In 1977, our super heroes
of prog rock,
Captain
Beyond, regrouped
and released their third album -
Dawn
Explosion - considered
by many fans to be a very solid comeback album. It
also proved to be the quartet’s final swan song during the
classic rock era.
No
holds barred, their new label Warner Brothers Records was quick
in sending a strong message to the radio and retailer community,
with the succession of merchandising materials that pre-promoted
this fine release. An excerpt from one promotional poster
at the time reads:
Captain
Beyond is
getting promoted. By airplay. By word of mouth. By its brand
new record company. And
rightly so. These ex-members of Johnny
Winter and Iron Butterfly,
whose first two albums left 300,000 people breathless,
have made a bold new album. It’s called Dawn
Explosion.
So, when you hear about Captain
Beyond’s promotion,
don't
be surprised. THIS IS A MAJOR ROCK BAND WE’RE
TALKING ABOUT.
With newly enlisted lead vocalist Willy Daffern
replacing Rod Evans of Deep Purple fame, the core original
band members, Rhino (Iron Butterfly), Bobby Caldwell (Johnny
Winter),
and Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly), put their creative energies together
and nailed down an incredible grand finale fit for a king.
Along with their solid producer John Stronach, Captain
Beyond’s
final sessions were recorded and mixed at the Record Plant in Sausalito,
California in 1977.
Dawn
Explosion netted them decent airplay throughout
North America. Memorable tracks like the crowd pleasing
opener Do or Die and the powerful
Icarus, and
the rocking Fantasy were staples
on coveted play lists around the states, which also helped score
them a tour to help support the album.
To
this day, Captain
Beyond's
Dawn Explosion has
had an active afterlife due to the undying support of fans and
outlets like satellite and internet radio that still play all of
their albums. Prog rock truly wins hands down with this historic
release on Friday Music. We have gone back into the
Warner Music vaults and have found the original session tapes,
while providing you the listener with the best sounding version
of this disc ever! Impeccably remastered by Joe Reagoso
(Deep Purple, Johnny
Winter), Dawn Explosion finally
gets the royal treatment it deserves with this new edition.
Rock On! —FM
