The guitarist Brian Pendleton, who has died of lung cancer aged 57, was a member of the 1960s rock group, the Pretty Things. Projected as wilder, fouler and more peculiar than the Rolling Stones - with whom they were fleetingly on terms of equality - they shared, in the spirit of the times, a communal flat in Belgravia, central London, from which spirited attempts were made to evict them.
The Pretty Things' lead guitarist, Dick Taylor, had left the Stones in 1962, and formed the new group, with singer Phil May, soon afterwards. Pendleton, meanwhile, had started work - like father, Raymond, before him - as a trainee insurance clerk. Born in Durham, he attended Dartford grammar school with Taylor - and Mick Jagger.
More to the point, he owned a splendid amplifier that was the deciding factor when he answered a Melody Maker small ad and auditioned as rhythm guitarist for the Pretty Things. Brian also plucked bass whenever the usual player, John Stax, doubled on harmonica.
After the enlistment of a permanent drummer, the Pretty Things' maiden single, Rosalyn, peaked on the edge of the Top 30 in 1964, and they had a Top 10 hit with Don't Bring Me Down that autumn. Climbing almost as high was Honey I Need, which featured a careering chord cycle from Pendleton behind May's ranted vocal, anticipating punk by 12 years. In 1965, the Pretty Things had a bestselling LP, and chart entries with Cry To Me and Midnight To Six Man.
Ultimately, however, this edition of the group were patron saints to those also-ran provincial combos that had opted for motley sullenness rather than Beatle-esque stage suits and big smiles. In Europe and Australasia, the Pretty Things encountered a re-run of domestic hysteria, but momentum was lost in the United States, mainly through administrative dithering.
When interest at home faded too, Pendleton was the first to quit. The band had been on a train to Leeds, but when they arrived their rhythm guitarist had vanished. Their next encounter was at a business meeting four years later.
By then, Pendleton had become a City insurance underwriter. After a spell at Sun-Alliance, he moved on to the Prudential. But he never quite lost touch with the still-functioning Pretty Things, and was even, eventually, able to cash long-awaited royalty cheques. He is survived by two sons.