Mighty Baby At A Point Between Fate & Destiny: Comp Recordings CD

One minute The Action were the ultimate mod cult band, belting out exuberant Anglicised approximations of Tamla/soul material in clubs across the country, the next they'd shed singer Reggie King and mutated into questing countercultural adventurers Mighty Baby. Under the leadership of guitarist Martin Stone, they would become increasingly insular as four of the five band members converted to Islam and they moved slowly towards a more improvised sound. By the end of 1971, fasting for Ramadan had left them almost too weak to perform onstage, at which juncture they came to the reluctant conclusion that rock'n'roll and the Muslim faith were incompatible. Over the previous three years, however, they made some magical, mystical music that is now collected under one roof for the first time. The band-authorised 6-CD set At A Point Between Fate And Destiny features all surviving recordings, with much-loved studio albums "Mighty Baby" and "A Jug Of Love" joined by rehearsal sessions, a complete and previously unissued alternative version of the first album, audio from the band's only TV appearance and other studio outtakes. The set also features three hours of 1971 live material, with a ninety-minute chunk of their legendary appearance at Glastonbury that includes previously unreleased versions of Mighty Baby favourites 'Virgin Spring', 'Goin' Down To Mongoli', 'Woe Is Me', 'Devil's Whisper' and, most thrillingly of all, the hitherto-presumed-lost full 36 minute version of 'A Blanket In My Muesli'. Featuring a host of rare photos and memorabilia as well as a new 12000 word essay that covers the band's unique journey from mod to odd with the aid of extracts from key member Ian Whiteman's fascinating unpublished autobiography The Average Whiteman, At A Point Between Fate And Destiny is self-evidently the definitive word on a group who occupied their own peculiar time and space in the late Sixties/early Seventies underground rock firmament, blowing more than a few minds in the process.

1. Egyptian Tomb 2. A Friend You Know But Never See 3. I've Been Down So Long 4. Same Way from the Sun 5. House Without Windows 6. Trials of a City 7. I'm from the Country 8. At a Point Between Fate and Destiny 9. I've Been Down So Long 10. Trials of a City 11. House Without Windows 12. A Friend You Know But Never See 13. Messages 14. Ancient Traveller 15. Same Way from the Sun 16. Jug of Love 17. The Happiest Man in the Carnival 18. Keep on Juggin' 19. Virgin Spring 20. Tasting the Life 21. Slipstreams 22. Devil's Whisper 23. Virgin Spring (Alternative Version) 24. Only Dreaming 25. Dustbin Full of Rubbish 26. An Understanding Love 27. My Favourite Day 28. A Saying for Today 29. Jug of Love 30. The Happiest Man in the Carnival I 31. The Happest Man in the Carnival II 32. Virgin Spring I 33. Virgin Spring II 34. Tasting the Life 35. Lazy Days 36. Christmas Jam 37. Egyptian Tomb (Single, Mono) 38. I'm from the Country (Single, Mono) 39. Winter Passes 40. Now You Don't (Part 1) 41. Now You Don't (Part 2) 42. Now You Don't (Part 3) 43. Now You Don't (Part 4) 44. Juggin' 45. Now You See It 46. Stone Unhenged 47. Sweet Mandarin 48. Egyptian Tomb 49. Trials of a City 50. Keep on Juggin' 51. Woe Is Me 52. India 53. Goin' Down to Mongoli 54. Keep on Juggin' 55. Virgin Spring 56. Goin' Down to Mongoli 57. Woe Is Me 58. Lazy Days 59. A Blanket in My Muesli (Aka India) (Full Version) 60. Devil's Whisper