Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky (Box Set) by The Pretty Things (2015-03-17?

This box set is a beautiful tribute to possibly the most underrated band of the 60s and 70s. It never ceases to amaze me how a band that generated so little revenue can continue to crank out quality material 50 years after their heyday. The rarities and documentary DVD are a treat, but the mid-70s are completely lacking from the new material. The 70s are when most of us Americans became aware of the Pretty Things. That’s my only real complaint, along with some glaring revisionist history in the accompanying book.Several 60s bands recruited members of younger bands when their careers were flagging in the 70s. Fleetwood Mac subsumed Buckingham Nicks, and the Pretty Things recruited Gordon John Edwards and Jack Green from a label-mate band called Sunshine. Both Fleetwood Mac and the Pretties willingly encouraged the songwriting and musicianship talents the new members brought. The albums “Fleetwood Mac” and “Rumours” would not exist without the Buckingham Nicks contributions, nor would Silk Torpedo or Savage Eye exist without Edwards and Green. But while Fleetwood Mac acknowledged the tremendous input their newfound members brought, the Pretty Things have spent the last 40 years trying to minimize the importance of Edwards and Green.Most egregiously, the majority of those last two original Pretty Things albums were composed by Edwards and Green, yet their names appear nowhere in the writing credits. Manager Peter Grant convinced the band to credit all the songs to their older bandmates. Edwards and Green were verbally promised a share of the royalties, which of course they never received. This was all brought to light in the Pretty Things biography “Growing Old Disgracefully” in 2002, along with subsequent interviews with Jack Green.When new manager Mark St. John successfully returned the rights of their entire recording catalog to the Pretty Things in the 90s, they were presented a golden opportunity to rectify the wrongs from 20 years prior. But once again, the misrepresented writing credits have remained intact on all reissues.Adding insult to injury, the comments in the book accompanying this box set are downright rude to the memories of Jack and Gordon. I suspect the Pretties were none too pleased with the revelation of the misappropriation of the credits, and felt a need to trash the reputations of those responsible for it.Silk Torpedo and Savage Eye both sound far more like the Sunshine LP than any other Pretty Things recordings, before or after. The complexity of the songs is clearly beyond the songwriting capabilities of the original members. Phil May is a good poet, singer and self-admitted arse-wiggler, but he is NOT a musician, nor is he a songwriter of the caliber of Gordon John Edwards. It’s impossible to conceive that he wrote the songs attributed to him on those 2 albums.All the band members acknowledged Edwards was a whiz-kid on keyboards and guitar, and he had an incredible vocal range that complimented May’s perfectly. The breakup of the band in 1976 was most likely due to jealousy of the old guard for the new talent upstaging them. After Phil May walked out, the band continued to soldier on under the name Metropolis, but Peter Grant swore they would never record again, and he kept his word.Gordon John Edwards sadly passed away in 2003 by his own hand following a long period of major depression and addictions, which makes the disrespect for his contributions all the more insulting. His nieces are working to rectify the situation with the Performing Rights Society in the UK, but it’s an uphill battle. Even though the royalties probably aren’t sizable, it’s unlikely that St. John, May or anyone in the Pretty Things camp will ever come clean about 40 years of deception. Sad indeed.

Wonderful and massive box set that sets things straight for the Dartford boys! I understand the ill fate of the Things and why they never played in the same league as The Who or The Kinks, let alone the Beatles or Rolling Stones. Too many uncertainties, too wild for the "cute" early '60, and perhaps too many different musical styles. And that is what made this band so damn interesting. Every album is a world on its own. From the raw London street boys approach of the first 2 albums, flying through unavoidable psychedelia with S.F Sorrow and rocking it hard with the marvelous Parachute. It's hard to keep track with so many musicians coming and going, but shortly after you get the picture that the main suspects (May, Taylor, Povey, Waller and Alan) are the ones who kept The Pretty Things afloat! The box is very sturdy, heavy and with plenty to read. Great pictures, detailed story telling by Ugly Things fanzine editor Mike Stax. All eleven official albums with bonus tracks, mainly singles and some live recordings. Two CD's with rarities and outtakes, plus DVD's with lots of footage bringing the whole package to a nice "full circle" feeling. Family tree poster, so you don't get lost who was playing at what time, and even a 10" inch vinyl with "Defecting Grey" demo and unreleased tracks. Very nice treat! Thank you Pretty Things for not playing what people were expecting to hear, but giving our ears always a pleasant surprise!!

Another blind plunge into a group that I knew little about. This set looked intriguing, so I bit. This is a massive box including CDs, DVDs, vinyl, a hardback book, posters and a file of documents regarding the court case surrounding the rights to this music.....All that aside, the music is really great, with some more outstanding that others. You can follow how The Pretty Things developed along with the times. As is stated in many interviews, they were just always either a bit behind the trend, or so far out in front that they didn't get the credit they deserved.The quality of the sound is excellent, considering some of the old albums were recorded one a small budget. The quality of the set overall is impressive, given the limited run. No corners were cut, and this is a fitting tribute to a great, relatively unknown band.

The Reelin' In the Years documentary included with this package alone is worth the rather stiff price (nearly $200). Add to that the hardcover book and you have a retrospective worthy of a hugely successful band, which the Pretty Things are not. Their fans, however, like me believe they are the best British band ever. Included are all eleven albums, rarities and outtakes, and first class packaging. If you want to spend the money, this is worth it.

Great compilation of Pretty Things works.Just started listening but if the rest of the albums is as good as the first I will be very pleased.Great history book included.I encourage the purchase! Well packaged and delivered quickly.

Pretty much the best thing for a Pretty Things fan, hands down, no doubt! Every album remastered, awesome packaging/artwork/posters and a bonus 10" record makes this a must-have for the Pretty Things fan.

The best band that time has mostly forgotten, until now. Excellend book and packaging add to the wealth of matrial included. The early work makes the Stones sound like a second line...

Excellent. Could not be happier which is just as well as it is expensive. The overall quality is very good.

Phenomenal Collection !!The Pretty Things should have been as big as the Rolling Stones. They must be the worlds most UNDERATED Band, they fell through the proverbial cracks, never got the Promotion they so deserved. They made the first ever Rock Opera, S.F. Sorrow, a FULL FIVE MONTHS before the Who released Tommy. Their first 2 albums were the proto type for Punk Rock, followed by Emotions, a psychedelic Epic.This set is chock full of goodies, their full catalog in digipacks with Bonus Tracks, 2 Dvd's ( DVD one is a fantastic 2 hour plus Documentary that is spellbinding, DVD 2 a fantastic Live performance of S F SORROW, narrated by the one and only ARTHUR BROWN and guest guitarist Dave Gilmour.Two more audio discs of great rarities and a 100 page hard cover Book, a huge poster of the family tree, art prints and other assorted ephemera.This set gives the Pretties their due, finally ! If you like Rock n' Roll, this set MUST be in your collection.

Really enjoying this boxset, worth the money!

I am old enough and lucky enough to have seen The "Pretties" many times, mostly in the 60's,including at the very first Isle Of Wight festival in 1968,when Twink did his usual,and got off his drum stool and climbed up the stage cover scaffolding. How he never fell is a miracle, as he was clearly on another planet !But back to this wonderful box set. I already have all the albums on different cd released versions and also the earlier ones on vinyl. On first listen,the mastering on these is no different to the last lot of releases,which were very good anyway.Of most interest to me are the two cd's of unreleased stuff. A lot of it is not much better than bootleg quality,but anything "new" is a fascination to meThe book,on first,quick look,is an absolute joy to me,with many,many photo's I have never seen before.It's long overdue that this wonderful band get some of the recognition they deserve.Whether this set will go some way to putting that right,is another matter,not least because it is a limited edition and I doubt if they will still not receive the publicity they deserveAs the late John Peel used to say about music he was especially enthusiastic about,this should be available free on The National HealthGet it while you can

As a collector of quality box sets by various artists this one ranks very highly in my estimation. Lots of content thoughtfully put together in the form of a well researched book beautifully illustrated along with posters, legal papers and even a vinyl disc to accompany the 13 CD’s and 2 x DVD’s. This box set has to be up there in terms of desireability alongside the excellent Clash “Sound System” box released in 2013

A monster of a box set and a good quality collection. Nearly everything is here. A worthy salute to one of the best acts to emerge in the early 60s.