Thrift shop purchases aren't always bargains, but that's the gamble and the fun, I guess. I sometimes wonder how many Goodwill/Value Village employees just put up with the job to get first crack at skimming the collectible stuff, making their real money on eBay, etc. So when I see a CD by Captain Beyond in the rack, I'm thinking "How did this get past the stockers-- don't they realize what this is??" Err, maybe they did...
Captain Beyond (if you believe the online comments) was a super-group that stretched the boundaries of hard rock by mixing in acoustic CSN&Y bits with Santana-esque percussion. Oh, and space-cosmic song titles and graphics. (Can it really be a "super-group" if it involves Deep Purple's early vocalist and someone who played in a later version of Iron Butterfly ?) Listening now, maybe not so effective with the first-time listener, but apparently if this 'blew your mind' when you were a teenager, it still works its magic.
I first heard a CB track on a Warner Brothers sampler (remember, dear reader?) and was well yes, blown away by "Thousand Days of Yesterday" from the first album -- furious acoustic strumming, rapid time-signature changes -- it was as if Deep Purple stole a time machine to borrow the sound of "Songs from the Wood"-era Jethro Tull, amped it up a bit, and added some Space Oddity-cosmic lyrics. Turns out that track was totally different from the rest of the frenetic heavy-osity on the album.
By album 2, they've cut back on the bellowing "I Used To Be In Deep Purple" vocals, added the congas ala Santana, and unfortunately lost the superior drumming of Bobby Caldwell (definitely not the "What You Won't Do For Love" guy.) The opening title track plays the same game that "Thousand Days of Yesterday" did -- radio-friendly, more of an early "Toulouse Street" acoustic Doobie Brothers sound, sitting on the stoop watching the freaky world go by and not indicative of the rest of the album at all. Bummer. Songs include "Starglow Energy", "Evil Men" and "Everything's a Circle". Sigh. $1.99 for 5:15 decent minutes, but still, a pretty good 5+ minutes!
Next: Sopwith Camel -- maybe 10 good minutes??
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