TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (1969 - Rei 1970)
"Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (1969 - Rei 1970)
"Pretties For You" is an unexpected Alice Cooper psych album. The square is a widowmaker of surprises and louies from needle drop to label. At times, the band rubs shoulders with The Beatles and shakes hands with the early Syd Barrett Floyd the next. It gets heavy over here and goes jazz-trippin' over there. Everything in good measure. The harmonies are great. The musicianship is solid. And conviction is the rule of the school. Not quite the dangerous, creepy, hard-rock sound the band would later create, but there is still a delightful strangeness here that hits the sweet spot.
And lest we forget, this was the band's debut! And what they couldn't sell in the open market, I expect, would quickly change hands in the murkier alleys. The album may be underrated or underappreciated; I can never make up my mind about which word to choose, but what I will say is that "Pretties For You" is an album in need of rediscovery. Or maybe just discovery in general. For 30-plus minutes, the album carries you in unmapped directions. Knowing what the band was later to become makes this psych spin all the more fun and fascinating. A lot of things, but never boring.
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"Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (back)
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"Pretties For You" - Alice Cooper (inside gatefold)
Favorites include:
"Sing Low Sweet Cheerio"
"Living"
"Apple Bush"
"Fields Of Regret"
This is not a first pressing, but it is an early 1970 first green WB label reissue, "WS 1840 1A1B," with the vinyl in near-excellent condition. My camera shots make it look like there is water damage...there is not. A little ringwear, but no splits or crumbling. The album cover is a VG for sure. I'd love to have a copy on the Straight label, but it just hasn't found me yet. For your curiosity, this copy was $20.
The band was first signed by Frank Zappa to his Straight Records label, and Frank pretty much just tossed them the keys to the studio for the day and told them to lock up when they were done. There are production credits listed, but apparently no actual producer was on set to provide direction. Factual or not, that's how I choose to believe it, and it does have the ring of Frank Zappa panache to it. In my 2019 interview, bassist Dennis Dunaway talks a bit about the Frank Zappa hookup.
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Warner Bros. Records label
Cat #
WS 1840
SIDE A DEADWAX
WS 1840 39631-A S̶T̶S̶-̶1̶0̶5̶1̶-A 1A .S 1
SIDE B DEADWAX
WS-1840- 39632-B S̶T̶S̶-̶1̶0̶5̶1̶--B 1B 0 A4 1
"Sing Low Sweet Cheerio" - Alice Cooper / "Pretties For You" (1969)
TRACKS:
A1 "Titanic Overture"
A2 "10 Minutes Before The Worm"
A3 "Sing Low Sweet Cheerio"
A4 "Today Mueller"
A5 "Living"
A6 "Fields Of Regret"
B1 "No Longer Umpire"
B2 "Levity Ball" (Recorded in live performance)
B3 "B. B. On Mars"
B4 "Reflected"
B5 "Apple Bush"
B6 "Earwigs To Eternity"
B7 "Changing Arranging"
PERSONNEL:
Vincent Furnier - lead vocals, harmonica
Glen Buxton - lead guitar
Michael Bruce - guitar, b-vocals, keyboards, lead vocals (A3)
Dennis Dunaway - bass, b-vocals
Neal Smith - drums, b-vocals
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