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Blood, Sweat, & Tears

• formed in 1967 by Al Kooper (kbd & vocal) & Steve Katz (gtr & vocal) from the Blues Project
• began as an electric blues band in Greenwich Village coffeehouses, other players were high calibre session players and jazz musicians
  • Bobby Colomby - drums
  • Jim Fielder - bass
  • Fred Lipsius - alto sax, clarinet, piano (arranger)
  • Dick Halligan - trombone, flute, keyboards (arranger)
  • Randy Brecker - trumpet
  • Jerry Weiss - trumpet
• read bio info provided in text

• 1968 - released their first album, Child is Father to the Man (#47)

  Just One Smile

• most of the song is melody-accompaniment homophony
  • instrumental break provides contrast through the use of clear imitative polyphony (listen especialy to organ fugue)

• following the release of their debut, personal disagreements resulted in the departure of Kooper, Brecker, & Weiss
  • Halligan moved to keyboards
  • Jerry Hyman - trombone
  • David Clayton-Thomas - vocals (Canadian singer of the Bossmen, a blues group)
• 1969 - released Blood, Sweat, & Tears (#1)
  • received ten Grammy nominations ... won 3
  • first single "You've Made Me So Very Happy" (#2, 1969)

Spinning Wheel (#2, 1969)

BS&T never had a #1 hit!!

Spinning Wheel (opening)

• augmented chord at beginning, giving way to rock feel
• horn interjections

Spinning Wheel (break)

• jazz style takes over - walking bass line & jazz-like improvisation (Lew Soloff, trumpet)
• song ends on a vamp alternating 9/8 & 6/8 measures

Blues--Part II (see Listening Guide; p. 187)

essentially, an introduction to the band, featuring their soloistic abilities

• Halligan's motive (organ)
• Halligan's solo, based on developing the motive presented earlier, leading to bass solo (Jim Fielder)

  --transposition, fragmentation, extension, inversion

• drum solo (Colomby)
• sax solo (Lipsius) - straight-ahead jazz feel
• bass line (familiar bass pattern, used by Cream & Iron Butterfly), joined by horns
• Clayton-Thomas enters (vocal, relaxed style)
• Clayton-Thomas … building to climax

  Sometimes in Winter

  hear the odd meters in this excerpt from "Sometimes in Winter":

  (88K)

• followed by horn chorale, with walking bass line
  • ending on 5-beat measure (major 9 chord)
• BS&T served to open a whole new audience for rock
  • also broadened the horizons of the rock audience, providing a technically sophisticated form
• highly popular style of music
  • broke attendance record set by Frank Sinatra at Caesar's Palace
• 1970 - released Blood, Sweat, & Tears 3, another high-quality recording

Lucretia MacEvil (#29, 1970)

written by Clayton-Thomas, a strong rock piece incorporating jazz harmonies

• jazz-rock vamp, based on the chord changes of the song
• improved shouts (interpolations) by Clayton-Thomas
• Soloff trumpet solo

Lucretia's Reprise

 

Lonesome Suzie

Clayton-Thomas' vocal versatility can be heard in the two excerpts from "Lonesome Suzie" described below:

• 1st - soft, falsetto
• 2nd - shouting vocal

1971 - released Blood, Sweat, & Tears 4; Jerry Hyman replaced by Dave Bargerone (trombone, bass trombone, tuba, & baritone)

Redemption

• trombone solo (Bargerone is trained musician with a BM from Boston University
• moves motive up octave by octave
  • jazz players exhibit fascination with brass instrument's extreme upper range

Lisa, Listen to Me

• following the horn break, Clayton-Thomas sings the melody
  • echoed 2-beats later by the brass (polyphonic)

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