Captain Beyond

Formed in Los Angeles during 1972, the rock outfit Captain Beyond drew its founding members from several established acts. Among them were vocalist Rod Evans, born January 19, 1947, in Slough, Berkshire, England, previously of Deep Purple; drummer Bobby Caldwell, formerly associated with Johnny Winter; guitarist Larry Rheinhart, born July 7, 1948, in Florida; and bassist Lee Dorman, born September 15, 1945, in St. Louis, MO, and deceased December 21, 2012, in Laguna Niguel, CA, who had played in Iron Butterfly. This initial configuration delivered the band’s self-titled debut on the Southern rock imprint Capricorn in 1972. Caldwell then exited, replaced by Marty Rodriguez ahead of the follow-up release Sufficiently Breathless in 1973. After Evans departed, the group went dormant until reassembling in 1976, when Caldwell rejoined and Willy Daffern came aboard on vocals. That lineup produced the third album, Dawn Explosion, issued by Warner Bros. in 1977. No further recordings followed.