The Pretty Things ‎– The Electric Banana Sessions (1967-1969 uk, great acid/psychedelic rock) Flac

In the late 1960s the Pretty Things recorded for the Music DeWolfe company, which provided soundtrack music for television programs. Such music would be "copyright cleared" and could be used repeatedly without having to pay residuals every time it was played for a program. 

A number of groups recorded for this company, including Soft Machine and Anthony Phillips. For them it was a good source of extra income. The bands that worked for DeWolfe didn't use their own names; The Pretty Things went by "Electric Banana." 

They cut numerous tracks for MDW over a period of a couple of years. This wasn't mellifluous background music, but psychedelia then popular at that time. The Pretty Things were among the best at that particular genre. Their material is quite melodic acid rock, with Dick Taylor's swingeingly fierce lead guitar always to the fore. Phil May and Wally Allen's writing is also consistently melodic and original. 

This album alternates vocal and instrumental versions of each track, the latter being the backing track. As a plus, the band repeated almost none of this material on their regular albums, save the track "I See You" (reused on "S.F. Sorrow"). 

I can only guess at what kind of TV shows used this music. For some years these obscure Pretty Things tracks languished in obscurity. Then many of the tracks surfaced on an "Electric Banana" LP. Even now they remain hard to get on CD, though they're now avalable.