Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#4); 1970

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

The three founding members of Blues Image, all high school friends in Tampa, began playing together in the first half of the 60’s. After a bassist from Wales signed on, the quartet started touring and even ran a psychedelic hangout in Tampa called Dino’s.

With the addition of a keyboardist from Alaska in 1968 the line-up was set. Next stop: a new nightclub in Tampa called Thee Experience where response to Blues Image was so strong the owner changed the venue’s name to Thee Image.

An engagement at L.A.’s Whiskey-A-Go-Go resulted in a record deal, and Blues Image hit the streets in 1969, followed by Open. Although Ride Captain Ride, the hit single from Open, contained no hint of the band’s original Latin-blues sound it proved to be the winning ticket for BI.

The captain in question was Navy Cmdr. Lloyd “Pete” Bucher whose ship, the Pueblo, was captured by North Korea in 1968 while on an intelligence gathering mission. Ride Captain Ride sailed into the #4 position in July, 1970, two-and-a-half years after the real captain and his mystery ship entered the history books.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

• Richard Podolor

Lyrics Written by:

• Mike Pinera
• Frank Konte

Award:

• Gold Certification: “Ride Captain Ride” sold 1 million copies (1970)
• Billboard Chart Success: The song debuted on Billboard’s Hot Top 100 chart on May 3, 1970, reaching number 4 on July 5, 1970.
• Top 40 Hit: “Ride Captain Ride” peaked at number 4 on the US and Canadian charts, becoming Blues Image’s sole Top 40 hit.