This was written in 1967 by Graham Nash (although it was credited jointly to him, Allan Clarke and Tony Hicks) after he had visited America. He wanted to take the band in a new direction, but King Midas in Reverse was a comparative flop, making No 18 in Britain and No 51 in the US.
This failure added to tensions within the group and Nash left in December 1968 to join former Buffalo Springfield guitarist Stephen Stills and ex-Byrds singer and guitarist David Crosby to form one of the first supergroups, Crosby, Stills & Nash. Later they were joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young to become Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash regularly performed King Midas in Reverse live with the band.