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10th January 2010 At last, with great delight, (whilst Chris watches Ivanhoe on the telly in the background!) I can make an update to this site! It has involved some serious lugging of heavy computer equipment down stairs which did not do my bad foot or my asthma much good but has done a great deal for my spirits, so I do not complain! I have wanted to do this for a long time, it is high time, and to be finally adding this update cheers me - as well as it might, because 2009 was, in common with many other people I suspect, a rather difficult year for me - but enough! - this site isn't about me, it's about Brian...suffice to say that this site has had to take a back seat whilst I deal with other things but with the welcome sight of 2009 in the rear view mirror so to speak, I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

...I would describe this as an interim update really, to let people know that this site is still very much alive (and will stay that way) which was my main concern, but also to add one or two pieces of news which have come in to me since my last update in October 2008 (so long ago!)

First I must mention some news told me by Adrian Line, who kindly assisted me with information for this site backalong, that Barry Clark, another important contributor here, sadly passed away unexpectedly in the first half of 2009. Barry was an important part of Brian's life (Brian told him on at least one occasion he was his best friend) and a support to him and his band Sam Therapy. He supplied me with valuable info about Brian and the music he recorded at this time; we spoke on the phone on three occasions and planned to meet but regrettably it never happened. My condolences to his family and friends.

On a happier note, I was most pleased to hear from a gentleman in France called Denis who contacted me after coming across my site and realising he had purchased one of Brian's guitars - a Gretsch, with Brian's name engraved on a plate attached to the back of the stock! I will add the full story (including pictures and how Denis acquired the guitar) on my next update. In the meantime many thanks to Denis, and to Dick Taylor, who confirmed from photographs that the guitar is Brian's; I hope to learn some more about its history in the meantime. I would also like to thank everyone else who has given up their time to write to me about the site - it is much appreciated. I will fully update my thankyou page in due course! I also owe at least one person who took the trouble to contact me last year a long overdue phone call. All of this I will focus on soon, once some private matters which are much less interesting but sadly require a higher priority have been sorted, and I am free to concentrate properly and give Brian and the site the full attention they deserve.

The important thing is that having got 2009 behind me at last I have re-established contact here so to speak. I promise not to leave it too long before I add to this site. In the meantime I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2010. Watch this space!

Nicola

19th October 2008 My husband is out riding his new motorcycle and I have some time to myself - time to update this site! My thanks to Derek Roberts who got in touch about Brian and told me about their time at DGS. I have added his recollections of Brian to the site, and hope you will find them as interesting as I did. I'm also grateful to Geoff Baker who let me know where Brian was working in 1962. With the nights drawing in and the colder days meaning less riding and less time away in the camper van, I can hopefully devote more time to this site. I am hoping to finally make that trip to Maidstone this autumn/winter - and hope I can stretch the day to include a look around Dartford too and take some pictures. As always, many thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to contact me - I hope to add some new info in the not too distant future!

26th June 2008 Not so much an update as a hello...I have pictures to put on the site but I just haven't found a moment to put them on, much to my regret, but I wanted people to know I am still here and haven't gone away! Sadly I have also had to put my visit to Maidstone back for a bit longer as my private life has been very hectic and both Chris and I have been rather unwell although we are now recovering somewhat! I did find time this morning to treat myself to a view of the Blokker Festival on YouTube and delight in the excitement of watching that clip again - particularly loving the Brian bits of course - definitely some weak-kneed moments particularly when he teases the crowd and finally get to hear his guitar...fantastic! Hope to post those photos (with credits) soon. Enjoy the summer while it's here! Nicola.

29th March 2008 I am over the moon to add to the site part of a photo I have received from Julie Davies (nee Ives) who came across my site and contacted me. She then very kindly went to the trouble of searching through many boxes holding up the shelves in her shed in the cold Scottish weather to find me a school photo taken in June 1955 and featuring Brian, in the year he took his 11-plus that would take him to Dartford Grammar School and beyond. I am incredibly grateful to her. I apologise if the reproduction isn't the clearest on the planet, having played around with my limited skills it is the best I can do at the present time. I am thrilled to bits to have it on my site. Many many thanks Julie!

My apologies to one or two people who I accidentally missed off my thank you list, including Brian's former Geography Master at Dartford Grammar School Tom Holliday who checked his archives to confirm which school house Brian was in. He is now on my list, hopefully with everyone else who has helped, if I have missed your name, get in touch! I've also said thank you to the many kind people who have taken the trouble to write and make such nice comments about this site, I always acknowledge every one because I really do appreciate people taking the trouble to write to me!

9th January 2008 Happy New Year! It certainly was as I was thrilled to hear that on Saturday last (January 5th) Brian Matthew played a request from Brian's younger son, Stephen, in memory of his father. The track played was Midnight to Six Man; listening again courtesy of the BBC's listen again service (trust me not to be tuning in the day it happens) it did bring a tear to my eye as a mention of Brian in the mainsteam media is indeed a rare event. Congratulations to Stephen for getting the request played, it was a lovely tribute and your father must be very proud up there. As Brian's older son Philip told me: "It was great to hear my brother's request being read out." Hear hear!

Whilst writing I have heard from another of Brian's Dartford Grammar School friends who has very kindly supplied me with some info and hopes to be able to assist me further. An update will follow very soon.

All in all a fantastic start to the New Year for Brian. Let's hope it continues throughout 2008.

1st November 2007 As Alan Lakey mentioned on the Electric Banana forum back along, the new edition of Mojo magazine features a six page article on the Pretties concentrating mainly on the time Brian was in the band. Brian gets a few mentions and is described as the band's Brian Jones figure, presumably because he was a blond guitarist, although it would also be nice if the comparison was also a reference to Brian Pendleton's musical skills, as Jones was an accomplished and extremely talented musician! From the looks point of view this is an interesting thought that had never occurred to me before and intrigues me because Jones had plently of adoring female fans, which makes me wonder if quite a few young ladies of the time had a 'thing' for Brian too (and who can blame 'em I say!) Strangely though, the women I know who were fans of the band at the time were all keen on Viv Prince. Going back to the magazine however, there are some pictures I have never seen before, including some of the band performing in Copenhagen in 1965 and fans storming the stage, and the band stood around a motor scooter - with Brian looking particularly gorgeous I have to say. Worth checking out although the magazine is on the pricey side (£4.20).

22nd October 2007 I have made an update to the Later Years page. Meanwhile, personally speaking it's been an incredibly hectic 2007. As a result I have not had the time to do as much research as I would have liked; I am also sad that I have not had the time to visit Maidstone and pay my respects to Brian this year, a situation that will be rectified next year without fail. It is also my intention to hopefully meet up with some of Brian's friends at the same time and I plan to get in touch at some point to say 'hello again!' and have a chat about meeting up. Now winter's on our doorstep and that means more time indoors I should be able to give more time to seeking out new information (sounds a bit like Star Trek?) about Brian to add to this site. Next month will mark two years of this site being up and running which is great!

8th July 2007 Having found some time and taken a chill pill after my previous post - although I still feel very strongly about the issue raised therein - I have now added a few more updates here and there to the site. What strikes me whilst adding the information is how much love and respect for Brian as a person and a musician still exists even though the precious memories these kind people have shared with me date back in some cases many, many years. Many thanks to all of you.

1st July 2007 I am still working on my updates, I've added an extra paragraph to the Early Years page so far and more will appear soon, but I wanted to comment about the Pretty Things' (or is it Mark St John's?) campaign against the smoking ban which comes into force today in the UK.

I've no doubt that were Brian here today he would be outraged at not being able to enjoy a cigarette with his pint in his local, but it doesn't take away the fact that smoking caused the lung cancer that killed him. Phil knows this (he attended Brian's funeral with Dick Taylor) but appears to have chosen to suggest on a blog site that we should "chain smoke ourselves to the railings of government" in protest at the ban. I find his remarks incredulous and am concerned to see on the official protest site message board at least one person who doesn't smoke saying they will "light up" in support. I am all for freedom of choice and that includes the choice of whether or not to smoke, but feel very strongly that people should be aware of what happened to Brian - one of their own - because of the smoking that appears to be being encouraged. I feel that if Phil was encouraged to make this remarks on line he was ill-advised. If you wish to see the message board in question and my response, please go to

http://www.alllightup.com/comments.php

Wednesday, 16th May 2007 Six years ago today, Brian passed away. I make particular reference to the day of the week on this post because it was also on a Wednesday, during the morning, that the sad event occured.

Recently, I have been very lucky to hear from several people, including former schoolfriends of Brian's, with some very interesting information and I plan to do various updates as soon as I get the chance. Life has been very hectic this year, but I should be able to get them done this month and I am very excited about it all. However, I want to mark this anniversary with something today, so here is a fantastic quote from Brian, courtesy of Robert Stock who played guitar with Brian in Sam Therapy. One day the two of them were talking and Robert said something along the lines of Brian being a 'has been'. Brian replied "Better to be a has been then a not been." Fantastic. Thank you Robert for sharing that with me and thank you, Brian, for such a great line. Wherever you are today, take it easy.

Nicola.

8th April 2007 Brian would have celebrated his 63rd birthday this coming Friday, April 13th.

I have added some information to the Early Years page having received information from a school friend of Brian's who very kindly got in touch. I am pursuing further enquiries to find out more about this period of Brian's life. I've also updated the Thank You page to reflect recent much appreciated contributions and made a few factual and other corrections here and there around the site (my spelling seems to have declined, perhaps it is because I am approaching 40. Yikes!)

Also, I was interested to read today on the BBC News website a story that, according to a poll of listeners of a Jazz music radio station, the best jazz song ever is Miles Davis' So What. As anyone who has previously viewed my site will know, this was Brian's favourite Jazz tune and the band he formed in 1991 was named after the song, so I was very interested to read this!

Meanwhile with the improvement in the weather it is time to get Brian the Harley out of hibernation for the summer season's riding. Needless to say, a further trip to Maidstone is planned...enjoy the sunshine, Nicola.

23rd January 2007 At last I am pleased to introduce another new page, After The Pretties, which gives more detail about Brian's life prior to his time with So What and in particular his time with another local band, Sam Therapy, which has involved transferring some information from the Later Years page to the new page. I am indebted to Barry Clark and Adrian Line for their time and information, without which I would not have been able to create this page! I still have further info and pictures to add at a later date.

Thanks also to Andrew Dobbie who went to Dartford Grammar at the same time as Brian and got in touch. He has very kindly shared with me memories of the excitement of Dartford Grammar's pupils at the release of Rosalyn (featured on the Early Years page) and of the poignant moment he saw Brian after he had left the Pretty Things (added to the After The Pretties page).

28th October 2006 I'm so excited! No, I haven't turned into a Pointer Sisters fan, but that's just how I feel about the amazing picture supplied to me by Terry Coates which I have placed on the entry page of my website. It's obviously a professional shot taken of Brian in the early to mid 90s and I am making efforts to find out who actually took it so I can credit it them and get more information about when it was taken. I just think it's such a gorgeous picture, I couldn't resist putting it on the site now. It will also of course find a niche in the main site in due course. The lovely picture taken by Terry which was previously on the front page can still be found on the Later Years page, of course, in fact, I may produce a series of my favourite pictures of Brian to run on the entry page at a later date.

A new page is now under construction which will contain more information about Brian's post-Pretties days and music. I am incredibly busy right now but hope to have it online before the year's end...I still have lots of questions to ask!

30th September 2006 I have added some information on the Big Time page about Brian's relationship with the rest of the band and their time at Chester Street. My thanks to the brilliant Alan Lakey for this. I also received what is apparently a rare picture of Brian in Paris in 1966 - certainly I had never seen it before, and it can be found on the Pressures page.

I have also had some amazing developments regarding Brian's post-Pretties musical career. I have today begun work on a new chapter for this site regarding this period of Brian's life. I am receiving a great deal of help and info from some friends of Brian's who knew and played with him during this time - hopefully I can get the new page on line before too long and express my gratitude to them. I am also still trying to find out more about Brian's time in France in the mid 90s.

As you can probably imagine I am very excited about all of this and really enjoying the research and putting everything together! Until my next update I would like to wish everyone a great autumn - this year has simply flown by!

22nd August 2006 Maidstone 3 took place as planned on Saturday August 12th and, considering the diabolical weather - was quite successful. I had ridden 250 miles from Devon to Sussex the day before but was then in the company of a very experienced rider - my husband Chris - and riding just those 25 miles alone in the terrible weather on unfamiliar roads from Etchingham to Maidstone was a great learning curve if a little nerve-wracking! It was worth the effort though. I managed to visit some of Brian's old haunts and take some pictures, and I had a really good chat with Andy Fletcher who I've mentioned on the site before and gave me further info about those last years living with Brian, and also had a brief meeting with another gentleman who lived in the same house - I'm ashamed to say I startled him when I met with him as he hadn't expected me - but I hope the pint I bought him made amends! Although due to the weather I didn't get everything done that I intended to do, there will be more photos and info in an update in the not too distant future and I plan to return towards the end of the year and to meet with another very close friend of Brian's that I have recently spoken to on the phone and hope very much to liaise with further soon - I'm sure his input will be a most wonderful and valuable addition to this site.

I was also very flattered to see Mike Stax's mention of this site on the Pretties Page of the latest Ugly Things magazine - we had spoken about links to our respective websites and he said he would mention my site in the mag but I never really expected him to do so with him being so busy - so I was very pleased and touched to see that he took the trouble to mention the site - especially for Brian.

9th July 2006 I've added a couple of great pictures to the New Zealand Interview page.

I have also added a picture to the Lost Pretty Thing page, of Brian taken in France in 1995. I had no idea that Brian had performed abroad in his later years and I was very excited to discover this was the case. I am currently awaiting further information on this and hope to update my site accordingly.

I'm also counting down the weeks to Maidstone 3 - the weekend of 12th August when I will be back in the town to do more research, hopefully meet with one or two people who knew Brian and, as always, to leave flowers for him at the Garden of Remembrance.

16th May 2006 Five years ago today, Brian left the world behind and went to a better place.

I will be thinking of Brian more than usual today and I know that many other people will be thinking of him, both people who knew him (some of whom I have spoken with and some whom I have not but would dearly love to speak with) and people like me who did not know Brian but were nevertheless touched by him and his music, especially his important contribution to the Pretty Things' wild and fantastic sound. As far as I am concerned, after he left them they never made such good music again

But it won't be just the beautiful and talented young man who found fame all too briefly that I will remember; I will also be thinking of the older Brian, who, as well as his amazing musicial skill also left his impression upon those who knew him with his character and humour.

Brian Pendleton, musician
13th April 1944 - 16th May 2001

Never forgotten.

12th May 2006 Here in Devonshire we have been treated to a week of beautiful sunshine, so it was a good decision I made ages ago to take this week off work! What could be better, I thought, than a week of riding my bike and barbecues in the sun? West Ham winning the FA Cup on Saturday? Yes, that would be good; but what would be even better than that? Adding a new page to this site! I have spent one day doing just that and I am very pleased to introduce the New Zealand Interview page to this site. I am indebted to Mike Stax for giving me permission to reproduce Brian's interview from his book Don't Bring Me Down...Under (more details of which are in the Thank You section).

I was tremendously excited when I saw the interview because until then I thought Brian had only ever given one interview, to Terry Coates. Whilst Terry's remains the definitive Brian interview, this one is a very exciting discovery. It slots in nicely between the Big Time and Pressures section; Brian despite his ever-present guardedness about his private life does reveal some fascinating info about himself, including how he got into playing in guitar groups and his hopes for the (musical) future - and some poignant remarks.

I hope to add to the interview page a fantastic photo I have of Brian in the near future. In the meantime I hope everyone who has taken the trouble to visit my page gets a chance to enjoy the sunshine! Best wishes, Nicola.

22nd April 2006 I have been able to update the Lost Pretty Thing page with more info, thanks to Mark St John, the current Pretty Things manager, via Alan Lakey, who interviewed him for his rewrite of his book The Pretty Things Growing Old Disgracefully. Alan very kindly shared with me Mark's comments about Brian during that interview and what he says seems to clear up the mystery about whether or not Brian received any money before he passed away. Many thanks (once again!) Alan for your help and kindness.

Also, on Thursday, at the fourth attempt, I finally passed my motorbike test. Someone was looking out for me that day I am sure. It now means that when I return to Maidstone this summer to do further research for this site, I will be riding my own Harley, whom you will not be surprised to learn I have named Brian, so it will be an extra special journey. I'd like to say thankyou to everyone who has supported and encouraged me while I learned to ride.

13th April 2006 It seems appropriate that on Brian's birthday I am able to mark the occasion by adding further information to the site. My heartfelt thanks go to Andy Fletcher for being willing to spend over an hour discussing Brian with me on the phone last week and providing such a valuable insight into those last years. This has enabled me to update the Lost Pretty Thing section considerably.

I have also updated the Early Years section with some info very kindly provided to me by Peter Innes. Thanks Peter!

29th March 2006 Words cannot express how pleased I was to be contacted by Andy Fletcher this week. Andy lived with Brian in the house in Kingsley Road and knew him the last three years of his life. He has been kind enough to share some precious memories with me of Brian and kindly given me permission to use them on this site; I have updated The Lost Pretty Thing section accordingly, and I hope to add further info very soon! Thank you so much Andy!

8th March 2006 I am over the moon to let you know that Brian has been added to the iMDB (Internet Movie DataBase) site, despite the communication I received the other day saying he was not eligible to be put on the cast list for Don't Look Back! Click here to see his page which is a little bare at the moment but will soon hopefully contain extra information, biography and links that I will be submitting shortly.

I have also followed the advice of an American site visitor who suggested I change the dates I use on this page for everyone's benefit as in the U.S. (as I had forgotten) numeric dates are read differently. I've also reversed my updates to put the latest one first.

5th March 2006 There is now footage of the Blokker festival on the youTube site, click here to see it. Again my appreciation has been conveyed to the contributor in the hope that it will stay on line for the benefit of us Pretty Things/Brian fans.

On the downside the iMDB have declined to put Brian's details on their Don't Look Back page, on the grounds that "Brian has to get a credited appearance before he can have an uncredited appearance." Why? I/you ask. I am writing to them again soon to see if I can persuade them to think again.

Finally, I am aware that some of my updates are news as opposed to actual site updates, hence this page is now called updates/news. Pedantic, moi?

21st February 2006 Checking the video site mentioned above again, Big City has reappeared courtesy of another contributor so I have sent an appreciative email to her in hope that this brilliant film clip will stay online. I have also written again to the IMDB who for some reason have not included Brian's details on the Don't Look Back page. Finally I have written to none other than David Bowie himself for his comments regarding the time he asked Brian to join his band...I have updated Later Years with the info I have so far about this, courtesy of Philip, Brian's eldest son.

22nd January 2006 Well I should be taking it easy today as it's my birthday, but work doesn't stop on this site! I've updated Music & Film with some more details of film clips Brian can be seen in, together with a link to a video website which plays them.

Unfortunately some of the videos have since been removed but as of 6th February 2006 the two versions of Midnight To Six Man are still available to view. I am hoping to find alternative footage elsewhere.

16th January 2006 I'm pleased to say that Brian now features on the Who's Who section of a Bob Dylan website called Expecting Rain which I came across while searching for more info about Derroll Adams, the musician Brian stated in his interview via whom he met Dylan. After writing to the webmaster of Expecting Rain explaining Brian's appearance in Don't Look Back, he came back with a very positive reply saying he wanted to put Brian on his Who's Who. So I wrote a short bio and sent it to him, he added a pic and now Brian has his own page on the site! To see Brian's page, click here and to go to the Expecting Rain homepage, click here. I have also submitted a request to the Internet Movie Database that Brian's details be added to the cast list for their page relating to Don't Look Back as an uncredited appearance, to go with several others already there.

22nd December 2005 My last update before I go on holiday. I have added a couple of new photos to Pressures and acknowledged this on the Thank You page. I am still working my way through the runaway captions which I am aware do still appear on some photos, when I get home I will nail these for once and for all. To anyone who reads this, thank you for viewing my site; I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy 2006!

13th December 2005 Maidstone 2 took place on 10th December and was a great success. I have updated some new information onto the site, as well as making a couple of minor factual corrections these can be seen in the Later Years, Never Forgotten and Thank You pages. One or two new photos that I took on the day will follow shortly as well as a couple very kindly sent to me by people who have seen my site, and the run away photo captions have mostly now been brought under control. Here's to Maidstone 3 (August 2006 at the latest and hopefully sooner!)

3rd December 2005 Since the birth of this site at 2.45pm on Sunday 27th November 2005, I have spent the past week 'tweaking' as it were, correcting typos and adding the colour picture background to the headings, plus some extra information and links in one or two places, most noticeably the Big Time and Thank You pages. Plus the creation of this page! Today I am also working on the graphics that have captions trying to run away from them, the work I am undertaking should solve this problem. I am hoping to add some new photos to the site and further 'thank yous' as a result, in the very near future. I am currently considering adding a gallery page, guestbook and web counter.