Concert Preview
Captain Beyond
Bears Den Inside
Seneca Niagara Casino & Resort
Friday August 25, 2017
When it comes to lost albums from the seventies, there is one that comes to mind immediately. The self-titled release from Captain Beyond which many cite as the most underrated album from any era much less just the seventies.
During the bands brief career, they released three studio albums. Only that first album featured the original lineup of singer Rod Evans, drummer Bobby Caldwell, guitarist Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and bassist Lee Dorman. Evans left after touring for the second album in 1973. Caldwell left and did not play on the second album Sufficiently Breathless, though he did come back for third. That left Reinhardt and Dorman the only two members who played on each album.
I asked drummer and sole remaining original member Bobby Caldwell during a recent phone interview about his take on the third album Dawn Explosion. “It has its moments. I think what bothered me the most about it was not so much the songs or the playing, but the way it was recorded. I thought the sound should have been duplicated along the lines of the first album.”
Caldwell said it isn’t about just the touring. There are plans down the road to record new material. He is not interested in producing it by himself because he feels he is not objective enough. He said it will take some time to find the right producer but feels that is essential to success of the album.
The recently released Lost & Found 1972-1973 which features demos and alternate takes of songs from the first album as well as an unreleased song “Uranus Highway” featured the original lineup.
The newly resurrected Captain Beyond will play a sold-out show at the Bear’s Den inside Seneca Niagara Casino & Resort Friday August 25. The lineup will be Bobby Caldwell on drums, Jeff Artabasy on bass guitar, guitarists Don Bonzi and Jamie Holka as well as vocalist, keyboardist Simon Lind. The show marks a homecoming for Niagara Falls native Holka.
