Seventy-three men sailed up
From the San Francisco Bay,
Rolled off of their ship
And here's what they had to say
And here's what they had to say
[NOTE: There’s no rule against one-hit wonders by otherwise obscure bands being selected for the 2 OR 3 LINES "GOLDEN DECADE" HALL OF FAME, but I prefer to pick songs by groups that have a more substantial body of work than a single great single. However, "Ride Captain Ride" is just too perfect a record to overlook. Blues Image frontman Mike Pinera's account of how he was inspired to write the song makes you think that "Ride Captain Ride" was a slapdash affair – written under duress in a matter of minutes, and hurriedly recorded because bigger names were waiting to use the recording studio. But today's featured song is as well-crafted a production as any single from that era – the arrangement is perfect, and the instrumental tracks are so nicely done that it makes you wonder if they weren’t performed by a bunch of "Wrecking Crew"-level studio musicians. Throw in the fact that the song peaked about the same time I graduated from high school and turned 18, and you can understand why I chose to include it in this year"s class of 2 OR 3 LINES "GOLDEN DECADE" HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME inductees. Here's what I had to say about the song in a 2012 post.]
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Mike Pinera was in a tough spot.
His band, Blues Image, was recording their second album in Los Angeles in 1970. Their first LP hadn't done diddly-squat, and the band's record label was going to dump them if their second album didn't produce a hit single.
Their producer obviously wasn't impressed with what he had heard so far. He had told them that unless they had some other songs, it was time to pack their guitars and clear out – Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night were waiting to use the recording studio.
The 21-year-old Pinera was up to the challenge:
I said, "Oh, I have a song," which I didn't have exactly. So I went into the bathroom, and I shut the door, and I just meditated. I calmed my mind, and I started hearing music. I went out and sat at the piano, which was a Rhodes model 73, which had 73 keys. So I said, "OK, I need a first word." And what came into my mind was 73. . . . The song sort of just wrote itself from there.
The result was "Ride Captain Ride," which sold a million copies and made it all the way to #4 on the Billboard "Hot 100."
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| Rhodes electric piano with (count 'em) 73 keys |
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"Ride Captain Ride" song has been a favorite of mine since it was released, but I always wondered what the song's lyrics meant.
I've finally figured it out – they don't mean doodly-squat.
Mike Pinera had to write a song toot sweet or his band was going to get dumped by their label. After meditating in the bathroom – translation: after rushing to the bathroom so he could throw up from the stress of his situation – the first thought that came into his mind was that his electric piano had 73 keys and "the song sort of wrote itself from there." Do you really think a song written under those circumstances is going to actually mean anything?
Mike Pinera had to write a song toot sweet or his band was going to get dumped by their label. After meditating in the bathroom – translation: after rushing to the bathroom so he could throw up from the stress of his situation – the first thought that came into his mind was that his electric piano had 73 keys and "the song sort of wrote itself from there." Do you really think a song written under those circumstances is going to actually mean anything?
Some people have tried to find a meaning in the song's lyrics. Wikipedia's entry on "Ride Captain Ride" says the following: "It has been purported that the historical context for this song refers to the 1968 capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea, but it is not substantiated." (The "not substantiated" is an understatement – as is the "[citation needed]" note appended to this text.)
That sentence is not only execrable English, it makes no sense. For one thing, the Pueblo had 84 crew members – two were killed during the taking of the ship, while the other 82 were taken captive – not 73.
The Pueblo was a spy ship, so maybe the song's reference to a "mystery ship" could refer to it. But the rest of the lyrics don't match up with Pueblo theory. For example, here's what the 73 men "had to say" in verse one:
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| The USS Pueblo |
The Pueblo was a spy ship, so maybe the song's reference to a "mystery ship" could refer to it. But the rest of the lyrics don't match up with Pueblo theory. For example, here's what the 73 men "had to say" in verse one:
We're calling everyone to ride along
To another shore
To another shore
Where we can laugh our lives away
And be free once more
And be free once more
A bunch of guys leaving to spy on North Korea from a US Navy ship might well say they were going "to another shore," but I don't think they would expect to "Laugh our lives away and be free once more" on such a mission. But that's just me.
By the way, did you know the North Koreans never gave the Pueblo back? Instead, they parked it in a river in Pyongyang and turned it into a museum ship.
This is the first song is yet another 2 or 3 lines series – one-hit wonders from 1969-1970. It will be a short series – no more than half a dozen songs, I think – and I'm not going to drag it out for months and months and months.
By the way, did you know the North Koreans never gave the Pueblo back? Instead, they parked it in a river in Pyongyang and turned it into a museum ship.
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| "Welcome aboard USS Pueblo, which was taken from running-dog American capitalist lackeys by brave Korean patriots" |
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This is the first song is yet another 2 or 3 lines series – one-hit wonders from 1969-1970. It will be a short series – no more than half a dozen songs, I think – and I'm not going to drag it out for months and months and months.
Click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon:
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