Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big bandjazz.
The group was inspired by the "brass-rock" of the Buckinghams and their producer, James William Guercio, as well as the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra.[2] BS&T's success paralleled that of similarly configured ensembles such as Chicago (another group produced by Guercio) and the Electric Flag, but by the mid-1970s the group's popularity had declined.[3]
Artistic differences quickly developed. Colomby and Katz wanted to hire a stronger lead vocalist. This led to the departure of Kooper in April 1968.[3] Prior to leaving Kooper had already arranged some songs that would be on the second BS&T album.[4][5] He was soon hired as a record producer at Columbia. Trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss also left and were replaced by Lew Soloff and Chuck Winfield.[1] Brecker joined Horace Silver's band. Jerry Weiss went on to start the similarly styled group Ambergris.
David Clayton-Thomas era
Colomby and Katz looked for a new vocalist and considered Alex Chilton,[6]Stephen Stills, and Laura Nyro, before deciding on David Clayton-Thomas, a Canadian from Toronto. Trombonist Halligan moved to organ and Jerry Hyman was added on trombone. The new nine-member band debuted at New York's Cafe Au Go Go on June 18, 1968, beginning a two-week residency.
The self-titled second album, Blood, Sweat & Tears, was produced by Guercio and much of the album was arranged by Lipsius. It featured fewer original songs but greater chart success. It included Nyro's "And When I Die", "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Berry Gordy and Brenda Holloway, and Clayton-Thomas' "Spinning Wheel". The band enjoyed headliner status at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969.[3] A film crew caught a few songs, but the band's manager Bennett Glotzer ordered the crew to turn off the cameras and leave the stage since the band had not agreed nor been paid for filming.
The band went on a United States Department of State-sponsored tour of Eastern Europe in May/June 1970.[3] Voluntary association with the U.S. government was highly unpopular with "underground" rock fans at the time, some of whom engaged in radical politics. The band was criticized for allowing itself to be co-opted.[3] It is now known that the State Department subtly pressured the group into the tour in exchange for a U.S. residency permit to Clayton-Thomas,[3] who had a criminal record in Canada, and had been deported from the U.S. after overstaying his visa.[7] The tour and its aftermath is the focus of a 2023 feature-length documentary titled "What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?"[8]
After returning to the U.S., the group released Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 in June 1970, produced by Roy Halee and Colomby. The album was another success,[3] spawning hit singles with Carole King's "Hi-De-Ho" and another Clayton-Thomas composition, "Lucretia MacEvil". The group recreated the formula with more arrangements by Lipsius. Reviews sometimes focused solely upon the band's work with the U.S. State Department, without discussing the music.[3] Compounding the image problem was a decision to play a lucrative engagement at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. This was unpopular with young underground rock fans who identified Las Vegas entertainers with the music of their parents' generation.
The group reconvened in San Francisco in January 1971 with jazz writer/saxophonist Don Heckman serving as producer. With Dave Bargeron replacing Jerry Hyman, they recorded the fourth album, BS&T 4, released in June 1971. Notable tracks included David Clayton-Thomas' "Go Down Gamblin'" and Al Kooper's "Holy John (John the Baptist)". BS&T 4 earned the group a gold record, however, none of the singles reached the Top 30. During this period the group's popular and commercial success began to decline.[3]
After a final show at Anaheim Convention Center on December 31, 1971, Clayton-Thomas left in early January 1972 to pursue a solo career. Columbia issued a Greatest Hits album in February 1972. This album contained edited single versions of some songs, rather than the full-length album versions. It earned a gold record award in the US, the last BS&T album to do so.
BS&T released New Blood in September 1972, which found the group moving into a more overtly jazz-fusion direction. The album reached the top 40 on the Billboard chart and spawned a hit single "So Long Dixie", which peaked at number 44. Also included was a version of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage", featuring Wadenius. In January 1973 Katz left to pursue a career as a producer. In March, Winfield departed as well and was replaced by Tom Malone.
The next album, No Sweat (June 1973), featured horn work from Tom Malone. He soon left to make way for trumpeter John Madrid. But Madrid was likewise short-lived and he never recorded with the band. Both Madrid and Soloff left in late 1973, making way for new horn player/arranger Tony Klatka on the next release, Mirror Image (July 1974), which also saw the addition of vocalist/saxophonist Jerry LaCroix (formerly of Edgar Winter's White Trash), sax player Bill Tillman, bassist Ron McClure and the exodus of original bass player Jim Fielder. This album shows the influences of Philly Soul, Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters, and Chick Corea's group Return to Forever.
By the close of 1974 Jerry Fisher was tired of BS&T's heavy touring schedule. Colomby and manager Fred Heller engineered the return of Clayton-Thomas in the hope of restoring the band's former success. Clayton-Thomas met the group in Milwaukee while Jerry Fisher and Luther Kent were still with the band. All three singers appeared on stage before a wildly enthusiastic crowd.
The album New City, in April 1975, featured Clayton-Thomas along with new horn player Joe Giorgianni. It reached number 47 on the US Billboard album chart. The album has half original material along with songs from Janis Ian, Randy Newman, and Blues Image. The highest-charting song was the Beatles’ “Got to Get You into My Life" which peaked at number 62.
In the summer of 1975, BS&T recorded a live album that was released in Europe and Japan the following year as In Concert. The album was released in the US as Live and Improvised in May 1991. The album featured different guitarists on different nights: Wadenius, Steve Khan and Mike Stern, the last who took over permanently for a time (Jeff Richman filled in for Stern in mid-1976). Jazz percussionist Don Alias was also present for the live album. After recording, Giorgianni left and was replaced by Forrest Buchtel (formerly of Woody Herman's band).
Around the same time, Colomby discovered a talented bass player by the name of Jaco Pastorius in Florida. He produced Pastorius' first solo album which was released in the spring of 1976. In late 1975, Pastorius toured with BS&T subbing for Ron McClure and when McClure left in early 1976, Colomby arranged for Pastorius to join the band, though he stayed for only about three months. On April 1, 1976, Pastorius joined Weather Report. Pastorius was briefly succeeded by Keith Jones before Danny Trifan stepped in.
In 1975 the group was offered a slot at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. The city government was concerned that a "rock band" would attract a rowdy audience; it threatened to revoke the concert permit if BS&T was not removed from the program. Ultimately, concert organizers were able to force the event forward via judicial injunction. The litigation reached the United States Supreme Court.[9]
In July 1976 More Than Ever, produced by Bob James and featuring guest vocals by Patti Austin and appearances by a host of NYC session players, including pianist Richard Tee, guitarists Eric Gale and Hugh McCracken, trumpeter Jon Faddis and Eric Weissberg (banjo, dobro), was released but sold disappointingly. After it stalled at US No. 165, Columbia Records dropped the band. At this time Colomby, BS&T's sole remaining original member, stopped touring with the group and Don Alias assumed sole percussion duties before leaving as well to make way for Roy McCurdy.
In 1977, BS&T signed with ABC Records and began working on Brand New Day (November 1977). The album was co-produced by Colomby, but his direct involvement with the group ceased after this release. Colomby was by this point the sole owner of the BS&T trademark name. Brand New Day garnered positive reviews but slow sales. At this same time BS&T were said to be recording tracks for an instrumental album with a personnel of Tony Klatka, Forrest Buchtel, Dave Bargeron, Bill Tillman, Larry Willis, Danny Trifan, Roy McCurdy and Mike Stern, but the album never appeared.
During 1977 the BS&T lineup was again in flux. Stern, Trifan, McCurdy, Buchtel and Tillman all departed to be succeeded respectively by Randy Bernsen, Neil Stubenhaus, Michael Lawrence and Gregory Herbert. Barry Finnerty then took over guitar and Chris Albert trumpet when Bernsen and Lawrence left at the close of the year.
In January 1978, the group undertook a European tour that ended abruptly after 31-year-old saxophonist Gregory Herbert died of a drug overdose in Amsterdam on January 31, 1978. Rocked by the event, the group returned home.
In 1979, with the encouragement of longtime BS&T manager Fred Heller, who had numerous requests for the band to play more shows, Clayton-Thomas decided to continue Blood, Sweat & Tears with an entirely new lineup that consisted of himself and other Canadian musicians (Kenny Marco – guitar, David Piltch – bass, Joe Sealy – keyboards, Bruce Cassidy – trumpet, flugelhorn, Earl Seymour – sax, flute, Steve Kennedy – sax, flute and Sally Chappis – drums, with Harvey Kogan soon replacing Kennedy and Jack Scarangella succeeding Chappis).
The group signed to Avenue Records subsidiary label LAX (MCA Records), with a slightly altered lineup of: David Clayton-Thomas (vocals, guitar), Robert Piltch (guitar), David Piltch (bass), Richard Martinez (keyboards), Bruce Cassidy (trumpet, flugelhorn), Earl Seymour (sax, flute), Vernon Dorge (sax, flute) and a returning Bobby Economou on drums, and with producer and arranger Jerry Goldstein, recorded the album Nuclear Blues (March 1980). The album was yet another attempt to reinvent the group, showcasing the band in a funk sound environment that recalled such acts as Tower of Power and LAX labelmates War (with whom BS&T did several shows in 1980). The album was regarded by many Blood, Sweat & Tears fans as uncharacteristic of the group's best work.
During this period, another live album was recorded at The Street Scene in Los Angeles, California on October 12, 1980 (this was eventually released as Live in February 1995). Robert and David Piltch left shortly before this concert, as did Richard Martinez. They were replaced by Wayne Pedzwiatr on bass, Peter Harris on guitar and Lou Pomanti on keyboards. And Mic Gillette (from Tower of Power) replaced Cassidy on trumpet at the tail end of 1980. Following more touring, including Australia, this incarnation of the group disbanded in 1981.
Since he did not own the rights to the Blood Sweat & Tears name, Clayton-Thomas attempted to restart his solo career in 1983 after taking some time off. This caused complications on the road when promoters would book Clayton-Thomas' group and use the Blood, Sweat & Tears name on the marquee. Consequently, his manager Larry Dorr negotiated a licensing deal with Colomby in 1984 for rights to tour with the BS&T name.[10]
For 20 years afterwards, Clayton-Thomas toured the concert circuit with a constantly changing roster of players (see roster below) as "Blood, Sweat & Tears" until his final departure in November 2004. Clayton-Thomas, now residing back in Canada, continues his solo career and does occasional shows using only his name.
In 1998, to celebrate thirty years after he first joined the group, David Clayton-Thomas began work on a solo CD titled Bloodlines that featured a dozen former members of Blood, Sweat & Tears, (Tony Klatka, Fred Lipsius, Lew Soloff, Dave Bargeron, Randy Brecker and others) performing on the album and providing arrangements to some of the songs. Released in 1999, it was first only available at Clayton-Thomas' concerts but made more widely available in 2001.
BS&T continued without Clayton-Thomas. Dorr has been manager (and much more) for over 30 years now, and the band is still a popular touring act. At last count, the overall number of BS&T members since the beginning is up around 165 total people (see roster below).
On March 12 and 13, 1993, Al Kooper organized two shows at the Bottom Line in NYC that were advertised as "A Silver Anniversary Celebration of the Classic Album The Child Is Father to the Man", which featured Kooper, Randy Brecker, Jim Fielder, Steve Katz and Fred Lipsius playing together for the first time in 25 years, accompanied by Anton Fig, Tom Malone, Lew Soloff, John Simon and Jimmy Vivino, as well as a two-woman chorus and string section.
The following year, in early February 1994, Kooper returned to the Bottom Line for his 50th birthday celebration, in which he played with members of his new band plus the Blues Project & BS&T. The BS&T lineup at this show was the same as the 1993 Silver Anniversary show, with the exception of Will Lee sitting in for Fielder and John Sebastian (ex-Loving Spoonful) contributing harmonica. Colomby would not allow Kooper to use the name Blood, Sweat & Tears, so the two reunions were billed as "Child Is Father To The Man". This second show appeared as the CD Soul of a Man in 1995. According to page 20 of the CD's liner notes, Steve Katz elected not to allow his performances onto the CD, which were digitally replaced by Jimmy Vivino. Bassist Jim Fielder is said[by whom?] to have added some parts to the CD as well.
Since late 2005, the band resumed touring with a refreshed line up. The band's first world tour in a decade took place in 2007. From 2008 through 2010, Katz returned to appear at BS&T's shows as a special guest. BS&T and Chicago co-headlined a Jazz festival in Stuttgart, Germany on July 9, 2011, and they also appeared on the same bill together again at Gretna Heritage Festival in Gretna, Louisiana on October 5, 2013.
In 2018 the group decided to replace Bice with former Tower of Power singer Tom Bowes, who had previously done a brief stint with BS&T back in July through November 2012. In 2019 Keith Paluso, from the reality TV show The Voice, was chosen as BS&T's new singer
In March 2022 original bassist Jim Fielder guested with the group at a series of shows in Florida.
Under the direction of Dorr and Colomby, the band has enjoyed something of a resurgence. Blood, Sweat & Tears donated money through its "Elsie Monica Colomby" music scholarship fund to deserving schools and students who need help in prolonging their musical education, such as the victims of Hurricane Katrina.[11]
Child Is Father to the Man is the debut album by Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in February 1968. It reached number 47 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the United States.
Robert Wayne Colomby is a jazz-fusion drummer, record producer and television presenter. He is best known as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he co-founded in 1967. He has also played with many other musical artists.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is the second album by the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released on December 11, 1968. It was the most commercially successful album for the group, rising to the top of the U.S. charts for a collective seven weeks and yielding three successive Top 5 singles. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970. The album has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA, with sales of more than four million units in the U.S. In Canada, the album enjoyed a total of eight weeks at number 1 on the RPM national album chart.
Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 is the third album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. It was released in June 1970.
B, S & T; 4 is the fourth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in June 1971. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, initially released in February 1972.
Al's Big Deal – Unclaimed Freight is a compilation album by American musician Al Kooper. It was released as a double-LP in 1975.
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label. The song was later a huge hit for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969, and became a Gold record.
New Blood is the fifth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in October 1972.
No Sweat is the sixth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in 1973.
Mirror Image is the seventh album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released by Columbia Records in July 1974.
New City is the eighth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released by Columbia Records in April 1975. It peaked at Number 47 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.
Now Is the Time is a jazz album released by Jeff Lorber Fusion. The album was released in 2010 on Heads Up Records and was produced by Jeff Lorber, Bobby Colomby, and Jimmy Haslip. It was nominated for the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
More Than Ever is the ninth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in July 1976. This was the band's ninth studio album and their last for Columbia Records. The album peaked at number 165 on the Billboard albums chart. It contained one charting single, "You're the One".
Brand New Day is the tenth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in November 1977. This was the band's only release on ABC Records. It was produced by Roy Halee and the band's former drummer Bobby Colomby. Colomby and Halee had also co-produced the group's fourth album, Blood, Sweat & Tears; 4, in 1971. Brand New Day failed to reach the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at #205.
Live and Improvised is a two compact disc live album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, that was originally released in 1976 as a live album entitled In Concert by Columbia Records in Europe and Japan. This album was later remixed and released in the United States as Live and Improvised in 1991 by Columbia/Legacy and again as "In Concert" in 2012 by Wounded Bird, with a different cover. This collection was recorded live at four different venues over five nights during the summer of 1975. The lineup for this album is the same as the New City album they were supporting on that tour with the exception of Steve Khan and Mike Stern on guitar.
Nuclear Blues is an album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in 1980, as their first release for MCA/LAX Records. Nuclear Blues was produced by Jerry Goldstein, who had previously been known for his work with the band War. Even though it had only been three years since they released their last album Brand New Day, the band contained a new line-up with David Clayton-Thomas being the only remaining member from that period.
Jerry Donald Fisher is an American R&B singer – Texas-born and Oklahoma-reared – known internationally for being the lead vocalist with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1971 to 1975. He is known to Dallas music fans for his R&B gigs from 1964 to 1972, and known in Bay Saint Louis as one-half of the husband–wife proprietorship of "Dock of the Bay," a restaurant and nightclub owned and operated by the two from 1976 to the spring of 2005, when they sold it a few months before Hurricane Katrina blew it away.
Rare, Rarer & Rarest is a compilation album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears released by Wounded Bird Records/Sony Music on July 2, 2013. The songs here were recorded over an eight-year period and include mono single mixes, previously unreleased songs, and the music the band recorded for a film soundtrack from 1970.
Woodstock – Back to the Garden: 50th Anniversary Experience is a live album by various artists, packaged as a box set of ten compact discs. Released by Rhino Records during the summer leading up to the fiftieth anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, it contains selections from every performance at the music festival, which took place on August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. The discs also include stage announcements and miscellaneous audio material. The package contains essays by producer Andy Zax and Jesse Jarnow, details about the performers and notable festival figures, and photographs. This box set is a compilation derived from its limited edition parent box set. A smaller three-CD or five-LP sampler was also released.
↑ "Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor" - autobiography by Al Kooper - full citation needed - date=February 2022
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