In 1970, Blues Image rode up the music charts with the song “Ride Captain Ride.” Written by Mike Pinera and Frank “Skip” Konte, the song from the blues-rock band’s second album, Open, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1970.
Known for its electric keyboard riff, “Ride Captain Ride” was a fantasy song about breaking free. Pinera’s wife, Valerie, told Songfacts the song was completely fictional despite speculation that it was based on Sir Francis Drake’s voyage around the west coast of America in 1579.
“‘Ride Captain’ is a story from his imagination,” Pinera’s wife shared. “I know when he was in the studio recording that album, they needed another song, and he wrote it on the spot. He came up with 73 from the keyboard having 73 keys.”
“Ride Captain Ride” was Blues Image’s only hit. By the time the song peaked on the Billboard charts, the band had broken up, with Pinera joining Iron Butterfly and Konte later moving on to Three Dog Night.
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Pinera once revealed he was under a lot of pressure to come up with a song as Blues Image ran out of studio time during the recording sessions for the Open album.
In an interview posted by Classic Rock All Stars, Pinera recalled, “The producer came in and said, ‘Do you have any more songs, because if you don’t, this is your last day in the studio, I’ve got Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night out there waiting for studio time.’ So I said, ‘Oh, I have a song,’ which I didn’t have exactly. “
Pinera explained that he shut himself in a bathroom and began to meditate.
“I calmed my mind, and I started hearing music,” he said. “I went out and sat at the piano, which was a Rhodes Model No. 73, which had 73 keys. So I say, ‘Okay, I need a first word.’ And what came into my head was 73. I liked the rhythm, and I went, ’73 men sailed in, from the San Francisco Bay. . . . The song sort of just wrote itself from there.”
Konte then came up with a melody for the chorus, and Blues Image recorded the song just in time.
While Blues Image didn’t last, Pinera left with nothing but fond memories of his four years in the band.
“So many memories of those times, mostly all great,” he once said in an interview posted by Blues.gr. “Blues Image members were real good friends. We were all united in wanting to be the best we could be. We would reach for musical moments that were way deep inside. Average and mediocre were not acceptable to us.”
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