December 31, 1971 - David Clayton-Thomas made his last appearance with Blood, Sweat & Tears (until their reunion). Bands seem to be more volatile than TNT. They form, break up change members, reunite ACK! Heres another one, Blood Sweat and Tears. Their sound was unlike anyone else, a sort of Jazz and rock blend of folk songs and folk rock. A great example of that being their hit, And When I Die . There are and have been so many different artists and bands, the numbers of those with a new and unique sound far outnumbered by their imitators and generic cover bands. Where Blood Sweat and Tears fits into this, You must decide. I think maybe somewhere in between . They formed in 1967 in New York City and from the get go, was known for its fusion sound, using so many elements. Its original lineup included Al Kooper, Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz and Bobby Colomby, Kooper being the original band leader. They played a number of venues, including Fillmore East, and signed with Columbia Records and released the album, Child Is Father to the Man , with songs like Without Her , and Ill Love You More Than youll Ever Know . As their audiences caught up with them, they enjoyed increasing commercial success. Kooper was forced out of the band and became a Columbia Record Producer, but some of his songs he had arranged were on their next album, Blood Sweat and Tears . They looked about for a new lead singer, and David Clayton Thmas came on the scene. They had considered Stephen Stills and Laura Nyro, but settled on Thomas. Their second album was a major hit, beating out The Beatles Abbey Road , for Album of The Year at the Grammys, and included such well known BS&T hits like Youve Made Me So Very Happy, And When I Die , and Spinnin Wheel . Their success contunued into 1969, and they were headliners at Woodstock. Unfortunately, their manager told the crew filming for the movie to turn the cameras off as the band had not agreed to their being filmed. Never underestimate the dumbass factor. The bands iconic counterculture status was undermined by the departure of Al Kooper, and at a time when any connection with the U.S. Government was highly unpopular, they made a U.S. State Department sponsored tour of Eastern Europe in 1970. This led to a certain Loss of Face for the band. Following this, in another of a string of bad decisions, they played Caesars Palace in Vegas, hardly the hotbed of radical 60s politics during that or any other time. THEN they shot themselves in the foot again by doing the soundtrack for the film, The Owl and the Pussycat , starring George Segal and Barbra Streissand, also not counterculture icons. Their street cred decline was only matched by the number of bullet holes in their swiss cheese looking foot. Things appeared to improve after. They produced an album of mostly their own songs, BS&T #4 in 1971, that also included fa cover of former member, Al Koopers Holy John ( John the Baptist ). The album went gold, but unfortunately, none of the singles did a lot. The band began to have internal tensions with creative faction dispute. Thomas, refusing to take sides, eventually decided to leave altogether in January 1972. He was eventually replaced by Jerry Fisher. What followed was another dance of lineup changes, people coming and going. You know a group is generally a spent force when they release a Greatest Hits album and so it came to pass. Other albums were made featuring various incarnations, including Thomas returning to front an album, New City in 1975, that contained many covers. but Thomas was back, ad fronted with a new lineup of band members. They toured with Thomas with the usual changing membeships, until Thomas retired from the band, returned to his native Canada, where he now pursues a solo career since 2004. BS&T is still a popular tour act, so if their music is your thing, got for it. All the personnel changes... I dont know if its the record, but BS&T, since its beginning, has had 140 different members. Thats enough for an orchestra. Like many bands, they had their heyday, but like the song says, What goes up, must come down , but for their fans, they still put on a show. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood,_Sweat_%26_Tears#The_David_Clayton-Thomas_era
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 03:13:31 +0000
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