All You Pretty Girls

(Partridge)

#\#i#/#All You Pretty Girls#\#/i#/# single front cover

All You Pretty Girls single front cover

 Recordings
XTCfans interview with Andy Partridge
Art
Lyrics
Chords and Tablature
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Recordings

  1. Album version, 3'41.
    Released on The Big Express.
    Andy Partridge - Linn Drum
  2. Single edit (slightly longer than album version), 3'56.
    Released on 3 September 1984 as 7" and 12" singles in the U.K.
    Reached No. 55 on the U.K. singles chart.
  3. Promotional video, 3'56?.
    Directed by Roger H. Lyons.
    Filmed on August 30 & 31, 1984.
    Not commercially released.
  4. Demo version.
    Recorded in the back bedroom of Andy Partridge's current house, in Spring 1983.
    Engineered by Andy Partridge.
    Released on 25 March 2002 on Coat of Many Cupboards in the U.K.
    Andy Partridge - All instruments and Vocals

    Andy: “When, for the Mummer album, we cut the first two tracks, ‘Beating of Hearts’ and ‘Wonderland’, we used Genetic Studios near Reading. In the high tech gloom sat a Linndrum. This was the first time we'd seen one of these beasts and Terry Chambers shrank in horror. It was a good quality, programmable drum machine with sampled sounds. It was the future, but only for a few years. Nevertheless, I wanted one.

    “Now with Terry gone to soak up the Aussie sun, and our pastoral quiet Mummer done and gone too, it was time to treat ourselves to one. I fancied cranking up the electric guitars once again for Big Express and this steel plate and rivetted Robo Ringo seemed to mesh quite nicely with the sound of my Squier Telecaster.

    “So here I am dicking about with playing in a Hendrix rhythm style and out sails another bloody oceanic opus. My empty back bedroom housed another newish toy, our Mellotron, which you can hear straining away regally and making those psychedelic melting sounds courtesy of its pitch wheel. Which for the uninitiated, simply slows the speed of the motor, connected to the big rubber band which drags sections of tape across a lot of playback heads to make that sound. (No, I'm not pulling your leg!)”

  5. 2023 stereo mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  6. 2023 Dolby Atmos mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  7. 2023 DTS-HD MA Surround Sound mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.
  8. 2023 instrumental mix.
    Mixed and produced by Steven Wilson from the original multi-track tapes.
    Released on the reissue of The Big Express on 29 September 2023 in the U.K.

[Thanks to R. Stevie Moore]

Art

cover of Japanese #\#i#/#All You Pretty Girls#\#/i#/# single

cover of Japanese All You Pretty Girls single

 label of the Japanese #\#i#/#All You Pretty Girls#\#/i#/# single

label of the Japanese All You Pretty Girls single

 #\#i#/#All You Pretty Girls#\#/i#/# USA promo 12"

All You Pretty Girls USA promo 12"
#\#i#/#All You Pretty Girls#\#/i#/# counter stand

All You Pretty Girls counter stand

 #\#a href="http://youtu.be/Nfw1uW8_JWU" target="churl"#/#Andy is pressed into His Majesties Navy in the promotional video for “All You Pretty Girls”#\#/a#/#

Andy is pressed into His Majesties Navy in the promotional video for “All You Pretty Girls”

  

Lyrics

Do something for me, boys
If I should die at sea, boys
Write a little note, boys
Set it off afloat, saying

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Village and city girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Quiet or witty girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

I think about your pale arms waving
When I see the caps upon the green
And the rocking roller-coaster ocean
Think about you every night when I'm fathoms asleep
And in my dreams
We are rocking in a similar motion

I think about the salt sea rolling
Down in pearly tears upon your cheeks
Just like the day the harbour pulled away
I think about your warm white sheets unfolding
The more I have to drink
The more that I can think to say

© 1984 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.

Chords and Tablature

Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 02:36:54 +0100 (BST)
From: PAUL FERGUSON <p.ferguson1 (at) lancaster dot ac dot uk>
Subject: All you pretty girls TAB


Here's another one for you...

ALL YOU PRETTY GIRLS - guitar tab
--------------------

I have my suspicions that this was originally written with open E tuning,
as Mr. P. had a penchant for on the Big Express. I had a go at it, and got
nowhere, so here it is in normal EADGBE tuning. The chorus seems to be
a load of fast shifting parallel fifths - top tip: place your first finger
over the F on the first string and the C on the second, thus:

--1--
--1--   then use your third and fourth fingers to do the shifting about
-----   the third fret on parallel strings... this may sound confusing,
-----   but once you try it out it should make sense, I hope.
-----
-----

  Do something for me boys... etc    (for mid 8 add riff below to F#7)
B                  E  F#7
2------------------0--2------------- -------------------------------
4------------------0--2------------- -------------------------------
4------------------1--3------------- -------------------------------
4------------------2--2------------- -------------------------------
2------------------2--4------------- --------2-4--------------------
2------------------0--2------------- ----2-4------------------------


Bless you bless you all of you pretty girls...
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------1---3---3--4---3--1-----------------------------
3-----0---3-----0---3---3--3---3--0---3-------------------------
3-----0---3---------------------------3-------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

Villiage and city girls by the quayside...
-----------------------------------1----------------------------
1---1----3---1-------------1---3---1----------------------------
0---0----3---0-3--0-----3--0---3--------------------------------
---------------3--0-----3---------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

Bless you bless you all of you pretty girls (as before)

Watching and waiting by the sea
                                  G#
----------------------------------4------------------------------
1--1-----3---1--------------------4------------------------------
0--0-----3---0--3----0------3-----5------------------------------
----------------3----0------3-----6------------------------------
----------------------------------6------------------------------
----------------------------------4------------------------------

  I think about your pale arms waving when I see the caps upon the green
A#                             Gdim  Am                            Gm
1------------------------------3-----0-----------------------------3----
3------------------------------5-----1-----------------------------3----
3------------------------------3-----2-----------------------------3----
3------------------------------5-----2-----------------------------5----
1------------------------------4-----0-----------------------------5----
1------------------------------3-----0-----------------------------3----

and the rocking roller coaster ocean, I think about you every night,when
        D                      A#                             Gdim
--------2----------------------1------------------------------3----
--------3----------------------3------------------------------5----
--------2----------------------3------------------------------3----
--------0----------------------3------------------------------5----
--------0----------------------1------------------------------4----
--------x----------------------1------------------------------3----

I'm fathoms asleep, and in my dreams, we are rocking in a similar motion
                   F#dim                                  F
-------------------2--------------------------------------1------
-------------------4--------------------------------------1------
-------------------2--------------------------------------2------
-------------------4--------------------------------------3------
-------------------3--------------------------------------3------
-------------------2--------------------------------------1------

It's much the same sort of thing after this. There is a minor addition
in the keyboard part on the second verse, just before the last F, there's
a chord which I think could be Gm, on the 'The more that I can think of
to say' bit.
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