“Pretty Thing” is a 1955 song written by Chess Records bassist-songwriter Willie Dixon and originally performed by Bo Diddley. The song was Diddley’s third single release through Checker Records after “Diddley Daddy”. The song was later released in the United Kingdom where it became Diddley’s first of only two songs appearing on the UK Singles Chart, the other single being “Hey Good Lookin’”. (More from Wikipedia)
Dick Taylor played bass guitar with the nascent Stones but quit after several months when he was accepted at the London Central School of Art; his replacement in the Rolling Stones was Bill Wyman. While there, Taylor met Phil May; and together they founded the Pretty Things in 1963. The band is still active and still vital, and Dick Taylor and Phil May have been there the whole time as far as I know. Ugly Things magazine, which published my article on Milan year before last, has something on the Pretty Things in almost every issue. The band name – and that of Ugly Things magazine for that matter – is taken from yet another Bo Diddley song that is not so well known, “Pretty Thing” – about as close to a love song as the great man ever got.
