CAPTAIN BEYOND — Lost & Found 1972-1973 (review)

CAPTAIN BEYOND — Lost & Found 1972-1973 album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 2017 · Hard Rock

3/5 · 2017-06-08
siLLy puPPy

It’s a music lover’s wet dream when one of their most revered under appreciated bands from the early 70s, who released but a couple albums and then faded into the ethers like a footnote in a voluminous tome, finally scrapes out the decades-old barrels and finds a few goodies to throw out to their staunch and loyal followers. Such is the case in 2017 when from out of the blue the short-lived heavy prog outfit CAPTAIN BEYOND unexpectedly puts out a new compilation called LOST & FOUND 1972-1973. How are the fans to take this? Is this a litmus test to see how well received it is and prognosticate a possible reunion and dare i even say - new album? Yes, the early 70s heavy prog rockers led by ex-Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans along with guitarists Larry Reinhard and Lee Dorman from Iron Butterfly and drummer Bobby Caldwell who played with Johnny Winter crafted their supergroup into a major cult hit but never really got the respect they deserved and after two decent albums and one not so much so disbanded presumably never to be heard from again.

Well before you get your knickers too much in a bind, let me just state clearly that this is NOT an album that consists of entirely new material. Well, there is one new track that never was released but otherwise this is merely a collection of demos and alternate takes. Most of these tracks appeared (in final form of course) on the eponymous debut album whereas one comes from the oft loathed third album “Dawn Explosion.” Curiously there is nothing from the second album “Sufficiently Breathless.” This album is exactly what you would expect, namely a collection of material that was probably never meant to see the sunlight outside of its eternal crypt in someone’s basement or attic or who knows where with all the raw and gritty pre-production values one could imagine. And that’s exactly what we get here.

The only totally new track here is the hilariously titled “Uranus Expressway” (yeah, i can’t help but thinking it could be nicknamed “Hershey Highway!!!!” LOL. Despite the silly title, this is a serious bluesy rock track that is nothing out of the ordinary from the day and wisely left off of the debut album for it doesn’t have that progressive flair like many of those earliest of tracks. It actually echoes back to a more primeval era of Deep Purple minus John Lord’s keyboard contributions, of course, but actually a decent energetic rocker that finds the band in fine form with a tinge of Southern twang that correlates the Johnny Winter connection. All in all these are interesting relics from the past and will undoubtedly be ravishingly devoured by rabid fans foaming at the mouth for any scraps of residue from the hitherto inaccessible vaults, but other than the single new track there isn’t much that is out of the ordinary from what’s actually on their albums. It’s not like these tracks are so different compared to some of those on the Beatles’ different versions for example. This is definitely a good and worthy extra supplement for any collector’s shelves but not one i feel warrants the essential label. Nice album cover :)