The late 60's were so experimental Avant Garde, psychedelic, artsy....Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Zappa, Capt. Beefheart, The Beatles...everybody was experimenting with sound, and new musical ideas. So happy this is still drifting out here in cyberspace/TH-cam and isn't forgotten.
The experimenting seems to have stopped. At least in the music that the government plays on Radio 1. The artistry that the late 60’s has is a huge pool of potential, to be influenced and nurtured by.
This is from Phil May: 'A clip exists of them performing Private Sorrow on French TV that gives you a flavour of what it might have been like: drummer John “Twink” Alder does a mime in white face and Napoleon hat, while May shoots him a succession of furious glares. He looks as if he wants to kill him. “Oh God, yeah,” nods May. “We all did. He got completely carried away. It was like: what are you fucking doing? It was his Marcel Marceau period."'
I love that Twink was in Stars with Syd Barrett, and that David Gilmour played with The Pretty Things for their live album “Resurrection” in the 90s. Beautiful when your heroes cross paths. Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things and The Beatles are close to my heart.
I’ve always noticed similarities in vocal harmonies of the Pretty Things on both the “SF Sorrow” and “Parachute” albums with the Floyd (Gilmour & Wright). I’m not sure who influenced who, but I can hear it...
Fun fact: in 1967 studios 1, 2 and 3 at Abbey Road hosted at the same time the Beatles making Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd making Piper at the Gates of Dawn and the pretty Things recording SF Sorrow.
Autumn is here again, find yourself some psychedelic mushrooms.. You'll find them a lot where ducks hang out/live. Or places where sheep or cows graze. There's only one kind looking like magic mushrooms, you see them a lot. Under the little hat the magic mushroom is dark coloured. If not, that's the wrong one, but an innocent one.. You won't get sick or poisoned if you eat one of those. It's just the harmless little sister o/t holy 'shrooms.. ;-)
Fantastic!!! Hilarious!! The Brits Take revenge on the French for inflicting Marcel Marceau on us all !!!LOL Actually this tune really grows on you. Great anti-war message. The audience is so so lost!!
Having been involved in this and having now, just returned to England after 33 years living in France, I can assure you that this was beyond the heads of all French Youth, including those taking part in the Paris demonstrations at that time.
S.F. Sorrow - i believe the first rock opera ever - the Pretty Things were one of England's most authentic late-60's bands . . . saw them several times back then
@@canesvenatici4259 SAD that so many people don't know so many of the band's of that period and from the UK. We were so lucky to have lived through it.
Agreed. This clip is indeed a bit mesmerizing. A psych song with a military vibe....and Twink. The entire SF Sorrow album is excellent, by the way. If you really like bizarre, you might want to check out some Captain Beefhart.
sf sorrow is easily my favourite album of the period- if not of all. astonishing range of sound. I always loved it just for the songs, and didn't care about the concept/story behind it and always heard their live performances of it were quite bizarre. considering how bewildered this french audience appears, looks like the descriptions I heard might have been accurate. so sad this is entirely lip synched though.
Not sure how many time's I've come back and watched this Video. The Pretty Thing's were one of my Top 3 Band's of the time. Many of their early stuff was better than the Stone's, Road Runner, Rosalyne, etc. Best 'live band' of the time 64 / 65 was Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. The Who were really good then too. I just love watching the face's of the audiance.... LOL.
I'm joining the party here. I put out The Pink Fairies 'Kill 'em and Eat 'em' CD & vinyl on Skyclad Records 30 years ago (cat# Ink 53) and he was a JerkWad!! dbh
Thanks for the upload. I've not seen this footage before but I saw this band do SF Sorrow at a Midnight Court show at The Lyceum in '68 and also in Hyde Park!
At that time, Phil May had the longest hair for any male pop singer of the period. Even Jagger or Bill Wyman didn't have their hair at that length. It caused Phil plenty of trouble. The Pretty Things were a class act who should have gone to better things. Phil is at peace now.
Totally messed-up, comical performance art, but the record is the real deal. S.F. Sorrow is ART. Mesmerized when I first heard it many a moon ago. Astonished that it came out of rock and roll.
r.i.p phil may he was a great lead singer for this band & they are vital as far as im concerned.during the 60,s the pretty,s were one of our finest bands my mum remembers them well & i never thought my mum liked music like this lol ill include traffic as well another old fav.phil actually sang with the rolling stones at one point but obviously he left & mick joined.but i call them ground braking during the 60s & early 70,s.also dont forget their other great band electric banana which had some great moments as well.but im sad phil has died because i grew up with this band during the 80,s i remember listening to my headphones at school lol lsd.which i actually probably shouldnt say this but i tried it & did my first trip at 15 years old & came up massively during school assembly.man it was crazy but i felt so relaxed as i was getting visuals & yeah i bunked off & went over the park for a smoke lol but i had a great time felt very spiritual lol.but this band should have been more successful as we all know certain types of music dont get played on pay to play fakes commercial radio.so maybe its due to not getting enough airtime but i think they sold a lot more records than people think.an lp that got to 43 in 1965 would easily get to number one today because record sales were much more back then so they sold a lot more than people think but maybe they didnt sell that many records in the usa.i mean traffic got to 37 i think on the usa lp chart but they only one hit in the uk hole in my shoe which winwood hated i actually like it the bass line could have been a bit better but that little girl worked a treat & made it work.another band i love the seeds never got any airtime in the uk so for me radio dont like fuzz or the usa garage sound or originality.so the more harder american sounding english fuzz guitar bands kinda got neglected big time.even though they were pumping out sgt peppers the playlists were pretty weak until late at night then you might hear some better tunes.thats what im told by people that were around then cause you could hear great tunes by the misunderstood & other gems like lsd late at night.but it was back to the top 40 during the day.me i play the original analogue records & i believe when you listen to the original recordings phil is right there in his best moments its like a time capsule.but i will say this bands that make great cultural music with talent & originality never die the pretty things & electric banana will live on great post & truly a great band peace...
if any one wants to learn about the american 60,s underground garage & psych scenes check me out.ive done a list with over 10.000 gems on it called 60,s top garage punk psych rarities.think you know music check this out my friends most of these bands were released by small independent labels during the 60,s & neglected by the majors.so this is music your never hear on radio & is largely unknown by the masses.but as a dj i try to spread the love & knowledge for true cultural creativity considering most of these bands are totally unknown the list has got 1.7 million views on you tube.if you sub to me your get my ongoing search if you click on my name then created playlists your get access to thousands of rare gems you never knew existed ive done 16 playlists coveriing 60s soul 60s & early 70s funk ;late 60s & early 70s jazzfunk fusion,blues 60s garage & more i dont earn a penny from doing this but i feel satisfaction for raising awareness to such great musicians that lived for music great post fine band peace...
people back then people were listen to easy music like beatles, rolling stones, bee gees, unfortunalely the pretty things were just too far away from them. the pretty things, the best band in the world.
Bestes Beispiel dafür, wie man mit einfachsten Mitteln eine Bombenshow hinlegen kann. Schlicht großartig. Habe die Things vor 2 Jahren noch live erlebt und bin richtig traurig über Mays Tod. Sehr schade - für eine der genialsten Bands ever.
For the non-english speaking community. A Private Pte and a Lance Corporal LCpl are low rank army soldiers. This is what the song is about. Killed in action ....
The lead singer doesn’t seem happy with twinks performance BUT for me it makes this performance!! It adds everything to my favourite song of there’s!!!
C'est autre chose que notre variété Française, un groupe de perchés talentueux de la perfide albion. Dérangeant pour le public cet arlequin sur mélodie zarbie.
Glad I found this, watched it a few times now. I feel Twink doing his mime thing could've been an influence for David Bowie, as he later did a similar thing in his stage performances. ?
This train wreck serves as a perfect summation of the disastrous fate of one the best albums of 1968. Poor Phil looks like he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Reminds me of that sitcom Paris from C4 in the early 90s. Some pretentious mime artist on that and Alexis Sayle saying "What's up? Is there a wall?" And he nods, but then "Well, clearly not as I've just managed to punch you clean in the face."
The late 60's were so experimental Avant Garde, psychedelic, artsy....Pink Floyd, Hendrix, Zappa, Capt. Beefheart, The Beatles...everybody was experimenting with sound, and new musical ideas. So happy this is still drifting out here in cyberspace/TH-cam and isn't forgotten.
The experimenting seems to have stopped. At least in the music that the government plays on Radio 1. The artistry that the late 60’s has is a huge pool of potential, to be influenced and nurtured by.
Born in 1949 i lived these years deeply music was and still famous
Don’t forget Genesis!
LSD was a hell of a drug.
Twink ! Great
I love Twink, just doing his weird thing! Such a character, and very talented to boot. And Phil May, Wally Waller, Dick Taylor, etc are amazing!
Proto Genesis Peter Gabriel
Saw them at Isle of Wight festival 1968. So crazy and so brilliantl. Hanging of the scaffolding waving a wand or something . What a trip 🍄🌞😎
dangerous to be tripping that high up
I came here in honor of Phil May, R.I.P.
But I am also absolutely mesmerized by Twink.
So sad to learn of Phil's passing, May 15th, 2020..........
This is from Phil May:
'A clip exists of them performing Private Sorrow on French TV that gives you a flavour of what it might have been like: drummer John “Twink” Alder does a mime in white face and Napoleon hat, while May shoots him a succession of furious glares. He looks as if he wants to kill him. “Oh God, yeah,” nods May. “We all did. He got completely carried away. It was like: what are you fucking doing? It was his Marcel Marceau period."'
I love that Twink was in Stars with Syd Barrett, and that David Gilmour played with The Pretty Things for their live album “Resurrection” in the 90s. Beautiful when your heroes cross paths. Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things and The Beatles are close to my heart.
I’ve always noticed similarities in vocal harmonies of the Pretty Things on both the “SF Sorrow” and “Parachute” albums with the Floyd (Gilmour & Wright). I’m not sure who influenced who, but I can hear it...
Fun fact: in 1967 studios 1, 2 and 3 at Abbey Road hosted at the same time the Beatles making Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd making Piper at the Gates of Dawn and the pretty Things recording SF Sorrow.
@@garymcleod6260 can you imagine that?? Just incredible
@@caryheuchert The Pretties sure got ripped off an awful lot.
This is brilliant. Seeing it for the first time.
Probably the coolest thing I've ever seen ever.
@@Uncle-Bull Shut up
Pure Magic , loved it from day one when I first heard it in 73 , black micro dot always helped make the music so brilliant , let me return
Autumn is here again, find yourself some psychedelic mushrooms.. You'll find them a lot where ducks hang out/live. Or places where sheep or cows graze. There's only one kind looking like magic mushrooms, you see them a lot. Under the little hat the magic mushroom is dark coloured. If not, that's the wrong one, but an innocent one.. You won't get sick or poisoned if you eat one of those. It's just the harmless little sister o/t holy 'shrooms.. ;-)
@@baronsaturday2103 Everyone please don't try poisoned mushrooms.
@@canesvenatici4259
Why not?
@@rainblaze. Derrrr ? ? ? It's in the word, Poison......
I'm with the 'Mushroom Guy's". Much prefered them to Acid. Ditto Resin over Grass.
great music.i am 65,but i still love it.
A great glimpse into phychedelic music back in the roots!!
Fantastic!!! Hilarious!! The Brits Take revenge on the French for inflicting Marcel Marceau on us all !!!LOL Actually this tune really grows on you. Great anti-war message. The audience is so so lost!!
Having been involved in this and having now, just returned to England after 33 years living in France, I can assure you that this was beyond the heads of all French Youth, including those taking part in the Paris demonstrations at that time.
You can see that in the audiance. LOL
Yeah the lady with her mouth open trying to make sense of it all. A strange one still today.@@HTJB60
Rip Phil thanks for the amazing music
Loathe mime,but Twink does it very effectively here.Good performance. You can't go wrong with this amazing song ofcourse.
S.F. Sorrow - i believe the first rock opera ever - the Pretty Things were one of England's most authentic late-60's bands . . . saw them several times back then
Sad that most people today don't know of them.
@@canesvenatici4259 SAD that so many people don't know so many of the band's of that period and from the UK. We were so lucky to have lived through it.
Excellent, great song!
One of the best bands ever. Still on Tour 2018!
This is one of the most bizzarre Performances i´ve seen so far. Strange Stuff but it pulled me in somehow. Had to watch it a few times in a row.
Me to. Strangest 60’s video clip I’ve seen in a longtime I think.
Agreed. This clip is indeed a bit mesmerizing. A psych song with a military vibe....and Twink. The entire SF Sorrow album is excellent, by the way. If you really like bizarre, you might want to check out some Captain Beefhart.
@@marksavage1744 It's the first rock opera of its kind.
One of the best albums of the story!!!!!
Absolutely magical
Great song from a great album
This is brilliant lmao I need to check this band out more
sf sorrow is easily my favourite album of the period- if not of all. astonishing range of sound. I always loved it just for the songs, and didn't care about the concept/story behind it and always heard their live performances of it were quite bizarre. considering how bewildered this french audience appears, looks like the descriptions I heard might have been accurate. so sad this is entirely lip synched though.
Not sure how many time's I've come back and watched this Video. The Pretty Thing's were one of my Top 3 Band's of the time. Many of their early stuff was better than the Stone's, Road Runner, Rosalyne, etc. Best 'live band' of the time 64 / 65 was Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. The Who were really good then too. I just love watching the face's of the audiance.... LOL.
Unas de mis bandas favoritas del clásico rock SPICODELICO ADIOS MAESTRO......☮✌☯️
Phil May looks irritated by Twink! Wonderfully memorable performance, this is from 'Samedi Et Compagnie', 19th October 1968.
Apparently everybody ends up getting irritated by Twink...
Can you blame him? Mimes don't have any business at a rock opera.... or anywhere else for that matter.
@@wfd57fatman What do you mean by "produce music"? It was just lip synch, very much the same as what Twink did
He put him on the stage, so he had no reason to be irritated.
I'm joining the party here. I put out The Pink Fairies 'Kill 'em and Eat 'em' CD & vinyl on Skyclad Records 30 years ago (cat# Ink 53) and he was a JerkWad!! dbh
Thanks for the upload. I've not seen this footage before but I saw this band do SF Sorrow at a Midnight Court show at The Lyceum in '68 and also in Hyde Park!
Smile back at twink everybody. He looks extremely happy.
this is one of the most psychedelic things I've ever seen
And it's not even in colour!
you need stronger drugs
the album itself is nicely psychedelic
Twink was a great friend of Syd Barrets,, you can tell really that they would get on,,
Love this performance
Such a cool video and so fun to watch from a fan in Dallas, Texas, USA.
More DFW fans - so many anti-war songs at that time
Just heard "think pink" for the first time. incredible work Twink
RIP Phil May. Happy trails..
Back before color TV, you had to see the color in your mind.
It made it funnier by the audience reaction, totally bewildered 🤣🤣great band👍
The mime does a really great first class job, well done you
Mime is Twink
PRICELESS when any mime makes French audience discomfort
Brilliant
At that time, Phil May had the longest hair for any male pop singer of the period.
Even Jagger or Bill Wyman didn't have their hair at that length.
It caused Phil plenty of trouble. The Pretty Things were a class act who should
have gone to better things.
Phil is at peace now.
This is a little later than Phil May and the longest hair thing. Couple years.
Brilliant !
I Love it 😊👍one of my Heroes thanks for the vid
I'm in love with Twink. I think I'm late to the game.......love, love, love this......
Sigh,, you're not alone
@@mermanhellvilleno you're not alone
Gotta love how uncomfortable the audience looks throughout this performance
Haha, yes! The Lindsay Kemp 'thing' was always bollocks.
Nothing to do with Lindsay Kemp .... the master Marcel Marceau
Fine ;) The Marcel Marceau 'thing' was always bollocks too.
Nat?
Now you DO realize jus'' WHO Mohammed Abdullah actually IS here correct @@blackmore4??.....
love you TWINK!
Love you too Maria
Also a big fan Mohammed
Give 'Think Pink - Twink' a listen, great album!
Totally messed-up, comical performance art, but the record is the real deal. S.F. Sorrow is ART. Mesmerized when I first heard it many a moon ago. Astonished that it came out of rock and roll.
SOMEONE on stage is hella trippin, but it fits in w/ psychedelic vibe. Yes SF Sorrow is definitely a classic from the era.
r.i.p phil may he was a great lead singer for this band & they are vital as far as im concerned.during the 60,s the pretty,s were one of our finest bands my mum remembers them well & i never thought my mum liked music like this lol ill include traffic as well another old fav.phil actually sang with the rolling stones at one point but obviously he left & mick joined.but i call them ground braking during the 60s & early 70,s.also dont forget their other great band electric banana which had some great moments as well.but im sad phil has died because i grew up with this band during the 80,s i remember listening to my headphones at school lol lsd.which i actually probably shouldnt say this but i tried it & did my first trip at 15 years old & came up massively during school assembly.man it was crazy but i felt so relaxed as i was getting visuals & yeah i bunked off & went over the park for a smoke lol but i had a great time felt very spiritual lol.but this band should have been more successful as we all know certain types of music dont get played on pay to play fakes commercial radio.so maybe its due to not getting enough airtime but i think they sold a lot more records than people think.an lp that got to 43 in 1965 would easily get to number one today because record sales were much more back then so they sold a lot more than people think but maybe they didnt sell that many records in the usa.i mean traffic got to 37 i think on the usa lp chart but they only one hit in the uk hole in my shoe which winwood hated i actually like it the bass line could have been a bit better but that little girl worked a treat & made it work.another band i love the seeds never got any airtime in the uk so for me radio dont like fuzz or the usa garage sound or originality.so the more harder american sounding english fuzz guitar bands kinda got neglected big time.even though they were pumping out sgt peppers the playlists were pretty weak until late at night then you might hear some better tunes.thats what im told by people that were around then cause you could hear great tunes by the misunderstood & other gems like lsd late at night.but it was back to the top 40 during the day.me i play the original analogue records & i believe when you listen to the original recordings phil is right there in his best moments its like a time capsule.but i will say this bands that make great cultural music with talent & originality never die the pretty things & electric banana will live on great post & truly a great band peace...
if any one wants to learn about the american 60,s underground garage & psych scenes check me out.ive done a list with over 10.000 gems on it called 60,s top garage punk psych rarities.think you know music check this out my friends most of these bands were released by small independent labels during the 60,s & neglected by the majors.so this is music your never hear on radio & is largely unknown by the masses.but as a dj i try to spread the love & knowledge for true cultural creativity considering most of these bands are totally unknown the list has got 1.7 million views on you tube.if you sub to me your get my ongoing search if you click on my name then created playlists your get access to thousands of rare gems you never knew existed ive done 16 playlists coveriing 60s soul 60s & early 70s funk ;late 60s & early 70s jazzfunk fusion,blues 60s garage & more i dont earn a penny from doing this but i feel satisfaction for raising awareness to such great musicians that lived for music great post fine band peace...
What must the audience have been thinking.............So British, but confusing for the French (except Phillipe De Barge) !!!
A time when you still could shock the audience
Without breaking laws, that is
love the mime.
let sorrow live kill the mime
Think Twink in pantomime. Half the audience is probably thinking, “Why isn’t he on the drums?”
Best thing on youtube!
people back then people were listen to easy music like beatles, rolling stones, bee gees, unfortunalely the pretty things were just too far away from them.
the pretty things, the best band in the world.
Theater in Rock 4 sure.. I take it this Band was from The UK?
audience look confused. love it!
Bestes Beispiel dafür, wie man mit einfachsten Mitteln eine Bombenshow hinlegen kann. Schlicht großartig. Habe die Things vor 2 Jahren noch live erlebt und bin richtig traurig über Mays Tod. Sehr schade - für eine der genialsten Bands ever.
For the non-english speaking community. A Private Pte and a Lance Corporal LCpl are low rank army soldiers. This is what the song is about. Killed in action ....
LUV The Pretty Things! Where's Viv Prince hanging out these days? Still hangin' out with the bent noses and collieflower ears? ;-)
Vi v Prince was the best drummer the Prettys had, IMO...the classic lineup. It's amazing he's still with us though!
French TV. Explains the mime.
Very contagious riff... I can't get it out of my head. Is the mime man or woman?
Man. John Alder aka Twink, the drummer.
Much more fun than Syd Barrett on American Bandstand!
Detached mining dear mr syd barrett fantasy.....napoleon top hatted 102321..thanks for posting
Sweet as clover blossom honey in a cup of jasmine scented tea
Along with Tommy one
of the better rock opera albums of the time
The Who ripped off the Pretties' original idea.
@@canesvenatici4259 SF Sorrow is worlds better than Tommy, which I never liked.
@@chicklets4ever51sorry but these guys weren't in the whos league.
@@navynugget7 They were in a much higher league than the pedestrian Who.
the 2 chicks hair at 2:03 looks awesome.
reminds me of film children of paradise and also divided alien of soft mkachine.
Bello , Bello.
Those frogs sure are STRANGE!
saw them at the roundhouse,much underated....
This song start a bit like the marseillaise and is such a good show. Good on them
The lead singer doesn’t seem happy with twinks performance BUT for me it makes this performance!! It adds everything to my favourite song of there’s!!!
We owned it 🇬🇧
So sad now
lol He's taking the piss out of the French with his mime
I find his act annoying.
@@ddobry21 totally annoying wtf! :)
He is a very good mime. Some might think that is an oxymoron but...
twink is so mischevious, creepy but also adorable at the same time here. He's such a silly lad
C'est autre chose que notre variété Française, un groupe de perchés talentueux de la perfide albion.
Dérangeant pour le public cet arlequin sur mélodie zarbie.
Twink is an absolute legend
Funny name, doesn't he have? He looks like David Bowie, whom most people didn't know was gay back then.
@@canesvenatici4259 David Bowie wasn't gay.
@@kristlepickles He sucked Mick Jagger…
@@kristlepicklesbi
Glad I found this, watched it a few times now. I feel Twink doing his mime thing could've been an influence for David Bowie, as he later did a similar thing in his stage performances. ?
...and Peter Gabriel and Alex Harvey definitely took inspiration from this performance.
Look at the frenchies faces 🤣
oh my this seems so rare!!
I thought the mime artist was a girl, turns out it's a fella called Twink, real name John Charles Alder, who was also the drummer in the band.
Twink went on to form the Pink Fairies. What a Bunch of Sweeties is their best album. 😊 🇬🇧
He did the Think Pink album. Big cult classic now.
Die Frau ist sehr ausdrucksvoll gefällt mir sehr gut
Genial! Louco!
This train wreck serves as a perfect summation of the disastrous fate of one the best albums of 1968. Poor Phil looks like he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Twink stole the show!
very dreaming song a la mime marceau ...RIP JON
Syd Barrett influence mixed in there somewhere
Have you seen a Mime or a Clown in 2020? "Let's All Drink to the Death of a Clown."
Peter Gabriel and his schoolyard chums in Genesis must have seen this.
Fuck yes. I always presumed it came from _somewhere_ crap.
totes.
Yup yup yup. Just watched Genesis live 73. You are correct bud.
Twink a spiritual sufi legend! i.e Mohammed Abduallah. I swear My spirt persona is part of that era.
God ..... They've travelled way over them French heads! Bless 😂
0:52 If looks could kill. Apparently May was pissed off with Alder with what he was doing.
"A flower ", "There's Winston Churchill dressed in drag, he used to be a british flag....
OK, that goddamn mime must go.
This track is beguiling.
Reminds me of that sitcom Paris from C4 in the early 90s. Some pretentious mime artist on that and Alexis Sayle saying "What's up? Is there a wall?" And he nods, but then "Well, clearly not as I've just managed to punch you clean in the face."
He really wasn't good at miming but his beautiful little face and curly hair have the french intrigued!
the Beginning Sounds like ELP Father Christmas