"Rosalyn" is the debut single by British 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 1964. It charted at number 41 in the United Kingdom.

History

"Rosalyn" was written by songwriter Jimmy Duncan, who was also co-manager of the Pretty Things with Bryan Morrison at the time, along with Bill Farley, studio owner where the band was recording. The song was recorded as their debut single on

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

, and became the Pretties first hit, reaching No. 41 on the UK singles chart in July 1964. It features

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

style lead guitar as well as prominent slide guitar.

Personnel

* Phil May - lead vocals *

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 ...

- rhythm guitar * Brian Pendleton - slide/lead guitar, backing vocals * John Stax - bass guitar, backing vocals *

Viv Prince Vivian Martin Prince (born 9 August 1941) is an English drummer. He played in a variety of bands during the 1960s, including Pretty Things. He was noted for his wild and eccentric behaviour, which garnered a lot of publicity for the group and in ...

- drums

Covers

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

recorded a cover version of "Rosalyn" and released it on his album ''

Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a ...

''. It was released as a free sampler single to Record Club members by

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

in New Zealand in November 1973. " Sorrow", was released, as in the rest of the world, as the commercial single from the album. In 1972, British rock group

Stack Waddy Stack Waddy were an English blues rock band from Timperley, Cheshire, who were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and again in 2007. Signed to John Peel's Dandelion label, the original line-up of John Knail, Mick Stott (born 1945, Salford, ...

covered the song on their album '' Bugger Off!''.

Charts

References

1964 songs 1964 debut singles Pretty Things songs David Bowie songs Fontana Records singles {{1960s-rock-song-stub