Captain Beyond is an American rock supergroup formed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...
singer
Rod Evans
Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a British former singer.
In the late 1960s, he began his professional career in The Maze, formerly MI5, after which he was a member of the original Deep Purple line-up, who produced three studio albums ...
, former
Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...
drummer
Bobby Caldwell
Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...
, former
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal musi ...
guitarist
Larry Reinhardt
Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt (July 7, 1948 – January 2, 2012) was an American rock guitarist who played with Iron Butterfly and Captain Beyond. At one time Reinhardt was known by the nicknames "El Rhino" and "Ryno".
Early history
Born in Florida, ...
and former Iron Butterfly bassist
Lee Dorman
Douglas Lee Dorman (September 15, 1942 – December 21, 2012) was an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly. After replacing Jerry Penrod following Iron Butterfly’s debut album, Dorman had f ...
, the band had an eclectic style bridging elements of
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...
,
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
and
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...
with
space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
. They released three albums between 1972 and 1977.
The band was plagued since its inception with significant problems, including
lawsuits
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
involving Evans, Reinhardt and Dorman with their former bands, and a dispute over musical style with their record label,
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre.
History
Label and studio foun ...
. Although the band performed well together, relationships among the various band members were strained. In particular, singer Rod Evans left and rejoined the band several times beginning in 1971, and made his departure permanent in late 1973, after the release of the band's second album.
History
The original line-up for Captain Beyond included former
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...
singer
Rod Evans
Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a British former singer.
In the late 1960s, he began his professional career in The Maze, formerly MI5, after which he was a member of the original Deep Purple line-up, who produced three studio albums ...
, former
Johnny Winter
John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...
drummer
Bobby Caldwell
Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...
, former
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal musi ...
Lee Dorman
Douglas Lee Dorman (September 15, 1942 – December 21, 2012) was an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly. After replacing Jerry Penrod following Iron Butterfly’s debut album, Dorman had f ...
alongside keyboardist Lewie Gold. Gold left due to personal reasons before the first album was recorded. The remaining line-up recorded the self-titled
debut
Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to:
* Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society
* Debut novel, an author's first published novel
Film and television
* ''The Deb ...
album, released in 1972 by
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre.
History
Label and studio foun ...
, a
Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of G ...
-based independent label primarily known for cultivating such
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar specula ...
groups as
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...
and Wet Willie.
Following that album, Caldwell left the band to join
Derringer
A derringer is a small handgun that is neither a revolver nor a semi/ fully automatic pistol. It is not to be confused with mini-revolvers or pocket pistols, although some later derringers were manufactured with the pepperbox configuration. ...
and was replaced by
Brian Glascock
Brian Glascock (born 17 July 1948) is an English rock drummer for The Gods, Toe Fat, Carmen, Captain Beyond, Soy Cowboy, and primarily for The Motels. He also played on albums by Dolly Parton, Iggy Pop, and Joan Armatrading. He performed in a ...
. Also joining the band around that time were keyboardist Reese Wynans and conguero Guille Garcia. The record company's chosen producer,
Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Sergio Alessando Gomelsky (28 February 1934 – 13 January 2016) was a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter (as Oscar Rasputin) and record producer. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Switzerland, and later lived in the Unit ...
, did not like Glascock's drumming and requested a new drummer. Glascock was released and Marty Rodriguez was brought in on drums on the recommendation of Garcia. This six-man lineup recorded the group's second album, '' Sufficiently Breathless'', with producer and Capricorn Records co-founder
Phil Walden
Phil Walden (January 11, 1940 – April 23, 2006) was a co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records, along with former Atlantic Records executive Frank Fenter.
Biography
Walden received his undergraduate degree in economics from M ...
. Tension during the recording led to Evans quitting, and the band splitting consequently. The original lineup with Caldwell reformed later in 1973 for gigs in the US and Canada. However, Evans left the band permanently around Christmas of 1973 and the band broke up.
The band reformed in 1976 with Caldwell, Dorman, and Rhino, being joined first by Jason Cahoon and later with Willy Daffern as vocalist. They recorded the band's third album '' Dawn Explosion'' on Warner Bros., but broke up in 1978.
Caldwell and Rhino reformed Captain Beyond in 1998, with Jimi Interval on vocals, Dan Frye on keyboards, and Jeff Artabasy on bass. In 1999, Swedish record label Record Heaven released a tribute to Captain Beyond entitled ''Thousand Days of Yesterday''. The album features fellow 1970s rockers
Pentagram
A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle arou ...
playing "Dancing Madly Backwards". In 2000 they released a four track EP entitled ''Night Train Calling''. Shortly thereafter they were joined briefly by guitarist Steve Petrey.
Captain Beyond once again disbanded in 2003 when lead guitarist Larry Reinhardt developed cancer. Following treatment, Reinhardt continued to perform music until late 2011, when he again fell ill. He died on January 2, 2012. Bassist Lee Dorman died on December 21, 2012. Rod Evans has retired from performing, partly due to legal troubles with his original
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...
bandmates, and his current residence is still unknown. However, Caldwell mentioned in a 2015 interview that Evans was doing just fine and was working in the field of respiratory therapy.
Caldwell resurrected the band in 2013, with a lineup consisting of Don Bonzi, Jeff "Boday" Christensen, and Jamie Holka, bassist Allen Carmen, and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Simon Lind. In 2015 Carmen and Christensen departed the band and Artabasy returned as bassist. The reformed group began touring in 2015.
Personnel
Members
;Current members
*
Bobby Caldwell
Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...
- drums, percussion (1971–1973, 1973, 1976–1978, 1998–2003, 2013–present)
* Jeff Artabasy - bass (1998–2003, 2015–present)
* Don Bonzi - guitar (2013–present)
* Jamie Holka - guitar (2013–present)
* Simon Lind - guitar, keyboards, vocals (2013–present)
;Former members
*
Lee Dorman
Douglas Lee Dorman (September 15, 1942 – December 21, 2012) was an American bass guitarist best known as a member of the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly. After replacing Jerry Penrod following Iron Butterfly’s debut album, Dorman had f ...
- bass (1971–1973, 1973, 1976–1978)
*
Rod Evans
Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a British former singer.
In the late 1960s, he began his professional career in The Maze, formerly MI5, after which he was a member of the original Deep Purple line-up, who produced three studio albums ...
Brian Glascock
Brian Glascock (born 17 July 1948) is an English rock drummer for The Gods, Toe Fat, Carmen, Captain Beyond, Soy Cowboy, and primarily for The Motels. He also played on albums by Dolly Parton, Iggy Pop, and Joan Armatrading. He performed in a ...
- drums (1973)
* Reese Wynans - keyboards (1973)
* Marty Rodriguez - drums (1973)
* Jason Cahoon - vocals (1976)
* Willy Daffern - vocals (1976–1978)
* Dan Frye - keyboards (1998–2003)
* Jimi Interval - vocals (1998–2003)
* Steve Petrey - guitar (2000–2001)
* Allen Carmen - bass (2013–2015)
* Jeff "Boday" Christensen - guitar (2013–2015)
The Future is Now
''The Future Is Now'' is the only studio album by the American hip hop group Non Phixion. It was released on March 26, 2002, via Uncle Howie/Landspeed Records. Recording sessions took place at Fast Forward Studios, D&D Studios, No Mystery Studio ...
'' (2019)
EP
*''Night Train Calling'' (2000)
Live releases
*''Far Beyond a Distant Sun – Live Arlington, Texas'' (1973)
**''Frozen Over Live'' (1973, Bootleg Version)
**''Live In Texas - October 6, 1973'' (Official Bootleg, 2013 Reissue)
*''Live Anthology'' (Official Bootleg, 2013)
*''Live In Montreux 1972: 04.30.72'' (2016)
*''Live In Miami August 19, 1972'' (2019)
*''Live In New York - July 30th, 1972'' (2019)
*''Thousand Days of Yesterdays'' (1999)
* In 1985 US Hi-NRG outfit The Flirts released a single entitled "Dancing Madly Backwards" (Germany #46, US Dance #47). Although musically and lyrically totally different, its chorus is lifted directly from "Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)" off Captain Beyonds first album.