TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Dawn Explosion" - Captain Beyond (1977)

"Dawn Explosion" - Captain Beyond (1977)

     I like Captain Beyond.  I have their self-titled lenticular album as well as their follow-up.  Both are equally enjoyable.  You can't go wrong with either.   But as for their third and last album, "Dawn Explosion," I just never had much interest in picking it up.  Mostly because of weak reviews I've read, and plus, you just don't see this square out in the wild very often.  But I'm glad I finally did.

     The previous two Captain Beyond albums are filled with hard rock and a cool prog-psych mindset.  It would be four years before the band released their third, and last album... "Dawn Explosion" in 1977.  A long time to wait to satisfy the studio itch, and perhaps a bit risky, but it's a worthy effort.  Both sides have a couple of tracks that really grab the golden ring, while others sometimes slide into the classic-rock lake that other band peers were swimming in.  And for what it is, it's all good stuff.  My only wish is that the band took a few more chances, cause they had something special.  I gave this square another spin while writing this little epistle, and I'm totally digging it.  If you come upon a nice copy cheap, don't sleep.

"Dawn Explosion" - Captain Beyond (back)

Favorites include:
"Breath Of Fire, Pt 1 & Pt 2" 
"Icarus"
"Fantasy"
"Sweet Dreams"

     There is a longer-than-necessary sawcut at the top-right part of the cover, but the cover is clean.  The vinyl is in excellent condition.  The back cover shows a track listing that differs from the label on side two.  B1 is printed without the track titles.  The same for tracks B3 and B4.  However, the label does include the track titles.  My copy is on the Warner Bros. palm tree label.  The record was pressed at Capitol Records in Jacksonville, indicated by a stand-alone "0" in the deadwax.

   To refresh memories, Captain Beyond was a bit of a supergroup, featuring drummer Bobby Caldwell (Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Armageddon), guitarist Larry Reinhardt, bassist Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly), and, for the first two albums, Rod Evans (Deep Purple).  Singer Willy Daffern replaced Evans for this, the band's last square, and yeah, Daffern brings the vocals just fine.


Warner Bros. Records

Cat #  
C 30381
SIDE 1  DEADWAX
0 c PAL-30381-1A
SIDE 2  DEADWAX
0 P BL-30381-1A  A

"Icarus" - Captain Beyond / "Dawn Explosion (1977)

TRACKS:
A1  "Do Or Die" 3:39
A2  "Icarus" 4:14
A3  "Sweet Dreams" 5:30
A4  "Fantasy" 6:05
B1  "Breath Of Fire"
      a. "A Speck Within A Sphere" 3:07
      b. " Alone In The Cosmos" 3:15
B2  "If You Please" 4:15
B3  "Midnight Memories" 4:00
       "Space Interlude" 0:50
B4  "Oblivion" 2:12
       "Space Reprise" 0:53

PERSONNEL: 
Willy Daffern - vocals
Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar
Lee Dorman - bass, b-vocals, string ensemble, synthesizer
Bobby Caldwell - drums, percussion, b-vocals

Good stuff.

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