"S.F.SORROW”EXC-.THE PRETTY THINGS 1968 GF ORIGINAL UK  MONO .VERY, VERY RARE

	£		276
	$		366

NAME:S.F.SORROW

ARTIST:THE PRETTY THINGS

LABEL:COLUMBIA BLUE/BLACK LABEL

CAT.NO.:SX 6306

YEAR:1968

MATRIX:XAX 3738-1 ,XAX 3739-1 1st pressing original.

COVER: GATEFOLD EXC- it has the odd crease on the laminate as seen in the photo but overall a really good example of this 50 year old record.

RECORD:VG+ it has a few hairlines that really have no impact on the overall sound it also has a small warp on the first track but doesn’t make any difference to the quality , it still sounds phenomenal. The record still has an amazing sheen as can be seen in the photos. The mono sound is amazing and apparently it’s the bands preference.

NOTES; This mono record is looked upon by many collectors as the holy grail, so here we have an opportunity of acquiring a piece of musical history.

S.F. Sorrow is the fourth album by the English rock group The Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is one of the first rock concept albums

After the end of their contract with Fontana Records, the Pretty Things signed with EMI in September 1967. Their first release on their new label was the single "Defecting Grey" in November, a psychedelic experiment which served as the maquette for S.F. Sorrow.

Recording of S.F. Sorrow began at Abbey Road Studios in November 1967 with work on "Bracelets of Fingers". Two tracks that had been earmarked for the album, "Talking About the Good Times" and "Walking Through My Dreams", were instead released as a single in February 1968. In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan suddenly quit the band to marry his French girlfriend, and Twink (born John Charles Alder), whose band Tomorrow had recently split up, took his place.

Working with noted EMI staff producer Norman "Hurricane" Smith (who had engineered the earlier Beatles recordings and produced Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) and house engineer Peter Mew, the group experimented with the latest sound technology, including the Mellotron and early electronic tone generators, often employing gadgets and techniques devised on the spot by Abbey Road's technicians.

Phil May has emphatically stated that Smith was the only person at EMI who was fully supportive of the project, and that his technical expertise was invaluable to the ambitious, experimental sound of the album; May once even referred to Smith as a "sixth member" of the band. This attitude was in marked contrast to Pink Floyd's unhappiness with Smith.

Release

Work on the album concluded in September 1968 with the recording of what would be its closing track, "Loneliest Person". "Private Sorrow" and "Balloon Burning" were extracted for an October 1968 single, and the album was released the following month, in the same week as The Beatles' White Album, and The Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Due to budget constraints, the band members had to take care of the sleeve design themselves: the cover art featured a drawing by Phil May, while Dick Taylor took the photograph for the back sleeve. EMI did little to promote the album, and it was not released in the US by any EMI affiliate at that time.

Over six months later, Motown picked up the album as one of the first releases for their newly created Rare Earth label, meant for rock music. By that time, however, Tommy had already been out for months, and S.F. Sorrow was considered as an inferior copy. In Rolling Stone, Lester Bangs called it "an ultra-pretentious concept album, complete with strained 'story' (A Man's Life from rural birth to Prodigal's Oliver Twist freakout), like some grossly puerile cross between the Bee Gees, Tommy, and the Moody Blues, who should be shot for what they've done to English rock lyrics."[7] The American version of the album was also badly mastered (with a one channel volume drop on "Baron Saturday" running over 30 seconds) and badly promoted by Motown. The redesigned album sleeve also hurt the sales: it was shaped like a tombstone, with the top corners cut off, which meant that potential buyers browsing through the album racks would miss it

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Hairline marks, It is almost impossible to find any non-sealed record without any hairline marks, many had them from new, especially if sold with paper or cardboard inner sleeves. They are a result of storage and use and have little impact on sound quality. Also, very few original vinyl records lie totally flat. As regards background noise, all records will have some background noise which differs and often reflects the very variable pressing quality. I only draw attention to marks, warping or background noise in my listings if I consider them significant. You can still have an near mint or excellent vinyl with sleeve removal or hairline marks it is just the degree of the marks that can vary for the grading.

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