Captain Fingers

Captain Fingers was recorded at Kendun Recorders in Burbank and at Sound Labs and United Western Recorders in Hollywood, with John Mills, Don Murray and Tommy Vicari engineering and Bernie Grundman mastering at A&M Studios. Ritenour plays electric, classical, 12-string and acoustic guitars and a polyphonic guitar synthesizer. Dave Grusin plays synthesizers, electric piano, clavinet and Minimoog and arranged and conducted three tracks. Patrice Rushen, Ian Underwood and David Foster appear on keys, Anthony Jackson, Alphonso Johnson and Mike Porcaro on bass, Harvey Mason and Jeff Porcaro on drums, with Ray Parker Jr. and Jay Graydon on guitars and Bill Champlin singing on "Isn't She Lovely". Personnel lists differ among sources.

It reached number 178 on the Billboard 200 and number 31 on the jazz albums chart. Encyclopedia.com says it helped define the West Coast fusion sound, and MusicWeb International's Patrick Gary wrote that as commercially viable jazz-rock albums go, it is among the best, calling "Space Glide" a funk-infused smooth-jazz masterwork; AllMusic's Ron Wynn gave it two stars. David Foster, who played electric piano on "Isn't She Lovely" and "Space Glide", said of Ritenour that his playing is so fluid, really like velvet.