, then Parachute is their more succinct White Album and Abbey Road. It's not just a time line comparison. The Pretties made this fascinating LP in the same studio as the Fab Four, London's Abbey Road, with Beatles engineer Norman Smith producing. "The Good Mr. Square" replicates the three-part harmony the Beatles were so proud of on "Because." Two songs later, the group assembles a brief, interconnected three-song suite like the famous ones on side two of Abbey Road. Bassist Wally Allen's vocals on tracks such as "Sickle Clowns" have the same throaty, mad anguish that John Lennon exhibited on "Yer Blues" and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun." If S.F. Sorrow is hard rock grandeur, then Parachute is its more bitter twist, the dream dying and the witching hour upon us. Yet, if this isn't as much of a triumph, the creative neurons are still firing throughout a multi-varied, cohesive LP. Like S.F. Sorrow, it's a surprisingly palatable concept LP. This time the topic is a generation caught between the conflicting calls of (rural) peace, love, and boredom, and (urban) sophistication, sex, and squalor in a harsh world. Somehow the departure of the band's main creative force, Dick Taylor, didn't diminish the writing and inspired variety. Allen stepped up big time into the collaborator role with singer Phil May. The harmonies remain a strong point on an otherwise rock-inclined record, and the nasty edge of perfectly balanced bombast in the best songs have been a lost art ever since -- it's not hard to see why Rolling Stone rated Parachute the best LP of 1970. (There are 18 minutes of good stuff tacked on the Snapper edition, taken from singles.) ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Scene One	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:50)
The Good Mr. Square	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:26)
She Was Tall, She Was High	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:35)
In the Square	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:55)
The Letter	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:38)
Rain	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(2:28)
Miss Fay Regrets	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(3:27)
Cries from the Midnight Circus	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(6:28)
Grass	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(4:20)
Sickle Clowns	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(6:36)
She's a Lover	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(3:32)
What's the Use	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(1:45)
Parachute	Phil May, Al Smith	The Pretty Things	(3:52)
Blue Serge Blues [*]	Phil May, John Povey, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(3:54)
October 26 [*]	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(4:56)
Cold Stone [*]	Phil May, Pete Tolson, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(3:11)
Stone-Hearted Mama [*]	Phil May, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(3:29)
Summer Time [*]	Phil May, Pete Tolson, Wally Allen Waller	The Pretty Things	(4:28)
Circus Mind [*]	Phil May, Pete Tolson	The Pretty Things	(2:00)

Credits

Phil May (Bass), Phil May (Guitar), Phil May (Vocals), The Pretty Things (Main Performer), Dick Taylor (Bass), Dick Taylor (Guitar), Dick Taylor (Vocals), Tony Clark (Engineer), John Povey (Percussion), John Povey (Vocals), Norman Smith (Producer), Victor Unitt (?), Wally Allen Waller (Bass), Wally Allen Waller (Vocals), Skip Alan (Drums), Skip Alan (Vocals), Mike Stax (Liner Notes), Andrew Pearce (Remastering), Mark St. John (Remastering), Nick Webb (Assistant Engineer)

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