Formed by ex Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans and former member of Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond released their self titled album in '72. A fairly short record at just over a half hour total, the album in broken up into two "suites". The songs flow seamlessly into each other without missing a beat. As a special treat for US audiences the album cover is meant to be viewed in 3-D. The album was dedicated to late Allman Brothers member Duane Allman. While the album was short and sweet, it was a solid debut and showed promise from a supergroup of sorts. However after the release tensions rose and lineup changes began. The band somehow got it together for a second album and a short US tour in '73, but was done again until another reform and album in '76. Singer Rod Evans would leave the music business for good after the second album. Evans still hasn't resurfaced to this day. The band again was done by '78. Twenty years passed before the band reformed again and began to tour again. Sadly original members Lee Dorman and Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt passed in '12 and '11 respectively. This left original drummer Bobby Caldwell as the only original member left and in '13 he pulled together new members and began touring again.
Captain Beyond for me remains one of those hidden gems in Rock. The band did get some Metal love with the Doom veteran band Pentagram covering "Dancing Madly Backwards" for a tribute record. In addition the side project of at the time former Mercyful Fate guitar duo, Hank Shermann and Michael Denner, Zoser Mez covered the Captain Beyond track "Mesmerization Eclipse" for their album 'Vizier Of Wasteland'. This is a great album for fans of Jethro Tull, King Crimson and The Moody Blues. Enjoy this hidden classic.
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