Dawn Explosion

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. The folks at Friday Music 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!