Mighty Baby - On the Fringes of Showbiz

The English underground music scene of the late Sixties and early Seventies constitutes a genuine wealth of enormous historical and cultural interest and importance, a movement (if, rather improperly, it can be called that) that contributed no small amount to the evolution of the musical structures of rock in that period. Musicians and bands who not infrequently made music that sat outside the commercial standards of the time, often favoring exploration, experimentation with unheard-of sonic syntheses, or who — in the most modest of hypotheses — positioned themselves against the ever-growing, ever-more-invasive reach of the music business over the musical choices made by artists. And if at times that choice was forced upon them, due to records never promoted, unsold, or gigs never paid or badly paid, no matter: the passion, the honesty, the proud attitude of making music without compromise on the fringes of fame and solid financial backing were more than enough to justify the fleeting appearance of these artists within the bubbling magma of youth music.

The story of Mighty Baby, an excellent band active at the turn of the Sixties and Seventies (even if the musicians' saga unfolds across a much wider span of time), is no exception to the codified rules of rock on the fringes of showbiz.

The first core of the group was formed in 1963 as the Boyfriends (later shortened to the Boys). The lineup included singer Reggie King, Alan "Bam" King on guitar, bassist Mike Evans and drummer Roger Powell. In the early days the Boys were essentially the backing band for singer Sandra Barry, until the arrival of guitarist Pete Watson in 1965, which preceded the change of name to the Action.

The interest shown in the group by George Martin (producer, arranger and musician with the Beatles, who was scouting artists for his new label Air) might have opened the doors of fame to the London outfit, but the five singles released between 1965 and 1967 failed to achieve much success, even though they showcased the talents of Reggie King and co., capable of producing music rooted in a beat sound shot through with soul and psychedelia.

Amid the ups and downs, at least two fine versions of rhythm and blues classics stand out from the recordings: "Land Of A Thousand Dances" (a huge hit for Wilson Pickett) and the excellent cover of "I'll Keep On Holding On". The latter, originally recorded by the Marvelettes, lodged itself in the memory of London's "mod" scene of the time thanks to its catchy melody grafted onto a garage-rock structure. It's no coincidence that these two songs open and close the CD "The Ultimate Action", released by Edsel in 1990 as a providential summa of the material the Action recorded with George Martin.

As early as the end of 1966, Watson left the band, replaced in the following months by two musicians who would substantially reshape the group's musical direction. First to join was the accomplished multi-instrumentalist Ian Whiteman (keyboards, wind instruments, percussion, vocals, previously a member of Ben Carruthers and the Deep), followed by the excellent blues guitarist Martin Stone, who already had notable experience with the Stone's Masonry — authors in 1966 of a 45 whose A-side (the brilliant blues instrumental "Flapjacks") can be found on "Anthology of British Blues vol. 2" (Immediate, 1969) — and with the Savoy Brown Blues Band (their debut LP "Shake Down", 1967, on Decca).

Having come into the orbit of the former Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky, during 1967 the Action recorded a series of demos, originally intended for an album titled "Brain" that would never see release. The material has recently been reassembled in an attempt to reconstruct the original project, and can now be heard on the CD "Rolled Gold", put out in 2002 by the Reaction label.

Far more interesting are the five tracks the band recorded in 1968, probably at Morgan Studios, all written by Ian Whiteman. Reggie King had left the lineup that spring to pursue a solo career (he would release a fine self-titled album in 1971 for United Artists, featuring several members of Mighty Baby), with vocal duties taken over by "Bam" King; but it's above all the more advanced instrumental setup and the more refined arrangements that make this recorded material compelling, effectively anticipating the band's progressive turn. These songs were first released only in 1985, on the EP "Action Speaks Louder Than Words" (Castle); in 1994 they were added as bonus tracks to the CD reissue of Mighty Baby's debut album, curated by Big Beat.

By now the time was ripe for a decisive shift in approach and style. Already during 1968, "Bam" King, Stone, Whiteman, Evans and Powell briefly changed their name from Action to Azoth, but the real turning point came at the start of 1969, when the group permanently renamed itself Mighty Baby.

The band soon had the chance to make a name for themselves, appearing at the Cambridge Free Festival (June 1969) and, in August, at the second edition of the Isle of Wight Festival.

The debut self-titled album by Mighty Baby was released in October 1969 by the tiny London label Head, only its second ever production, under the supervision of seasoned producer Guy Stevens, and graced by a gorgeous front-cover artwork by Martin Sharp, at the time art director of Oz magazine and already the man behind Cream album covers such as "Disraeli Gears" and "Wheels Of Fire".

There's an innate gift for songcraft in Mighty Baby's music, skilfully bolstered by excellent instrumental contributions and marked by a pleasing, at times exhilarating, sense of expressive freedom — qualities that find full realisation on this debut album. The material proves refined and rich in originality, while at the same time charged with tangible interpretive energy, built on compositional structures that favour harmonic and melodic choices of undeniable charm — intricate arrangements that nonetheless remain easy to enjoy. Stone and King's guitars dominate the sound, underpinned by a tight rhythm section, with Whiteman's horns and keyboards and the fine vocal parts offering an essential contribution to the finished shape of the songs.

"Egyptian Tomb" is a song built on a solid rhythmic framework, enhanced by a refined soul-jazz arrangement that leaves room for Martin Stone's rock-blues guitar; the surreal melodic whirl of "A Friend You Know But Never See" leads into unpredictable cycles of concentric jams brimming with performative vitality, while "I've Been Down So Long" picks up on strands of California-style country-rock, blending that raw material with romantic inflections and shaping the sound into a devastating free-form progression; on "Some Way From The Sun" flashes of disorienting psychedelic beauty surface, held within the electric self-awareness of a song structure steered by Stone's guitar; "House Without Windows" delivers a crisp rock impact from the guitars and sharp keyboards in support of yet another splendid melody; the bright rock'n'roll of "Trials Of A City" spills into a tense instrumental jam and leads into "I'm From The Country", which, without forgoing a brief acid-guitar interlude, ultimately follows the main road of an enjoyable folk-country sound; the enigmatic "At A Point Between Fate And Destiny" closes the record, within a magical atmosphere dense with ecstatic, mysterious romanticism.

Songs that shift mood continuously with remarkable ease, spilling between fiery guitars and driving rhythms into flashes of poignant lyricism. In short, one of the great, overlooked masterpieces of English underground progressive music.

Unfortunately the album sold very poorly, and within a year the Head label itself collapsed under the weight of an inevitable financial crisis. Mighty Baby, however, didn't give up: after backing Robin Scott as his backing band on the recording of his album "Woman From The Warm Grass" (Head, 1969), they carried on, their path marked above all by numerous live shows at small free festivals (the Atomic Sunrise Festival in March 1970 at London's Roundhouse, and again the Cambridge festival in August 1970), as well as an appearance at a major event, the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970.

This period of Mighty Baby's career is documented on an album released posthumously in various editions (the one put out by Sunbeam comes as a double CD/LP set), Live In The Attic, which collects live recordings salvaged from shows supporting the English tour of the American band Love (March 1970), alongside tracks cut at Olympic Studios. These tapes reveal a band in a clear state of evolution, capable of a mature sound shaped by demanding yet well-structured, expansive instrumental improvisations that make plain the free-form nature of their music — particularly evident in live performances, where clear parallels emerge with the Grateful Dead of their psychedelic period.

On the morning of 25 June 1971, Mighty Baby closed out the Glastonbury Fayre Festival with their performance, an event remembered as one of the most legendary in English underground music history, a rare occasion when the usual barriers between audience and musicians broke down, amid music, dance, theatre, poetry and the chance for impromptu performances. The London band wasn't even on the bill, yet they played at Glastonbury anyway, and with the previously unreleased "A Blanket In My Muesli" they were even included on the triple album released to commemorate the event (they do not, however, appear in the film that so superbly captures the festival's atmosphere and several outstanding performances — among others, those of Arthur Brown and Terry Reid stand out). The track recorded live at Glastonbury is a long instrumental jam, solid in its rhythmic footing and featuring a fine lead-guitar performance from Martin Stone. In its hottest moments the sound harks back to the approach of the debut album, while the more reflective passages edge closer to the expansive, mellow atmospheres of the second LP, A Jug Of Love, which the band would begin recording just a few days later at Sound Techniques in London.

A Jug Of Love (Blue Horizon, 1971) is Mighty Baby's final recorded statement. The album's release was accompanied by the band's only single, featuring on the A-side the decent "Devil's Whisper", not included on the album but in keeping with its sound, and on the B-side a different, shortened and still not entirely polished version of the great "Virgin Spring". The album's CD reissue (Sunbeam, 2006) restores the single's tracks, along with two interesting previously unreleased songs.

King and co.'s second and final full-length veers towards compositions that are on average longer, though not necessarily more complex, showcasing a very relaxed, refined, and at times nostalgic sound. These compositions, while still built on extremely well-defined structures, reflect the band's sonic evolution drawn in particular from their live performances, with a songwriting method that tends to develop and stretch out tracks through interplay between the musicians and instrumental improvisation. The opening title track lays out the characteristics of the whole record, built on a lovely nostalgic melody, with a relaxed, easy-going arrangement that only occasionally veers slightly towards more rock-oriented sounds. Martin Stone's blues guitar is always well to the fore, but Californian-tinged atmospheres are lurking just around the corner, as shown by the choral introduction of "The Happiest Man In The Carnival".

"Keep On Jugging" sounds like it could have come straight out of vintage Eric Clapton's repertoire, thanks to a rolling blues delivered with great technical skill, if a touch overlong. "Tasting The Life" and the graceful closer "Slipstreams" likewise preserve the calm, reflective balance that is the sonic trademark of the whole album. The expressive high point of the record, and perhaps of Mighty Baby's entire artistic arc, is the ethereal, impressionistic flight of "Virgin Spring", whose aching melodic suspension, elevated by Stone's remarkable acoustic guitar work and Whiteman's piano, gives rise to one of the most significant ballads in the whole of the English underground.

At the end of 1971, Mighty Baby brought their story as a band to a close - unknown to the wider public, but capable of leaving a small yet significant mark on the history of rock music.

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