BLUES IMAGE, “RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE”

Welcome to The Minute of Spin, a bite-sized music segment in which we explore a single song that came to define an entire band. Unfortunately, we can't afford the rights to the songs we spotlight, so you won't actually hear the song. But you're welcome to listen to it here.

Growing up, I listened to a lot of FM radio, specifically the softrock variety. Boston had two softrock stations back in the 70s and 80s, WEEI and later WMJX, Magic 106.7. Certain songs played in heavy rotation back then, and for whatever reason, these included “Brandy” by Looking Glass, and “Ride Captain Ride” by Blues Image. The two are forever joined in my mind, and not only because they’re kind of sea shanteys. To this day, whenever I head up north to visit my folks, I turn on the radio, and there they are, Proustian Madeleines transporting back to my uninspired musical youth.

Blues Image originated in Tampa, Florida, then migrated down to Miami, where they were instrumental in starting a club called the Image. After becoming the house band and jamming alongside headliners like the Dead, Cream, and Blood, Sweat and Tears, the band moved to L.A. and released its first album. Expectations ran high for Blues Image after Jimi Hendrix pronounced them “one of the best up and coming bands” in an issue of Melody Maker.

That promise paid off in April 1970, on the group’s second album “Open,” which featured “Ride Captain Ride.” An ode to ill-fated seafaring penned by guitarist and lead singer Mike Pinera along with keyboardist Skip Konte, the song leapt to #4 on the Billboard charts and the album sold well over a million copies. Some claim the song’s based on the voyages of Sir Francis Drake. Pinera says it was the 73 keys on the band’s Rhodes piano that inspired the tale of 73 men setting off from San Francisco Bay.

Sadly, the group never recaptured the magic of Ride Captain Ride, and only put out one more album before calling it quits. But the future was bright for the members of Blues Image: Pinera went on to join Iron Butterfly and a host of other bands. Other members joined Manassas, Steppenwolf, and Three Dog Night. As for me: I may still occasionally confuse Blues Image with Looking Glass, but upon hearing that rollicking Rhodes, there’s no question in my mind on which voyage I’ve embarked.