Captain Beyond by Captain Beyond (Capricorn 1972)
Dancing madly backwards (on a sea of air)
Captain Beyond Tracklist
All songs written by Rod Evans and Bobby Caldwell
Vinyl Album Side One
1. Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air) 4:08
2. Armworth 2:50
3. Myopic Void 3:37
4. Mesmerization Eclipse 3:45
5. Raging River of Fear 3:48
Vinyl Album Side Two
6. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro) 1:30
7. Frozen Over 3:55
8. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone) 4:05
9. I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 1) 3:07
10. As the Moon Speaks (To the Waves of the Sea) 2:30
11. Astral Lady 1:15
12. As the Moon Speaks (Return) 2:16
13. I Can't Feel Nothin' (Part 2) 1:11
Important note: Tracks 1-3, 6-8 and 9-13 segue together
Captain Beyond Lineup
Rod Evans: Vocals
Larry 'Rhino' Reinhardt: Guitars
Lee Dorman: Bass guitar, piano, Hammond organ, vocals
Bobby Caldwell: Drums, percussion, Hammond organ, bells, vibraphone, vocals
Among my memories of the summer 1972 are a string of great rock hit singles: School's Out by Alice Cooper, Silver Machine by Hawkwind, All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople, Hold Your Head Up by Argent and Standing in the Road by Blackfoot Sue. Album releases were equally strong and included Close to the Edge by Yes, The Magician's Birthday by Uriah Heep, Machine Head and Made in Japan by Deep Purple . . . and Captain Beyond by Captain Beyond. The latter initially came to my attention when a friend of mine, who must have seen them live, bought the first album on its release. I remember his obsession being such that he burned the band's name on his mother's garden gate, with a magnifying glass - in a series of dots!
Captain Beyond was formed when singer Rod Evans, from Deep Purple, joined guitarist Larry 'Rhino' Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman, both from Iron Butterfly. They were augmented by Bobby Caldwell on drums and Lewie Gold on keyboards, although the latter left, due to personal reasons, before the first self-titled album was recorded. As part of a BBC Radio One interview, in the early nineteen-eighties, Richie Blackmore claimed Evans was sacked from Purple because he was a crooner and the guitarist had wanted a screamer like Ian Gillan. Deep Purple's loss was Captain Beyond's gain, but, although both bands made exceptional albums, it was Purple who went on to hard rock superstardom, while Captain Beyond slipped into obscurity. Captain Beyond proved to be very influential, but their record sales never reflected the considerable musical achievement of the debut album.
Captain Beyond (the album) has an unusual organisation in the tracklisting; the first three tracks are segued together, as are six to eight and nine to thirteen, but these 'sequences' are without collective titles. Tracks four and five stand alone. Captain Beyond begins with arguably their best known track, Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air), which opens with drums and Rod Evans' velvet voice. The pace increases with a driving bass riff and guitar solo; it is revealed that Evans can growl, if necessary, without being strained. The track is rightly famous because it is a masterpiece of restraint and heavy rock subtlety, with lyrics that are wistful and ethereal. It is not flippant and sets an effective precedent for the remainder of the album. As Dancing Madly Backwards closes on an almost jazz-rock pattern, Armworth starts with sprightly guitar and vocals, mixed with gentle harmonies. If the guitar sounds familiar, it was borrowed as the main feature of Martha and the Muffins' Echo Beach. Myopic Void begins with a space-y feel, but is a strongly percussive piece, with military drumming, and just as you begin to think it is too long, Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air) reappears with sparkling guitar work. Thus ends the first sequence.
Mesmerization Eclipse is heavy and strident, with the vocals following the guitars and revelatory rolling drums from Caldwell. Ted Nugent and Derek Holmes must have been aware of this song when they made the first Ted Nugent album. There are changes of riff and a repeated phrase before the fadeout. Likewise, Badlands' were inspired by Raging River of Fear when they recorded the outstanding The River. Baker Gurvitz Army may have listened to it too. Raging River of Fear has a bluesy guitar and Voodoo Chile-like riff, while the mention of a battlefield recalls ELP's Tarkus (Eddie Offord produced Tarkus and although BGA's production is credited to Paul Gurvitz, some believe Offord was responsible).
Acoustic guitar and cymbals lead us into the first quiet track on the album (and the second 'sequence'), Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro). When the whispered vocals enter, it has an eerie feel, redolent of Faith No More's equally diverse, but much later The Real Thing album. Just as you expect this to segue into something menacing, it develops the catchy riff of Frozen Over. Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone) has excellent lead vocals and open chords, later used by Genesis and Gordon Giltrap, and ends on scat singing with harmonies - giving it a jazz-rock feel. With editting, it could have provided a much-needed hit single. Frozen Over, like Raging River of Fear, has a heavy riff and the voice follows the guitar.
I Can't Feel Nothin' Pt. 1, of the third and final 'sequence', has sparse guitar notes with sustain, but closes on a funky riff - variety being the spice of life, where Captain Beyond are concerned. Throughout the album, Larry Reinhardt's playing is consistently tasteful, with excellent solos, and appropriate to the song. Indeed, the instruments in the band are constantly together, without any 'showing-off'. With other vocalists, spoken word songs are a poor substitute for singing, but Rod Evans' performance on As the Moon Speaks (to the Waves) adds full dramatic effect to the final sequence. Astral Lady, at only sixteen seconds, is a linking guitar instrumental to the beautiful As the Moon Speaks (Return), which has delicate Beatles-like harmonies, phased voices and superb vocals from the sadly underrated Evans. Curiously, the track closes on a percussive Santana-like passage, pointing to the band's future direction, before Captain Beyond bow out on an abrupt I Can't Feel Nothin' Pt. 2.
In short, Captain Beyond is a glorious album, loved by fans, but ignored by the media. It was the product of the chemistry between all four members, and when drummer and co-songwriter Bobby Caldwell departed, soon after, to join Rick Derringer, the magic went with him. Like a spectacular firework, they lit up the sky and were gone. If I have a criticism of the album, it is that the production is dated and, with its combination of echo-y vocals and Fifth Dimension harmonies, sounded this way even in 1972! Caldwell was briefly replaced by Brian Glascock on drums, while Reese Wynans and Guille Garcia joined on keyboards and congas respectively. Glascock was subsequently sacked, Marty Rodriguez was brought in on drums and this six-man lineup recorded the group's second album, Sufficiently Breathless (in a different style). With the lack of cohesion, tension during the recording led Rod Evans to quit and the band imploded. The original lineup reformed in 1973, for a US tour, but split at the end of the year. Various versions of Captain Beyond were formed in the intervening years, until Larry Reinhardt developed cancer in 2003. Following treatment, he continued to perform until late 2011, when he again fell ill. He sadly died on 2nd January 2012. What of Rod Evans? Well, that's another story . . .
There is an interesting rock family tree for Captain Beyond on:
Rod Evans. Captain Beyond History