The group were formed by vocalist Phil May, who was an ever-present until his death in 2020, and guitarist Dick Taylor, who left before the end of their first incarnation but rejoined for the entirety of the third, with John Stax (bass), Brian Pendleton (guitar) and Pete Kitley who was replaced on drums by Viv Prince before any recording began.

They recruited John Stax on bass and harmonica, Brian Pendleton on rhythm guitar, and Pete Kitley on drums.

Rarely screened at the time, the film can be found as a bonus multimedia item on the Snapper CD re-issue of Get the Picture.

The American release, on Motown's Rare Earth Records label, came out more than a year late, leading to the impression that S. F. Sorrow was merely following the trend set by the Who's Tommy.

During the summer of 1969, they recorded an album for a young French millionaire Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among his social circle.

He unearthed one of the two acetates and had it mixed and mastered and then as a piece de resistance, had the classic Pretty Things line-up, which Dick Taylor had just left at the time of the recording of the tracks with DeBarge, record a song entitled "Monsieur Rock" (Ballad of Philippe) a bonus track for this release on Ugly Things UTCD-2207.

[4] Shortly before the release of Parachute, Unitt left to rejoin the Edgar Broughton Band and was replaced by Pete Tolson, former guitarist for Eire Apparent.

Wally Waller, who had become assistant producer at EMI, was replaced by Stuart Brooks (born January 1951, Hertfordshire) (ex-Black Cat Bones).

[6] Although Waller was no longer a member of the band, he produced the album under a pseudonym and contributed lead vocals to the song "Over the Moon".

[6] Around this time, the band recruited a sixth member, Gordon John Edwards (born 26 December 1946, Southport, Lancashire).

In 1974, Pretty Things were one of the first acts signed by Swan Song Records, the label created by Led Zeppelin, and Peter Grant became their manager.

Jimmy Page later remarked: "The Pretty Things were a band that were really changing their music and had done because they probably did one of the best singles way back in the day with 'Rosalyn'.

Alan, Edwards, Green and Tolson tried to form a new band called Metropolis, but Swan Song was not interested in offering them a contract and they went their separate ways.

Edwards briefly joined the Kinks for their Misfits tour, while Green became a member of Rainbow for a few weeks before launching a solo career.

[4] The new wave sounds did not improve their sales figures, and Pretty Things split up again in 1981, after an appearance in the horror film The Monster Club (1981).

Throughout the 1980s, May and Taylor kept the band's name alive with a rotating cast of supporting musicians,[4] touring extensively in continental Europe, especially Germany where they retained a loyal fanbase.

This outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay (Waco Brothers, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Jon Langford, the Mekons) on guitar.

[6] May and Taylor, along with Barkley McKay (credited as Barclay Mackay), also recorded one album with members of the Inmates and Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum under the name Pretty Things n' Mates.

This was over unpaid royalties stemming back to a deal EMI set up with Motown subsidiary Rare Earth in 1968.

The band won the legal case, the result being that in 1993 EMI gave them back all their master tapes, copyrights and an undisclosed sum of money as settlement.

On friendly terms again, the 1967 line-up decided to return with the addition of Pete Tolson, Taylor's replacement in 1970, just like they had done in 1980 on Cross Talk.

[11] Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD of the September 1998 live netcast re-recording of S. F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios, with David Gilmour and Arthur Brown as guest players.

Their ex-guitarist and keyboard player Gordon John Edwards, who also played for the Kinks in the late 1970s, died on 28 February 2003 due to depression-related suicide.

The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to the legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s.

Skip Alan suffered heart problems in 2001 restricting his commitment to the band, with Mark St. John (real name Anthony Ibbotsen and not to be confused with former KISS / White Tiger guitarist of the same name) deputising on the drums as required.

A new line-up emerged around May and Taylor with Frank Holland on guitar, Jack Greenwood on drums and George Woosey on bass.

[19][20] The group (May and Taylor accompanied by Woosey, Holland and Greenwood) recorded a live session for BBC Radio 6 Music show Marc Riley on 17 July 2018 at Maida Vale Studios performing versions of "Same Sun", "You Can't Judge A Book", "She Says Good Morning", "Mister Evasion" and "Rosalind".

[22] 22 May 2020 saw the release of two tracks from an upcoming "stripped back, acoustic-driven" album recorded by May, Taylor, and Mark St. John before May's death.

[29] Academics Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell argued that the Pretty Things were "not merely as precursors of prog but as essential developments of progressiveness in its early days".