The unequivocal psychedelic Rock opera gets new life once more in the form of a brand-new reissue via Madfish

Touted as the world's first Rock opera & one of the great classics of the psychedelic era, the album stands favourable comparison with "Sgt Pepper" & "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" as one of the defining records of its time.

Recorded at Abbey Road in 1967 & 1968, it was one of the first true concept albums that pre-dates The Who's 'Tommy' by a year. Exploring the life of a single character & his journey in learning to trust people & ultimate disillusionment, 'S.F. Sorrow' is like none that have come before it. Walking the line between experimental rock, psychedelic pop & even sharing similarities with proto-Heavy Metal the album was years ahead of its time & still stands atop as one of the most pivotal concept albums ever.

Beginning with 'S.F. Sorrow Is Born', the track introduces the protagonist via folk leaning acoustic guitar. Later on in the album, proto-Heavy Metal tendencies are revealed on 'Balloon Burning'. 'Well Of Destiny's swirling progressive tendencies bleed into 'Trust' before the melancholic yet profound closure of 'Loneliest Person'

TRACK LISTING

S.F. Sorrow Is Born ( 03:06 )
Bracelets ( 03:43 )
She Says Good Morning ( 03:26 )
Private Sorrow ( 03:54 )
Balloon Burning ( 03:53 )
Death ( 03:08 )
Baron Saturday ( 04:03 )
The Journey ( 02:48 )
I See You ( 03:58 )
Well Of Destiny ( 01:49 )
Trust ( 02:52 )
Old Man Going ( 03:12 )
Loneliest Person ( 01:32 )

CD Bonus Tracks
Defecting Grey ( 04:33 )
Mr. Evasion ( 03:30 ) 
Talkin' About The Good Times ( 03:46 ) 
Walking Through My Dreams ( 03:37 ) 

In 1978, Charisma Records released the 'Sir Henry At Rawlinson End' album, a forty-minute introduction to the eccentric custodian of the crumbling British country estate, which incorporated characters & music from the various episodes of the Sir Henry saga, originally broadcast on the BBC's John Peel show from October 1975 up until 1991.

The BBC regular re-broadcast Sir Henry even today.

In 1980, Sir Henry was also unleashed on the public as a film, starring the great Trevor Howard & was also issued as book published by Eel Pie Publishing, owned at the time by The Who's Pete Townshend.

The 1990's found Sir Henry used as the concept for a now legendary series of 'Ruddles Beer' adverts that cemented 'Rawlinson's End' in the National consciousness. Stanshall was a major Influence on the cream of the new wave of British comedy in the 1980's including Stephen Fry, Adrian Edmondson, Phil Jupitus & Paul Merton & he remains much loved nearly thirty years after his death.In the years just before his untimely death in 1995, Vivian intended to generate a new album based around the content of three of the final episodes broadcast by John Peel on the BBC; 'Crackpot At The End Of The Rainbow' recorded in February 1988, 'The Eating At Rawlinson End', from August 1988 & 'The Thing At Rawlinson End', from April 1991. For decades it has been rumoured that a new Sir Henry album would be released & now finally Madfish / Snapper Music in collaboration with the Stanshall Family have made that rumour a reality.

Using all the remaining tapes from Vivian's archive, Stanshall expert & performance artist Michael Livesley has managed to put back together the intended release, a process that he has described as like "putting back together a smashed vase". The results are a revelation with the final album now a double LP containing some of Vivian's finest work. Fans of Sir Henry, Old Scrotum, Mrs E & the various bizarre & evocative characters that inhabit the musty 'Rawlinson's End' will be thrilled at the imagined adventures that await them - Vivian's final vision has been realised - 'Rawlinson's End'.

TRACK LISTING

Lady Rawlinson's Lilt
Under The Sea ( Instrumental ) ( 06:08 )
Eggs Is Eggs ( Nice N Tidy ) ( 09:07 )
The Pipes ( Sir Henry ) ( 02:53 )
The Crackpot ( Instrumental ) ( 01:11 )
The Great Eating ( Instrumental ) ( 02:31 )
Buzzing ( Hubert ) ( 01:50 )
Spreading His Light ( Hubert & The Rev Slodden ) ( 04:39 )
Scrotum's Lullaby ( Scrotum ) ( 04:31 )
Under The Sea ( Reprise ) ( 01:15 )
Cackling Gas / Under The Sea ( 05:05 )
Octavia ( 04:04 )
Cul-de-Sac ( Mrs E ) ( 04:35 )
The Quiet That The Spider Knows ( Aunt Florrie ) ( 02:43 )
Tour De Farce ( Instrumental ) ( 00:41 )
Entre Act ( Instrumental ) ( 03:36 )
Diplodocus V Concreton ( 03:18 )
Achmedillo ( Scrotum ) ( 05:38 )
Peristaltic Waves ( The Patient ) ( 02:30 )

During the last five years of his life, ex-Bonzo Dog Band solo artist Vivian Stanshall, was working on a final album of music to follow up his muchloved 1981 album 'Teddy Boys Don't Knit', which featured classics such as 'Terry Keeps His Clips On', 'The Cracks Are Showing' & 'Ginger Geezer'

Stanshall had spent his time in the 1980's working on his 'English Comic Opera in the Grand Tradition' Stinkfoot, which first ran at the Old Profanity Showboat in Bristol Harbour in 1985, with a later revival in London. He had also found success writing material with his friend Steve Winwood, co-writing the title track to 'Arc Of A Diver', working on Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells 2' (he had been an integral part to the original 'Tubular Bells' as the narrator) & various advertising campaigns including 'Lemsip', 'Cadburys' & most famously 'Ruddles Beer'.For a considerable period, Vivian had wanted to record & release another rock album & had been collecting songs as far back as the 1970's. With money he earned from his advertising work, he funded various recording sessions & had interest from a major record label, but sadly he tragically died in a fire before an album could be completed.

The twelve tracks on this album are taken from a selection of sixty or so finished or nearly completed recordings on the tapes left by Vivian Stanshall, as his hitherto unpublished legacy.

Andy Frizell (The Wizards of Twiddly, The Coral & Kevin Ayers) is a musician & producer who worked with Vivian briefly in 1994. Using the surviving recordings, he has pieced back together Vivian's final album adding where required, the missing instrumentation but, at all times, paying reverence to the original vision. The collection includes the Beefheartian monster mash blues of 'Dog Howl In Tune' - also the title track - as well as the wistfully melancholic 'No Time Like The Future' on an album that wears its heart fully on its sleeve. It is by far the most biographical album Vivian ever made & draws on songs from 'Stinkfoot' & other projects. 'Goodbye Mother' is the poignant last song from the project 'Shackleton', based around the exploits of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, which never saw the light of day whilst 'Boy In Darkness' was written by Vivian for a project with Steve Winwood - Winwood's version yet to be released.

Musicians include Jack Bruce (Cream), Ollie Halsall (Pato), Susie Honeyman (The Mekons), Neil Innes & Rodney Slater (The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), Mike Kellie (Spooky Tooth) & others.

TRACK LISTING

Dog Howl In Tune
Made Of Stone
I'd Rather Cut My Hands
A Good Woman
Goodbye Mother
No Time Like The Future
Strongth
Gecko
Landing On My Feet
Only Being Myself
Boy In Darkness

The essential early British R&B sound from the band that stubbornly refused to lie down to popular demand; The Pretty Things religiously stuck to their guns by making great, exciting, challenging and often violently aggressive records that just weren’t quite acceptable enough to slot into the breathlessly presented but carefully airbrushed new youth-culture media.

Includes the instantly recognisable “Rosalyn”, “Don’t Bring Me Down”, “Cry To Me” and many other brilliant evidences of a musicianship at the forefront of an evolving rock music scene through the 60s, 70s and 80s. The band’s songwriting prowess is best highlighted when, after their brief fling with minor R&B hits alongside such bands as The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann, they hit the ground running with music that fuelled the “Swinging Sixties” and Mod Culture in the late 60s. The shift to Psychedelic Rock saw The Pretty Things ensconced in Abbey Road studios, alongside The Beatles and The Pink Floyd, to record the world’s first rock opera - “S.F. Sorrow” spearheading the London psychedelic revolution alongside a new completely breed of acts, like The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Jimi Hendrix and the aforementioned Pink Floyd.

So, although this “Greatest Hits” album has few charted songs, it is a truly meaningful historical document of the greatest band with the fewest hits, but with the best music. This version of The Pretty Things’ Greatest Hits will be released as a CD in jewel case packaging, complete with an 8-page booklet containing individual track commentary from band members Dick Taylor and Phil May, plus liner notes from long-time manager Mark St. John. The final track “Mr. Tambourine Man” was originally offered to The Pretty Things, who turned it down before The Byrd’s infamous version was recorded; now the band have finally recorded their own take in 2016 keeping true to their style of the time.