1972 was such a fabulous year for new releases.  You were either waiting for your favourite band’s new release or trying out yet another new band vying to compete.  The record store I worked in at the time had at least six listening booths, plus a headphone tower where the featured release of the week could be heard simultaneously by more avid music fans.  The lineups on Saturdays were worth it just for this small list alone: Argent – All Together Now; Barclay James Harvest – And Other Short Stories; Jeff Beck Group – s/t (Orange); Black Sabbath – Vol. 4; David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust; Camel – s/t’; Caravan – Waterloo Lily; Deep Purple – Machine Head; Eagles – s/t; Family – Bandstand; Genesis – Foxtrot; Gentle Giant – Three Friends; Glencoe – s/t; Grin – All Out; Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick; Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy; Wishbone Ash – Argus; Yes – Close to the Edge; Neil Young – Harvest.  Man, does this take you back?  Okay, I got carried away, but my point being that music was so rich and diverse and more coming down the pipe all the time, it was just plain hard to keep up. 

One of the new bands that came through the door was Captain Beyond.  A lot of hype had advanced before it, including the promise of a new super group and holographic LP cover!  So did it measure up?  The idea of super groups was not new – i.e. Cream, Super Sessions, Blind Faith – groups of high profile musicians getting together to cut LPs and rake in the money had been around for some time.  So I think a lot of people were skeptical – the proof would be in the listening.  And in this reviewer’s opinion, the hype didn’t come close to expressing the sheer power and enjoyment of Captain Beyond!  And the listening booths had long waiting lists and Captain Beyond was the most requested LP for some time.

Formed in late 1971, the group consisted of Rod Evans, Deep Purple’s vocalist on the first three LPs; Bobby Caldwell, Johnny Winter’s drummer; Lee Dorman, Iron Butterfly’s bassist; and Larry (Rhino) Reinhardt, Iron Butterfly’s guitarist from Metamorphosis.  From the moment the music starts, you are in riff heaven – think Black Sabbath syncopation with a smoother, faster tempo and a constant Keith Moon (The Who) attack and you might be in the ballpark.  All of the songs were co-written by Caldwell and Evans, so the drums are right up front and all the instruments go for the ride.  It was and is unusual to have a drummer as the principal writer in Rock, and this LP showed what would and could happen.  This is air guitar music, music that makes you stand on tiptoes, music that you might throw into your cassette machine in the car and then get a speeding ticket.  And because of the miracle of CD you don’t have to flip the LP over – the music gains more strength and flow than before. 

There are 13 tracks – the first three blend into one heavy suite, then there are two stand alones, then a three-track suite then a suite of five.  Rhino, much like Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, overlaid riffs to the driving beat, with minimum solos that were short spears of fire when they did appear.  I am a huge fan of Rod Evans, and I always enjoyed his style while with Deep Purple.  His deep rich tones lent authority to the music and he was different than most singers in the heavy rock arena.  But the drumming of Bobby Caldwell was the real star here.  He was all over the kit on nearly every track – he sounded like more than one percussionist in many places.  Even on the few softer tracks, which mainly acted as intros or outros to the heavy stuff, he was busy with his symbols and snare – if you love percussion, you have to love this music.  I can’t recommend Captain Beyond enough, especially to those of you who want to go back in time to the heyday of classic rock and get into the groove.  Play this one on TEN!

Being that Raven chose to release this as a two-for-one CD, we also get treated to Sufficiently Breathless, their next outing.  Sadly, Bobby Caldwell had left by 1973 to join Armegeddon, another super group with Keith Relf (The Yardbirds) and arguably even heavier than Captain Beyond, but that is another story.  A new drummer, Marty Rodriguez came in, along with percussionist Guille Garcia and Reese Wynans on keyboards.  Lee Dorman took over all the writing duties, so you might expect at least another major heavy outing.  But actually, though you could link some of the music to the first LP, they branched out on this one with more diversity.  The music was not as heavy or fast and there were Santana influences in places, thanks to Garcia’s congas and timbales, hard as it might be to believe.  This may sound like disaster, but I think this is a fine LP, which captured a real mix of British and southern California, Latin-inspired rock at the time.  It takes a couple of listens to get into it, especially if you have just listened to the first one, but it is worth it.   

Raven, an Australian company, has done a great job of remastering this disc.  The sound is much better than the earlier US or Japan releases and the liner notes are interesting with comments by Rhino as an added treat.  Captain Beyond, though relegated to a second tier in the history books, I think deserves better than that.  Try these recordings out and see if you don’t agree.