Pretty Things – Savage Eye(1975)

Biography
Pretty Things are an English rock band, formed in 1963 in London. They took their name from Willie Dixon’s 1955 song “Pretty Thing”. A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the United Kingdom, they later embraced other genres such as psychedelic rock in the late 1960s (with 1968 S.F. Sorrow being one of the first rock operas), hard rock in the early 1970s and new wave in the early 1980s. Despite this, they never managed to recapture the same level of commercial success of their very first releases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Things

Album & Cover
Savage Eye is the eighth album by English rock band The Pretty Things. Savage Eye came out in 1975 and to these ears it was their best record of the 70s, beginning with the Under The Volcano which sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin with the Page like riff at the middle and end of the song. The new guy Jack Green helps the mellow but sad “Sad Eye” before they turn the amps up to ten and get the Led out on Remember That Boy.  Special mention to Skip Alan who does sound a bit like John Bonham.  Except for the so so My Song, side 1 really does hold up. Side 2 begins with the T Rex/Slade, glam slam  of It Isn’t Rock And Roll and I’m Keeping (Bad Company) which may have been a shout out to the other band on Swan Song.  Phil may wails on It’s Been So Long and perhaps the weakest track Drowned Man is still worth a listen before things wind down with Song For Michelle.  Snapper Music adds three bonus tracks from later sessions after Phil May left and the band tried to carry on before pulling the plug after falling out with Peter Grant. Source: Record World Classic AlbumsThe design of the cover was stimulated from the title of the album.

Richard Manning explains the making of the cover: This is a sepia toned black and white print. I masked the eyeball and finger nail with Transpaseal and washed in an overall flesh tone as a base skin colour with Photo dye, using a swab of cotton wool soaked in the watery dye. Wiped away any excess dye and dried with a hairdryer. I then airbrushed darker areas and shading with a more concentrated dye. Secondly, the nail was masked and a combination of colour dyes were carefully washed in with a Sable brush. The eyeball was masked and some watery blue was sprayed in at the edges. Lastly the iris was masked and with the Sable brush a multitude of different coloured dyes were applied leaving the two white highlights untouched. There was also a 20×30 inch poster of a dark haired girl in a flowing dress that was also hand tinted for this sleeve. http://www.richardmanning.co.uk/hipgnosis-album-cover-art/pretty-things-savage-eye–1975/21

Cover Location: Hipgnosis Studio, London, UK
Who Did What: Typography – Colin Elgie.  Photography S. Thorgerson/A. Powell
Label: Swan Song SS8414(US), Swan Song SSK59401(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell
The Work Of Hipgnosis ‘Walk Away Rene’ (1978)

Tracklist

Credits
Drums – Skip Alan
Engineer – Keith Harwood
Keyboards [Electric], Harpsichord, Vocals – John Povey
Lacquer Cut By – Porky
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar – Peter Tolson
Mastered By – Porky 
Producer, Other [Overland Saxophone Champ] – Norman Smith
Technician [Assistant On E.S.] – Jeremy Gee
Technician [Electric Spools] – Sleepy Ben King
Vocals – Phil May
Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar – Jack Green
Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar – Gordon Edwards