''Parachute'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the English rock band

Pretty Things Pretty Things were an English Rock music, rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, i ...

, released in 1970. It is their first album without guitarist

Dick Taylor Richard Clifford Taylor (born 28 January 1943) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder of the Pretty Things. Taylor was also a founding member of the Rolling Stones, playing guitar and bass guitar, but left the band to ...

. Reviews at the time of release were very positive, with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' calling it "another top-flight album" for the band. In 1975, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' critic Steve Turner wrote that it had been "a ''Rolling Stone'' 'album of the year'," though in fact ''Parachute'' did not place among the magazine's Albums of the Year for 1970 or 1971, and indeed was not mentioned in ''Rolling Stone'' until

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

called it an "obscure underground classic" in his review of ''Freeway Madness''. The band's lineup at this point was Phil May,

Wally Waller Alan "Wally" Waller or Wally Allen (born 9 April 1944) is an English bassist and producer. He was a member of Pretty Things on their most famous records, '' S.F. Sorrow'' and ''Parachute''. Biography Wally Waller was born Alan Edward Waller in Ba ...

, John Povey, Vic Unitt, and Skip Alan. In 1975, the record was packaged as a

double LP A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

with their previous album ''

S.F. Sorrow ''S. F. Sorrow'' is the fourth album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released. Background The Pretty Things' April 1967 album ''Emotions'' was their last made under the ...

'' titled ''S.F. Sorrow and Parachute'' and issued on the UK label

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

on the Harvest Heritage series. In 1976, the record was again packaged as a

with their previous album ''

'' titled ''Real Pretty''. In Canada, this album was on

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. Snapper Records released a 40th anniversary double CD in September 2010 which included acoustic reworkings of various tracks recorded in May 2010 by Wally Waller and Phil May.

Track listing

All songs by Phil May and

, except where noted. Adapted from original UK pressing. *Note: many subsequent pressings of the album separated the medleys on Side A into three tracks each.

Bonus tracks on 2000 reissue

#"Blue Serge Blues" (May, Waller, Jon Povey) – 3:55 #"October 26" – 4:57 #"Cold Stone" (May, Waller, Pete Tolson) – 3:11 #"Stone–Hearted Mama" – 3:29 #"Summer Time" (May, Waller, Tolson) – 4:29 #"Circus Mind" (May, Tolson) – 2:00

Personnel

Pretty Things * Phil May – vocals * Vic Unitt – guitars lbum tracks only*

– bass, guitar, vocals * Jon Povey – keyboards, vocals * Skip Alan – drums * Pete Tolson – guitars onus tracks only Technical *Tony Clark – engineer *Nick Webb – assistant engineer *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

– cover design, photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parachute (Pretty Things Album) 1970 albums Pretty Things albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Harvest Records albums EMI Records albums Albums produced by Norman Smith (record producer) Victor Entertainment albums Psychedelic rock albums by English artists