Artist · chart history
Blues Image
Band United States Active 1966–1970
Blues Image formed in 1966 in the United States and was active until 1970. Blues Image has 10 chart appearances on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations on RockLists, spanning 1997–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Ride Captain Ride”, which appears on 10 lists with a best position of #97. The station that charted Blues Image most often is WMGK (Philadelphia, PA), with 3 appearances.
Blues Image started out in Tampa, Florida, in 1966: Mike Pinera singing and playing guitar, Manny Bertematti singing from behind the drums, Joe Lala singing and working the percussion, Emilio Garcia on keyboards and Malcolm Jones on bass. When Garcia quit to become a pilot, Frank "Skip" Konte took over the keys. In 1968 they moved to Miami and helped get a new club called Thee Image off the ground, and as its house band they shared the bills with the likes of Cream, the Grateful Dead and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Los Angeles was the next stop and Atco the label, with a self-titled debut out in February 1969. Open followed in April 1970 and carried the song that made their name. "Ride Captain Ride" was a Pinera and Konte composition, a big, loose-limbed, sunny roll of a record, with Kent Henry handling the guitar solo and fills and Pinera taking the last solo at the end. It climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on Canada's RPM chart, and it turned out to be the only hit they ever had.
The band was done by 1970, but that one song has stubbornly refused to leave rock radio.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Blues Image on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ride Captain Ride | 10 | #97 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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