16 Comments
founding

Beautifully told by both of you—or all three!

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Interesting tale of happenchance. Or, spiritual communication.

I love Mighty Baby. They are definitely one of my favorites, and it took me years to hunt down and finally find an affordable copy of their first album. They formed out of the ashes of the freakbeat band, The Action, who I also dig. They have an interesting postscript as 4/5 members converted to Islam and adopted Sufism, and their music and live performances completely changed after that killer s/t LP. Its follow-up, 'A Jug of Love', is more Grateful Dead jam band'ish in sound but is also a very good album. There have also been some live and rehearsal recordings of theirs released, but all focus on the latter period rather than the first s/t LP era of the band. Of these, 'Slipstreams' is the most interesting and has the best audio source. Martin Stone was also a legendary rare bookseller, which makes sense considering his band's albums became very rare and collectible!

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author

I love The Action, and that first Mighty Baby LP — I've never been able to find an affordable original, but the 2021 Trading Places vinyl reissue sounds quite good. A Jug of Love is definitely a bridge too far for me, though; then again, I'm pretty highly allergic to anything remotely resembling The Grateful Dead's electric jams.

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Oct 19·edited Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

I hear you on 'Jug,' but there is a mystique about that album and the 'Slipstreams' rehearsals that is so deeply contemplative, probably because of their religious conversion and Sufism in general, that I find completely fascinating. 

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author

Yeah, they were definitely on their own trip, which I respect.

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Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

Great essay. I am certain that graveyard moment was no coincidence. Louise is out there and coordinated that moment. There is no way that was happenstance. My paranormal obsession is near-death experiences and glimpses of the other side. Some great websites devoted to this.

You ought to link to your Spotify playlists for some of these essays.

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author

I'm actually thinking of ditching Spotify sooner than later — but for now, here's that British psych playlist I was talking about: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/51pSu9S1zGQTK0eELvM0n2?si=7da24e25b53a4350

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Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

And yes, the Hudson Valley is the only place to live, especially this time of year.

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Wow! Great story! As a Chicagoan I know those cemeteries. There's a lot within them to be discovered!

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author

So much incredible history there!

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Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

That is indeed an amazing story of coincidence or something more. Thanks so much for sharing it!

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Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

Holy cow, I’m glad I got the opportunity to sit and read this!

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author

Glad you read it - and dug it!

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Oct 19Liked by Dan Epstein

Kind of like the Wayne State MC5 clip, this excellent story is worth October re-visits!

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What a fantastic and beautifully told story, thanks Dan! I’m a firm believer in the adage that “coincidence is god’s desire to remain anonymous”. Whatever your conception of a god, higher power, the universe, etc (or whether you have no conception of such things at all), there were just way too many decision points that led you to Louise. For whatever reason, you were meant to find her that day.

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author

Thanks, Mark. I am definitely inclined to believe that there are forces greater than our understanding, and that some manifestation of them was involved here.

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