I love songs with a story behind them.
In Blues Image's song Ride Captain Ride, many believe that the song is about Sir Francis Drake sailing along the West Coast. But that isn't the case.
Blues Image lead singer Mike Pinera wrote this with their keyboard player Skip Konte. Mike's wife Valerie said:
"Ride Captain is a story from his imagination. 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. A lot of people say it relates to a few different stories."
The keyboard they used was a Rhodes electric piano, and this was an early use of the instrument on a popular song. In an interview, Skip Konte says he sat at the piano and started working on a song.
"73 men sailed up, From the San Francisco Bay..." The song basically wrote itself. It was their only hit. Mike Panera moved to Iron Butterfly and Skip Konte joined Three Dog Night.
