"Ride Captain Ride" is a song recorded by the American rock band

Blues Image Blues Image was an American rock band. They had a hit in 1970 with " Ride Captain Ride", which reached No. 4 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM magazine charts. Career Blues Image was formed in Miami, Florida in 1966 ...

. It was co-written by the band's singer-guitarist

Mike Pinera Carlos Michael Pinera (September 29, 1948 – November 20, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who started professionally in the late 1960s with the group Blues Image, which had a number 4 hit in 1970 with their song ...

and keyboardist Frank "Skip" Konte and was included on the group's 1970 album, ''

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

''. Released as a slightly shortened single in the spring of 1970, it shot up the charts, eventually reaching No. 4 in the US and Canadian charts, making it Blues Image's only Top 40 chart hit. It reached No. 23 in Australia. The longer version repeats the chorus several times before the instrumental coda leaves the song. The guitar fills, and main solo were performed by Kent Henry. Pinera plays the guitar solo at the end of the song. The number of keys on Pinera's

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

inspired the song. Pinera said, "Okay, I need a first word. And what came into my head was '73.' I liked the rhythm, and I went, '73 men sailed up, from the San Francisco Bay.'...The song sort of just wrote itself from there." In the lyrics, the crew invites others to ride to a new land where they will feel free. However, the local people are too preoccupied with life's troubles to hear or answer their call. When the crew sets sail, they are never seen or heard from again. The Captain rides with his crew on a mystery ship, which disappears forever.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers

The song was covered by

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

in the album ''New City'' from 1975. The song has been performed live many times by

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

with

Page McConnell Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963) is an American multi-instrumentalist, most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. McConnell joined Phish in 1985, and is the only member of its long-standing quartet li ...

on lead vocals, notably during the "Ian's Farm" show on May 28, 1989.

References

1970 singles Atco Records singles Songs written by Mike Pinera Atlantic Records singles American rock songs Songs about San Francisco {{1970s-rock-song-stub