Captain Beyond (album)
Released July 1972
Recorded 1971 – 1972 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood
Genre Hard rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock
Length 35:10
Label Capricorn
Producer Captain Beyond
Captain Beyond is the self-titled debut album by Captain Beyond, released in 1972, featuring former members of Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple, Johnny Winter, and Rick Derringer. The album cover for the U.S. release included 3-D artwork (using lenticular printing). The album was dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman, who Captain Beyond drummer Bobby Caldwell had played with in an informal capacity.
Captain Beyond is unique among guitar-driven hard rock albums in that it contains a wide range of influences, including Latin and jazz, often with various time signatures and a broad range of dynamics within the same song. Most of the album consists of three medleys of tightly arranged interconnected songs. The first starts with “Dancing Madly Backwards (on a Sea of Air)” and ends with “Myopic Void”. The second starts with “Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro)” and ends with “Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone)”. The third starts with “I Can’t Feel Nothin’ (Part 1)” and finishes the album. Songs flow directly into each other without any lag time between selections, a feature that is shared with other more progressive bands of the era such as Moody Blues and Jethro Tull.
All of the songwriting was credited to lead vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Bobby Caldwell. However, the songs were in fact written by the group as a whole. Due to their still binding contracts with Iron Butterfly, guitarist Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman could not be listed as songwriters on this record for legal reasons.
Track listing
All tracks written by Bobby Caldwell and Rod Evans.
Track listing
All tracks written by Bobby Caldwell and Rod Evans.
Side one
No. Title Length
1. “Dancing Madly Backwards (on a Sea of Air)” 4:02
2. “Armworth” 1:48
3. “Myopic Void” 3:31
4. “Mesmerization Eclipse” 3:48
5. “Raging River of Fear” 3:47
Side two
No. Title Length
1. “Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Intro)” 1:16
2. “Frozen Over” 3:46
3. “Thousand Days of Yesterdays (Time Since Come and Gone)” 3:57
4. “I Can’t Feel Nothin’ (Part 1)” 3:06
5. “As the Moon Speaks (to the Waves of the Sea)” 1:27
6. “Astral Lady” 0:58
7. “As the Moon Speaks (Return)” 1:57
8. “I Can’t Feel Nothin’ (Part 2)” 1:46
Personnel
Rod Evans – lead vocals
Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt – guitars
Lee Dorman – bass guitar, backing vocals, piano
Bobby Caldwell – drums, all percussion instruments (including bells and vibraphone), backing vocals, piano
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