Day 4 9/13/07

Well, I'd hoped to have a moment to watch my favorite whipping post, Dubya, tonight on "teevee" trying to fire all of us 'Mericans up to support his continued war effort. The Grandkids were over and Dubya just doesn't merit a moment of my attention when those two are around. However, I have been keeping up with General Petreaus' appearances this week with the Congress and the Senate. While not wanting to take a swat a man who obviously has served his country honorably for a long time, as evidenced by all the fruit salad on his chest, I do have doubts that his testimony is truly genuine and is in the best interest of our country. But that's just me, and I don't like Dubya, and I sure don't like this damn war. I want to scream whenever I hear some moron talk about our honor and not leaving before the job is done. Where the hell was our honor when so many stood by and watched as Dubya decided it was righteous to blow away Iraqis in the cause of 9-11? Amazing how many idiots still beleive in that lie, even after the original idiot admitted that there was no connection.
How about some obscure music trivia? While I'd really like to discuss one of my favorite topics (as mentioned previously), Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Police and how their histories are mingled, I'm going to talk about a band that is on my album list, Captain Beyond, because of an e-mail I received. Captain Beyond was formed in 1971. Made up of former members of Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly and Johnny Winter's band. Rod Evans, the original singer for Deep Purple handled vocals. Bobby Caldwell on drums, originaly played with Johnny Winter. Evans and Caldwell wrote the lyrics for the first album and they must be read to be truly understood and even then you'll be scratching your head. Lee Dorman on bass and Larry "Rhino" sometimes "Ryno" Rhinehardt on guitar were both from Iron Butterfly. Captain Beyond was truly a "Super Group", but never played to large audiences or had great record deals or record sales. Their first album is titled "Captain Beyond" and was released 1972 on Capricorn Records, the same label that had The Allman Brothers Band and Marshall Tucker and other great southern rock bands of that time. Capricorn never really knew what to do with these guys and realized they'd made a marketing mistake. In the meantime, C B was getting a bit of a cult following and had minor successes in clubs and small halls. They never made enough money from records or live dates to sustain the band. In 1973 they released another album, but Bobby Caldwell had left to join Armegeddon with Keith Relf of The Yardbirds. The new band had a keyboard player who's name you should recognize, Reese Wynans, who'd later wind up playing in Stevie Ray Vaughan's Band, Double Trouble. The band also now had Guille Garcia on percussion and Marty Rodriguez on drums. One track featured Paul Hornsby who is famous for his time with The Marshall Tucker Band, Grinderswtch, The Dickey Betts Band, Wet Willie, Bonnie Bramlett and Willie Nelson. This album was titled "Sufficiently Breathless" and the title track did receive some radio air play. The band did tour some to support this album initially, but Capricorn lost interest and the money ran out. The band resurected in 1977 with the release of Dawn Explosion and nearly all of the original line up. Only Rod Evans did not return and his replacement was a very able Willie Daffern. The newer material was not as good as the first album and selected tracks from the second album and this was cause for inner conflict. The band was again mismanaged and underfinanced. In spite of excited sold crowds at the smallish venues that they did play, C B was unable to continue for long. In late 1998 the band was attempting another resurection with Bobby Caldwell and Rhino playing the central revival roles. In 1999 "A Tribute To Captain Beyond Thousand Days Of Yesterday" was released by Record Heaven. It is a complete playing of the first album by European Bands in tribute to the band that they describe as a major influence. It's a pretty good cd and I recommend it. Caldwell and Rhino continued to write and play and try to get ready to play again. They played several live shows in the Florida area and some shows in Europe. In 2000 they released a 4 track demo of songs, promising to do an album in the future. Besides Rhino and Caldwell, the demo also has Jimi Interval on vocals, Dan Frye on keyboards and Jeff Artabasy on bass. It is a very promising demo and I've been disappointed that there was never a follow up to their promise of an album. In 2001 original bass player, Lee Dorman had a heart transplant and retired from music.
The original C B album is my favorite hard rock album of the 70's. You gotta remember how many great albums came out during the 70's. Now try naming your favorite. I just blew right by Led Zeppelin, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Humble Pie and many others to pick this album. My choice deserves your criticism, but you have to listen to Captain Beyond about a hundred and fifty times before you get to try to change my mind.
Thanks for coming by. No more "W's"
Hank