Biography
For a brief
period at the end of the '60s and the start of the '70s,
Blood, Sweat & Tears, which
fused a rock & roll rhythm section
to a horn section, held out the
promise of a jazz-rock fusion that
could storm the pop charts. The
band was organized in New
York in 1967 out of the remnants of the Blues
Project by
keyboard player/singer Al
Kooper (b. Feb. 5, 1944, Brooklyn, NY) and guitarist Steve
Katz
(b. May 9, 1945, Brooklyn, NY) of that group and saxophonist Fred Lipsius (b.
Nov. 19, 1944, New York, NY). The
rhythm section consisted of bassist Jim Fielder (b.
Oct. 4, 1947, Denton, TX)
and drummer Bobby Colomby (b. Dec. 20, 1944, New
York,
NY), and the horn section
was filled out by trumpeters Randy Brecker (b. Nov.
27, 1945,
Philadelphia, PA) and Jerry Weiss (b. May 1, 1946, New York) and trombonist Dick
Halligan (b. Aug. 29, 1943, Troy,
NY). This eight-piece band signed to Columbia
Records and recorded BS&T's
debut album, Child Is Father to the Man, which was
released in February 1968.
Cofounder Kooper then departed, and the group was
reorganized. Singer David
Clayton-Thomas (b. David Thomsett, Sept. 13, 1941, Surrey,
England) was added, Halligan
moved to the keyboards, and trumpeters Chuck Winfield
(b. Feb. 5, 1943, Monessen, PA)
and Lew Soloff (b. Feb 20, 1944, Brooklyn, NY)
replaced Brecker and Weiss,
with Jerry Hyman (b. May 19, 1947, Brooklyn, NY)
being
added on trombone. This
nine-piece unit, working with producer James William Guercio,
made BS&T's self-titled second
album, released in January 1969. It was a runaway hit,
spawning three gold-selling Top
Ten singles, "You've Made Me So Very Happy,"
"Spinning Wheel," and "And When I Die,"
selling three million copies and winning the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
It was also BS&T's highwater mark. Guercio left
to work on a similar concept with
Chicago Transit Authority, and BS&T increasingly
became a backup group for Clayton-Thomas. Nevertheless, the third album, Blood,
Sweat & Tears 3 (1970), and
the fourth, Blood, Sweat & Tears 4 (1971), were
substantial hits. Clayton-Thomas
went solo in early 1972, but returned in 1974.
Numerous other personnel
changes took place, as the group's commercial fortunes
gradually declined. BS&T left
Columbia after the release of its ninth album, More Than
Ever in 1976 and signed to ABC Records,
for which it made Brand New Day (1977).
From the late '70s on, BS&T
existed largely as a group name for the concert activities
of Clayton-Thomas and Colomby, who
retained rights to the name.
~ William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide
Sound Clips
Sound Clips
on this album - Click HERE
Other BS&T album clips - Click HERE
Click HERE & go to SonicNet Sound Page
BS&T Lyrics -- Click HERE
Also See:
Jeremiah's Great BS&T Site
B,S &
T - What Goes Up
B S &
T on Tunes.Com
