What was the first-ever rock opera?
Throughout rock history, every artist has dared to dream bigger than what has come before them. Although the genre was founded on making three-minute singles that appealed to the masses, there were just as many artists who wanted their songs to be seen as works of art rather than anything too disposable. For any musician looking to tell a story with their music, the biggest accolade of their work came with the invention of the rock opera.
When people talk about the first rock opera, it usually refers to bands like The Who. Coming to fruition in the mind of Pete Townshend, Tommy has constantly been celebrated as the first of its kind to tell a story from front to end, recalling the tale of a deaf, dumb and blind boy who knows how to communicate via a pinball machine.
While Townshend may have been able to take credit for the rock opera format, one artist may have beaten him to the punch years before. As Townshend was still making songs like ‘My Generation’ and taking the levels of volume to unheard-of proportions, The Pretty Things were already making their rock odyssey on S.F. Sorrow.
Coming out of the blues rock scene, The Pretty Things had already made a name for themselves with a handful of singles before crafting this masterpiece. After making bluesy romps throughout their career, the band’s fourth outing made for a complex psychedelic experience across its runtime, including different instruments that were just seeping their way into the public consciousness, like the sitar and Mellotron.
Outside of the sophisticated arrangements behind the songs, the entire story behind the music isn’t for the faint of heart. As his name would imply, the stage is set with Mr Sorrow going through his meaningless life before being drafted into the army during World War I. While he does seem to have a purpose serving his country, he sees most of his personal life descend into misery when his fiance is killed in a hot-air balloon crash while he is away.
To make himself feel better, Sorrow goes on a trip of a different kind when he runs into ‘Baron Saturday’, who takes him on a psychedelic journey through the cosmos. Even though he may have lived to see many adventures that wouldn’t be possible sober, the opera ends on a sad note as Sorrow realises that no one is left for him and that he will most likely die alone.
Although Townshend always denied having any inspiration from The Pretty Things, it’s clear that the similarities to Tommy are all there. Much like The Who’s creation, this character also has issues connecting with people and gets help from a spiritual guru who shows him the mind-expanding power of drugs, not unlike ‘The Acid Queen’.
Even though The Pretty Things would often get forgotten when talking about the biggest bands of the 1960s, not everyone forgot their contribution to music, with David Bowie eventually covering their single ‘Rosalyn’ for Pinups. The Pretty Things may be far from the most recognisable rock outfit in the world, but without S.F. Sorrow, there’s a good chance that everything from The Wall to Tommy may have never come to pass.
