Blues Image

Known for their hit "Ride Captain Ride", Blues Image was formed in Tampa, Florida in 1966 around Michael Pinera (vocals, guitar), Joe Lala (vocals, percussion), Manuel Bertematti (drums) and Malcolm Jones (bass). Joined by Frank "Skip" Konte on keyboards in 1968, the musicians moved to New York for a few gigs, before settling in Los Angeles and signing with Atco, a division of Atlantic Records, in February 1969. After a first album of the same name, which concentrated the blues, psychedelic rock and hard rock ingredients that characterize their music, Blues Image recorded Open (1970), from which they extracted the hit "Ride Captain Ride", which reached No. 4 in the American charts. During the sessions, Mike Pinera joins Iron Butterfly and is replaced by guitarist Kent Henry and singer Dennis Correll for the next album, Red White & Blues Image (1970), produced before the band split up. Manuel Berematti joins The New Cactus Band and Joe Lala accompanies Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, before taking part in Manassas, while Kent Henry plays with Steppenwolf. Several albums of previously unreleased material were released on the Illusion label in 1977. Kent Henry died on March 18, 2009, followed by Joe Lala on March 18, 2014, and Mike Pinera on November 20, 2024.

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