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23 Jan 00 - 11:18 PM (#167407) Subject: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Mark Cohen Does anybody know if there's a story behind this song, that starts "73 men sailed out from the San Francisco Bay"? The chorus starts "Ride, Captain, ride..." I don't know the actual title or who recorded it (Creedence?) and it's not exactly folk music, but it sounds as if it may have roots in reality, whatever that is. Thanks. Aloha, Mark |
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23 Jan 00 - 11:33 PM (#167413) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: DonMeixner Is it Ride Captain Ride (Upon your Crystal Ship) Don |
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24 Jan 00 - 01:14 AM (#167440) Subject: ADDPOP: Ride Captain Ride From: Joe Offer I found the lyrics, but don't know anything about the song. -Joe Offer- Ride Captain Ride Blues Image ALBUM: Open Seventy-three men sailed up From the San Francisco Bay, Rolled off of their ship And here's what they had to say. "We're callin' everyone to ride along To another shore, We can laugh our lives away and be free once more." But no one heard them callin', No one came at all, 'Cause they were too busy watchin' Those old raindrops fall. As a storm was blowin' Out on the peaceful sea, Seventy-three men sailed off To history. Ride, captain ride Upon your mystery ship, Be amazed at the friends You have here on your trip. Ride captain ride Upon your mystery ship, On your way to a world That others might have missed. (Instrumental) Seventy-three men sailed up From the San Francisco Bay, Got off their ship And here's what they had to say. "We're callin' everyone to ride along To another shore, We can laugh our lives away And be free once more." Ride, captain ride Upon your mystery ship, Be amazed at the friends You have here on your trip. Ride, captain ride Upon your mystery ship, On your way to a world That others might have missed. Ride, captain ride Upon your mystery ship, Be amazed at the friends You have here on your trip.
There's a recording of the song at Last.FM. -Joe Offer, November, 2009- |
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24 Jan 00 - 09:57 AM (#167507) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Pinetop Slim For fear of a nasty flashback, I'll deny knowing anything about that song too. |
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24 Jan 00 - 12:25 PM (#167556) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: M. Ted (inactive) I have always wondered about this song, particularly the fact that it was 73 men who were sailing off to be free once more-- Could have just been that the songwriter was just writing a "Wooden Ships" kind of song, and couldn't get it to scan any other way, or...well, ah-- |
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24 Jan 00 - 05:19 PM (#167698) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Jon W. I remember this song from my youth. I guess that's my punishment (er--reward, yeah, that's it--reward) for not taking drugs. It was a pretty big hit in the SF Bay area where I lived. I have the feeling Blues Image was a local band. I don't think the song has any basis in an actual historical event. A lot of songwriters in those days liked to write about semi-mystical journeys--it made them sound hip. |
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25 Jan 00 - 09:08 AM (#168027) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Terry I'm not 100% sure who recorded this song, but the name Dolby Grey sticks in my head. |
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25 Jan 00 - 10:28 AM (#168064) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Mike Billo The song was recorded by Blues Image, and my band toured with them as their opening act. They were from Juneau(sp?), Alaska. Dobie Gray recorded "Drift Away". |
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25 Jan 00 - 05:06 PM (#168260) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Wesley S I hate to disagree but the Blues Image was from Florida if my memory serves me correctly. The Tampa area mostly.We used to see them open for other groups like the Allman Bros. The conga player from Blues Image was Joe Lala who went on to play with Stephen Stills and Chris Hillman in Manassis. { sp? }. For some reason I can't remember the singer / guitar player. {rumored to have a huge ego } It will probabally come to me on the drive home tonight. |
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25 Jan 00 - 06:33 PM (#168299) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Mike Billo Singer guitarist was Mike Pinera and he had a GIGANTIC ego. Quite a jerk. He and the keyboard player, bass player and drummer were from Alaska, but they realized that being based in Alaska in the '60's provided them with VERY limited opprutunities, so they moved around to various sections of the USA,including the south, and did indeed have Joe Lala in the band. |
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26 Jan 00 - 12:24 AM (#168455) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Mark Cohen Thanks, everybody. This is why I love the Mudcat -- a simple question produces the most interesting conversations! Maybe they were talking about the Class of '73, which was my college class. There were certainly enough herbal remedies to go around... Aloha, Mark |
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26 Jan 00 - 07:13 AM (#168513) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Lucius Mike Pinera? The same that went on to play with Doug Ingle on Iron Butterfly's last album? Far Out!!! |
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15 Mar 09 - 10:16 PM (#2589762) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,teknokratus The story behind "Ride Captain Ride".... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_Captain_Ride |
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16 Mar 09 - 09:21 AM (#2589998) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Roger in Baltimore What a let down. How uninteresting can you get? But, at least, now I know. Roger in Baltimore |
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18 Mar 09 - 10:06 PM (#2592254) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Bob in Palmdale VIET VET WoW, This post lasted a long time!! Lets see, going back in time when I was long haired hippy, or had any hair... I remember some one saying the song was about a U.S, Navy spy ship that was captured by North Korean gun boats around late 60's early 70's. The Captian is a man named Commander Booker. When norh Korea was trying to capture the ship the sailor were calling MAY-DAY to all ships, while the sailors were burning top secret docs then the gun boats started shelling the spy ship, the U.S. Navy ordered our war ships to stand down (not help)because the spy ship was now in Korean waters. The spy ships named USS Pueblo which caused an international incident. If it makes sense, on your Mystery ship, no one heard them calling, no one came at all. They also sailed out of San Fransisco navy base. But I don't get the 73 men part, I think they had 98? some other number? |
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18 Mar 09 - 10:52 PM (#2592273) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Bob in Palmdale VIET VET . Naval authorities and the crew of the Pueblo insist that before the capture, Pueblo was miles outside North Korean territorial waters; the Koreans claim the vessel was well within the DPRK's territory. The mission statement allowed her to approach within a nautical mile (1.852 km) of that limit. The DPRK, however, claims a 50-nautical-mile (90 km) sea boundary even though international standards are 12 nautical miles (22 km).[5] The North Korean vessels attempted to board Pueblo, but she maneuvered to prevent this and a sub chaser opened fire with a 57 mm cannon. The smaller vessels fired machine guns into Pueblo, which then signaled compliance and began destroying sensitive material. The volume of material on board was so great it made it impossible to destroy all of it. Radio contact between the Pueblo and the Naval Security Group in Kamiseya, Japan had been ongoing during the incident. As a result, Seventh Fleet command was fully aware of Pueblo's situation. Help was promised but never arrived. More than likely, no one wanted to take responsibility for an attack on North Korean vessels attacking Pueblo. By the time President Lyndon Johnson was awakened, Pueblo had been captured and any rescue attempt would have been futile. Pueblo followed the North Korean vessels as ordered, but then stopped immediately outside North Korean waters. She was again fired upon, and a U.S. sailor, Fireman Apprentice Duane Hodges, was killed. She was boarded by men from a torpedo boat and a sub chaser. Crew members had their hands tied, were blindfolded, beaten, and prodded with bayonets. Once Pueblo was in North Korean territorial waters, she was boarded again, this time by high-ranking North Korean officials. Sorry to bore you with it. [edit] Aftermath |
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18 Mar 09 - 11:38 PM (#2592298) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Amos I had a long talk over too many drinks with a skipper who was running a training ship in LA Harbor in the 1970's and who sailed up to San Francisco and sent his crew ashore to take over a local bar. True story. He insists that his invasion of the local bar was what prompted that song, as the band playing there later wrote it--if I recall correctly. The ship was the Bolivar and if you heard Captain Young tell his tale, you'd believe it too! A |
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20 Mar 09 - 12:15 AM (#2593105) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Art Thieme My brother-in-law spent his sea duty aboard a sister ship of the Pueblo. As I recall it, this was an intelligence gathering boat too and was just about an exact duplicate of the Pueblo. They were tied up somewhere like Newport News, and because the sensitivity (and bad press) connected to this crisis, they never did go to sea. They were tied up there for years. He used to say, with tongue in his cheek, that --- "We were there so long we went aground on our own coffee grounds." Finally, the crew that was aboard had to "decommission" the vessel --quite a tedious process. Art Thieme |
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20 Mar 09 - 12:18 AM (#2593109) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Art Thieme I think the name of that vessel was the Georgetown. Art |
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20 Mar 09 - 12:39 PM (#2593424) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Bee-dubya-ell Amos's skipper may have told a good tale, but I doubt its veracity. While Blues Image was never in the upper echelon of late '60s/early '70s bands, they had pretty steady gigs as opening act for bigger name bands. I saw them twice in that capacity. I'm not saying it's impossible that they would have done some bar gigs during the same period, but it's a pretty steep drop from playing for 10,000 people as an opening act and playing in some dive for 100 or so drunks. Of course, it's possible that the supposed incident could have taken place before the band came into demand as an opening act, but that would mean the song (or at least the idea for it) sat around for some time before being recorded. I saw them open for Iron Butterfly in the summer of '69 and "Ride Captain Ride " wasn't released until April of '70. |
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20 Mar 09 - 09:30 PM (#2593757) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Bob in Palmdale VIET VET I looked up the date of the Pueblo thing was in 1968, But all this might be on a limb. Who knows? |
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21 Mar 09 - 02:36 AM (#2593873) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Bob in Palmdale VIET VET Mr. Bee-dubya-ell, How was that Iron Butterfly concert? I'll bet it was FAR-OUT & HEAVY MAN!! Did ya drop some acid, eat a suger cube? Just kidding.. It must have been wild? The lyric was explained to me like this: Ride Captain Ride Seventy-three men sailed up From the San Francisco Bay, (they returned to San Fransico) Rolled off of their ship And here's what they had to say. (About the capture) "We're callin' everyone to ride along To another shore, (NORTH KOREA) We can laugh our lives away and be free once more." (TAKE IT SERIOUSLY) But no one heard them callin',(7th FLEET SAT ON THEIR HANDS) No one came at all, 'Cause they were too busy watchin' Those old raindrops fall. (EXCUSES) As a storm was blowin' (CAPTURING OF PUEBLO) Out on the peaceful sea, Seventy-three men sailed off To history. (INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT) Ride, captain ride Upon your mystery ship, (SPY SHIP) Be amazed at the friends You have here on your trip. (CIA) Ride captain ride Upon your mystery ship, On your way to a world That others might have missed. The guy that told me what the song was all about was a sergeant that was training us in advanced combat, he had returned from vietnam, and was training us in escape and evasion until his ETS. So, I had remembered what he said all of these years, When we were in a migshift prisoner of war compound I had time to think about what he told me. I have told a lot of friends this story. If it's true.. RIGHT ON.. If not, it was a good story. Take Care, B. |
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21 Mar 09 - 07:34 PM (#2594253) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Art Thieme Bob---It's that ol' folk process that has the tale now. The workings of that are, and always have been, as mesmerizing to me as any "real truth" of it might or could ever be. ----- Hell, we'll never know the truth of the J.F.K. assassination, but the meanderings of the guessed realities of that one episode has been the engine pushing and holding up a big part of the publishing world for over 46 years now. It's all grist for the mill. This is a wonderful thread. --- And it's truly full of wonder! Art Thieme |
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22 Mar 09 - 12:10 AM (#2594339) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Bee-dubya-ell Bob in Palmdale - Actually, Iron Butterfly was a disappointment, but Blues Image was really good. I went out and bought their album the next week. I saw Iron Butterfly again a year or so later after they had added Mike Pinera and Larry Reinhardt on guitars. I mainly went to see Larry, who had played in a local (Jacksonville, FL) band called "The Second Coming". That band had broken up after three of its members, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, and Butch Trucks had decided to join Duane Allman's new band. Larry moved to LA and wound up playing for the Butterfly. The group's organist, Reese Wynans, who Duane couldn't hire because he'd promised the organ job to his brother Gregg, eventually wound up playing for Stevie Ray Vaughan's band "Double Trouble". I also saw Mike Pinera again after he'd left Iron Butterfly and formed the group "Ramatam" with former Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell and phenomenal female guitarist April Lawton. |
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22 Mar 09 - 03:32 AM (#2594370) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Bob in Palmdale VIET VET Mr.Bee-dubya-ell, I heard of April Lawton "Ramatam", But I didn't care too much for the music, Kind of reminded me of the Greatful Dead, but had a wider range of music, from blues to heavy metel. Just not my cup of? April was very talanted but she faded away then passed away, Sorry. |
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04 Nov 09 - 06:45 PM (#2759757) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,XCrossWindsX Sir Francis Drake. As I checked a book on this, it turns out that Drake really did set off on his voyage with 73 men as mentioned in the song. It had to be Drake and the Golden Hind. |
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04 Nov 09 - 06:51 PM (#2759760) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST Drake stopped and repaired tg Golden Hine in San Francisco Bay 1579. |
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30 Nov 09 - 10:21 PM (#2777231) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST The real Story behind all this is, back in the cold war, the russians had a nuclear submarine that had mechanical issues and sank near the coast of san francisco. The CIA wanted to retrieve the submarine to see what those russians have built and get the technology. They didnt have a vessel to get the sub so they went to a billionaire howard hughes to essentially pay for the project, because government wouldn't pass it. The Glomar Explorer was built. they got to the submarine and got the claw under it but couldnt hold the weight and it snapped in half. The CIA recovered one part and also 6 soviet sailors bodies from the sub. This is what separates America from other countries, they did an appropriate ceremony of the soviet sailors and burial at sea. Roughly at the same time of this going, Blues image recorded this song knowing nothing of the secret CIA mission code named "Jennifer", The mission was never heard of until 1975ish when la times reported the mission into the media. For many years the CIA was watching every footstep of the members of Blues Image to see if they really knew or tried to spread it to the population, but it was just a bizarre moment that Blues image wrote this song and related right to a mission a little ways after..the line 73 men was also how many were on the Gomar explorer...weird http://www.answers.com/topic/glomar-explorer Article.. |
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28 Oct 10 - 10:14 PM (#3018192) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,guest i find it very interesting how all these stories have developed over the years. i am not sure what that says for the way human minds work. he got the number from the Rhodes model 73 piano that was at the studio they were recording at. http://www.classicrockallstars.com/biography/mike.html |
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29 Oct 10 - 08:03 AM (#3018396) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Charley Noble What suprising is that Mike Pinera was still able to count up to "73" at this point in his life. But it would have been a Number 1 song (instead of Number 4) if he could have counted to "99." Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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01 Feb 11 - 12:54 AM (#3086384) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,Glib Glib Muldoone "Schlibbity Schlibb Schlibble Schlibb Schlibb, on the Schlibb Francisco Bay." give that some thought, then talk amongst yourselves... |
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08 Apr 15 - 04:02 PM (#3700618) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST A plausible, but false interpretation of the song is that it is about Sir Francis Drake's voyage on the west coast of America. Drake did sail once with 73 sailors, and he sailed in the vicinity of San Francisco. Drake's ship was considered "mysterious" because of its opulence, funded by seizures from Spanish ships. (Kelly - Warner Robins, GA) They say the lyricist was told their group needed another song for the album and he wrote it right there on the spot. |
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09 Apr 15 - 08:45 AM (#3700778) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST,# The song was co-authored by Mike Pinera and keyboardist Frank "Skip" Konte. |
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21 Jul 19 - 03:24 PM (#4001463) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: GUEST The things you find..... |
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21 Jul 19 - 04:59 PM (#4001470) Subject: RE: Help: 73 Men in San Francisco Bay? From: Iains An interesting thread, especially the Howard Hughes spyship. I remember in the mid? 70's, when in Singapore, the story was out that an American ship built by Hughes was going to scoop up manganese nodules in the Pacific. It was much later I heard about the Jennifer(Azorian) project, and I worked for a while on the same ship off Angola in deepwater roughly 12 years ago. The USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer, was a deep-sea drillship platform initially built for the United States Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division secret operation Project Azorian. This was to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, lost in March 1968 approximately 1,600 miles northwest of Hawaii. After this it was mothballed for a period. During 1997, the ship was moved to Atlantic Marine's Mobile, Alabama shipyard for modifications that converted it to a dynamically-positioned deep sea drilling ship, capable of drilling in waters of 7,500 feet (2,300 m) and, with some modification, up to 11,500 feet (3,500 m), which is 2,000 feet (610 m) deeper than any other existing rig.One major modification was shrinking the hidden moonpool(designed to house the submarine)to a conventional size. i.e. big enough to allow passage of the subsea stack through the hull. The conversion cost more than $180 million ($264 million in 2018) and was completed during the first quarter of 1998. The conversion of the vessel from 1996-1998 was the start of a 30-year lease from the U.S. Navy to Global Marine Drilling at a cost of US$1 million per year ($1.5 million per year in 2018). Global Marine merged with Santa Fe International Corporation during 2001 to become GlobalSantaFe Corporation, which merged with Transocean Inc. during November 2007 and operated the vessel as GSF Explorer. The vessel was scrapped in 2015. Apologies for boring everyone but having worked on the vessel I thought I would flesh the story out a bt more. |