Grey" in November, a psychedelic experiment which served as the maquette for S. F. Sorrow. Recording of S. F. Sorrow began at London's EMI Studios in November 1967 with work on "Bracelets of Fingers". Two tracks that had been earmarked for the album, "Talking About the Good Times" and "Walking Through My Dreams" were released as a single in February 1968. In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan suddenly quit the band to marry his French girlfriend, and Twink (born John Charles Alder), whose band Tomorrow had recently split up, took his place. Working with noted EMI staff producer Norman "Hurricane" Smith (who had engineered earlier Beatles recordings and produced Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) and house engineer Peter Mew, the band experimented with the latest sound technology, including the Mellotron and early electronic tone generators, often employing gadgets and techniques devised on the spot by Abbey Road's technicians. Phil May has emphatically stated that Smith was the only person at EMI who was fully supportive of the project, and that his technical expertise was invaluable to the ambitious, experimental sound of the album; May once even referred to Smith as a "sixth member" of the band. This attitude was in marked contrast to Pink Floyd's unhappiness with Smith. Release Work on the album concluded in September 1968 with the recording of what would be its closing track, "Loneliest Person". "Private Sorrow" and "Balloon Burning" were used for an October 1968 single, an album was released the following month, in the same week as the Beatles' White Album, and the Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Due to budget constraints, the band members had to take care of the sleeve design themselves: the cover art featured a drawing by Phil May, while Dick Taylor took the photograph for the back sleeve. The record company, EMI, did little to promote the album, and it was not released in the US by EMI or its affiliates at that time. Over six months later, Motown picked up the album as one of the first releases for their newly created Rare Earth label which was meant for rock music. By that time, however, Tommy had already been out for months, and S. F. Sorrow was considered to be inferior. Members of the Who have claimed that S. F. Sorrow did not have an influence on Pete Townshend or