I was always a fan of Mad River's slightly manic dark edge and saw them live many times. Friends with similar enthusiasm always wondered why MR veered toward country and folk on their 2nd album and how Hammond wound up with the solo career in country-folk like he did. In 1968 I was at a gathering at the home of Harvey Brooks. Nick Gravenites was there, and their band The Electric Flag was signing with Capitol. I believe the lawyer Richard Hodge was there with Mad River to discuss whether Capitol would be a good fit for them. I remember Hammond as a skinny blond kid hunched in a corner listening to one Merle Haggard record after another. That MR eventually veered from psychedelia and that Hammond ended up writing the music for "Coyote's Dream" never seemed too odd to me. He sure did it with a novelist's eye. It would be good to hear more from him. I discovered this site while looking to replace my MR albums online. Hope more folks do.