Parachute

About

After hearing The Pretty Things’ 1968 psychedelic opus <i>SF Sorrow</i>, it'd be wise to approach their sequential 1970 album <i>Parachute</i> in the way one would listen to <i>Abbey Road</i> after hearing <i>Sgt. Pepper's</i>. Although <i>Parachute</i> is every bit as good in song quality and musicianship, the band took a different approach from its preceding conceptual masterwork. At less than two minutes, “Scene One” opens like a rumbling prelude to the next four songs—which are each even shorter, although they weave together like one elongated tune. “The Good Mr. Square” finds The Pretty Things locking in their three-part harmonies to sound tighter than on any preceding recordings, before the explosive “She Was Tall She Was High” detonates and then softly weeps like something plucked from George Harrison’s songbook. “In the Square” follows with hints of Brit-folk magic, as heavenly harmonies hover above sitar and a medieval-sounding lute. “The Letter” lilts like a handsome Kinks song. Bassist Wally Allen proves to be the most rocking here—check out his “Sickle Clowns.”

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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