Mighty Baby was formed in London in 1968 by former members of the band The Action – a group that had evolved from beat to mod and on to psychedelic rock, in keeping with the trends of the time. The core of the new band, consisting of guitarist Alan King, bassist Mike Evans and drummer Roger Powell, was joined by former Savoy Brown guitarist Martin Stone and pianist Ian Whiteman. After months of intensive touring, they finally secured a record deal in 1969 with the small British independent label Head. The quintet began recording their debut album in February 1969 and finished in August. The producer was the in-demand Guy Stevens, who worked mainly for the Island label. Their first self-titled LP, released in November with a cover design by Martin Sharp, presented psychedelic acid rock with distinctive melodies, augmented by a mix of quieter, folk-inspired psychedelic tracks as well as blues and prog-rock elements. The focus is on the instrumental virtuosity of Martin Stone, with his brilliant, fuzzy guitar riffs, and that of multi-instrumentalist Ian Whiteman, who plays piano, organ, flute and saxophone.

Unfortunately, the Head label soon went bankrupt, resulting in a complete lack of distribution and their debut thus went completely unnoticed at the time. However, their performances at numerous festivals gave them the opportunity to record a follow-up album. Today, this rare debut album is regarded as an absolute psychedelic classic and is counted among the finest works of British psychedelia, making it an extremely sought-after collector’s item.