At A Point Between Fate & Destiny: Complete Recordings

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covers the band's unique journey from mod to odd with the aid of extracts from key member Ian Whiteman's fascinating unpublished autobiography The Average Whiteman, At A Point Between Fate And Destiny is self-evidently the definitive word on a group who occupied their own peculiar time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.