Tuesday, August 4, 2020

REPOST: Captain Beyond - Frozen Over (Live In Arlington, Texas 1973) Bootleg

(U.S 1971-79, 1998-2003)
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'Far Beyond a Distant Sun - Live in Arlington Texas' is the best Captain Beyond live bootleg album to date. It was recorded in 1973 (but wasn't officially released until 2002), after the release of their 2nd LP Sufficiently Breathless, with the four original member reuniting for a brief tour before Rod Evans leaves. The album was recorded at the University of Texas at Arlington in support of King Crimson.
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With the original line-up, this live album features all classic Captain Beyond tracks like "Dancing Madly Backwards", "Distant Sun", "Mypopic Void" etc. plus an excellent guitar solo from Rhino and a fantastic drum solo by Bobby Caldwell and lastly, a rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free". This is definitive Captain Beyond live in concert and by far, the best sounding live bootleg by them (there's no official live album of Captain Beyond). Rod Evans reaps through this set while Rhino and Bobby Caldwell are consistent as ever. This gig shows the real dynamics of the band and proves how great they were in live settings. What a combination of energy and sophistication! The music is well thought out--it's classy, but tailored... knock your socks off. Sad that Captain Beyond didn't last long, but their impact on today's heavy prog/stoner rock revivalists is evident..
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Captain Beyond 1973
After leaving Deep Purple, Rod Evans recorded a solo single for Capitol, then went on to form Captain Beyond, along with former Johnny Winter drummer Bobby Caldwell, former Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who also was part of the last incarnation of Iron Butterfly. This band proved to be very influential, but sales never reflected their musical achievements. Lack of commercial success ended the group after three albums.
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The original line-up for Captain Beyond were singer Rod Evans (ex-Deep Purple), drummer Bobby Caldwell (ex-Johnny Winter), guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt (ex-Iron Butterfly), bassist Lee Dorman (ex-Iron Butterfly) and keyboardist Lewie Gold. Gold left due to personal reasons before the first album was recorded. The remaining line-up recorded the self-titled debut album, released in 1972. Following this album Caldwell left the band to join Derringer and was replaced by drummer Brian Glascock. Also joining the band around this time were Reese Wynans on keyboards and Guille Garcia on congas. The record company's chosen producer, Giorgio Gomelsky, did not like Glascock's drumming and requested a new drummer. Glascock was released and Marty Rodriguez was brought in on drums on the recommendation of Garcia. This six man lineup recorded the group's second album, Sufficiently Breathless. Tension during the recording led to Evans quitting. The original lineup reformed later in 1973 for a US tour but the band split up at the end of the year.
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Live on stage at Arlington, Texas
The band reformed in 1976 with Willy Daffern on vocals, and Bobby Caldwell, Rhino and Lee Dorman completing the line-up. They recorded the band's third album Dawn Explosion on Warner Bros., but broke up in 1978.
Reinhardt and Caldwell reformed Captain Beyond in 1998 with Jimi Interval on vocals, Dan Frye on keyboards, and Jeff Artabasy on bass. Since then they have been performing at shows and have released a four track EP. In 1999, Swedish record label Record Heaven released a tribute to Captain Beyond entitled Thousand Days of Yesterday. The album features fellow 1970s rockers Pentagram playing "Dancing Madly Backwards".
Captain Beyond once again disbanded in 2003 when lead guitarist Larry Reinhardt developed cancer. Following treatment, Reinhardt continued to perform music until late 2011, when he again fell ill. He died on January 2, 2012. Bassist Lee Dorman died on December 21, 2012.

Rod Evans
Arlington Concert
The concert was taped on October 6, 1973 at the University of Texas in Arlington, as Captain Beyond toured to promote their second album, 'Sufficiently Breathless', in the company of King Crimson. It was Caldwell's birthday too, and it must have been a good one because Caldwell laughed while being interviewed, saying "I Don't Remember a Thing!"

The album second album was in the stores and selling well, but Captain Beyond did not feel the need to push it to the forefront of the show. They opened the set with the record's "Distant Sun" and the so evocative "Drifting In Space" pops up later in the show - two Rod Evans Lyrics, incidentally, that Caldwell cites among the most revealing and exciting of all the vocalist's writings.

The heart of the show, however, remains locked within the expanses of their debut album: the exquisite "Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air)", "Armsworth" and "Myopic Void", the so-expansive "Mesmerization Eclipse", and the epic "Thousand Days of Yesterday". Reinhardt's guitar solo is breathtaking, Caldwell's drum solo is exhilarating. Then the closing roar through Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free" leaves the audience sufficiently breathless, gasping for more!

Why the Arlington show itself was taped, Caldwell admit's he doesn't know. " I have no idea. Somebody out there, somebody in the sound company, recorded it [the headliner's set was also taped]. I just remember captain Beyond was playing very well, and the audience  were getting bigger and more vocal, because we were attracting not just the fans, but the musicians as well. We didn't get just one general audience, we got a cross section of the die hard musicians as well and so it just kept rolling and getting bigger and bigger. Everywhere we played we were getting it down. It was a pretty impressive group..." [Extract from Liner Notes, 2013]


There have been two releases for this Live Texas show, this bootleg entitled 'Frozen Over' and another later release called 'Far Beyond A Distant Sun - Live in Texas' by Dream Clinic records. The difference between these two releases is the track listing with this release been more complete.

The post consists of FLACs ripped from a 2013 CD release and includes full album artwork (thanks to Deutros) . I have also included the artwork for the alternative release for comparison (see right). This is a great bootleg, and although there is some background hiss and tape gurgles, the recording isn't too bad.
So sit back, crank up the volume, and prepare to be Frozen Over !
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Tracklist
01 Taped Intro / Distant Sun – 6:33
02 Dancing Madly Backwards On A Sea Of Air – 5:52
03 Armworth – 1:46
04 Myopic Void – 5:02
05 Drifting In Space – 3:02
06 Pandora's Box (It's War) – 8:50
07 Thousand Days Of Yesterdays - 1:34
08 Frozen Over - 4:31
09 Butterfly Bleu (Rhino Guitar jam) - 6:40
10 Mesmerization Eclipse / Drum Solo - 18:44
11 Stone Free - 5:43

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Captain Beyond are:
Rod Evans – Lead vocals, Tambourine 
Larry 'Rhino' Reinhardt – Lead guitar, Backing vocals 
Lee Dorman – Bass guitar, Backing vocals 
Bobby Caldwell – Drums

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Captain Beyond Live Link (428Mb)

* Improved RIP 

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