"...Variations On A Theme..."
In 2019 the musical term
'Fusion' can have a myriad of overtones and even be overused. But 50 years back
(yes the album is over half a century old) - fusion was the new buzzword and in
the form of Blood, Sweat & tears – the dancing Rock-Jazz-Soul-Blues hybrid
that took listeners everywhere by the musical ticklers.
BST's uber-cool debut
"Child Is Father To The Man" from February 1968 on Columbia Records
(USA) and July 1968 on CBS Records (UK) was a fabulous starter album with Al
Kooper at the helm and hipster tunes galore (see separate review for the superb
Legacy Edition CD Remaster). But when AK left to go solo (1969's "I Stand
Alone" opened his long career account with aplomb) - BST needed a vocalist
and maybe even a new direction – a bigger tapestry – and man did they hit pay
dirt.
Al Kooper is a good singer
(a little similar in tone to ex Zombies writer Colin Blunstone as one reviewer
has already quite rightly noted) - but ragamuffin and reform school dropout
David Clayton-Thomas was and is another kettle of angry trout. His is a great
voice – not good – but great – and there is a real difference. British born but
raised in Canada since the age of 3, DCT had left home at 14 (family
fall-outs), troubled a few institutions in his teens and by the time he was approaching
his twenties, had been hustling microphones at bars and dives where ever they’d
let him. Not surprisingly, David gravitated not to the sun and sand of
California, but the grit and sweat of the Big Apple.
Apparently tipped off by
Elektra Records folky Judy Collins, one of BST's founder members Bobby Colomby
went to see Clayton-Thomas in Greenwich Village and was duly floored. His
growl, his passion, his full-throated delivery seemed to actually mimic the
scream of the bombs that actually dropped on his London Air Raid shelter when
he was being born! With Blues and Soul Music oozing out of his Rock swagger,
coupled with like minded Jazz players in the band - it turned out the Canadian
lad could also pen a neck-jerking tune – the mighty "Spinning Wheel".
With him on board, the huge nine-piece band had the stage set.
Blood Sweat & Tears
self-titled second LP "Blood, Sweat & Tears" issued in January
1969 on Columbia Records took the American charts by storm - hitting the number
one spot soon after release and stayed there for seven weeks. When issued April
1969 in Blighty, it too managed a healthy No. 15 spot and has as of this year
(2019) reputedly sold over 38 million copies worldwide. Spinning Wheel - turned
around indeed. Here be the Variations On A Theme...
UK and German released
December 2004 - "Blood, Sweat & Tears" by BLOOD, SWEAT &
TEARS on Repertoire Records RES 2324 (Barcode 4009910232422) is an 'Expanded
Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Bonus Live Tracks (recorded 1968 in NYC) in a card digipak packaging that plays out as follows (69:13 minutes):
Side 1:
1. Variations Of A Theme by
Erik Satie
(1st and 2nd Movements, Adapted from "Trois Gymnopedies")
2. Smiling Phases (Traffic
cover - written by Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi and Stevie Winwood)
3. Sometimes In Winter
(Steve Katz song)
4. More And More (Little
Milton cover – written by Don Juan Mancha and Pee Vee)
5. And When I Die (Laura
Nyro cover)
6. God Bless The Child
(Billie Holiday cover)
Side 2:
7. Spinning Wheel (David
Clayton-Thomas song)
8. You've Made Me So Very
Happy (Brenda Holloway cover)
9. Blues - Part II (Blood,
Sweat & Tears song)
10. Variations On A Theme by
Erik Satie (1st Movement, Adapted from "Trois Gymnopedies")
Tracks 1 to 10 are their
second studio album "Blood, Sweat & Tears" - released January
1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9720 (Stereo) and April 1969 in the UK on CBS
Records M 63504 (Mono) and S 63504 (Stereo). The STEREO Mix is used for this CD.
BONUS TRACKS:
11. More And More (Live)
12. Smiling Phases (Live)
Recorded live in 1968 at The
Café Au Go Go in New York – first appeared on the Legacy Expanded Edition CD
Reissue in 2000 as Bonuses
The album produced three
monster singles all making the No. 2 slot in 1969 on the US Billboard charts -
first out of the gate in February 1969 was "You've Made Me So Very
Happy" b/w "Blues - Part 2" on Columbia 4-44776. The A and
B-sides were both single edits - 3:26 and 5:26 minutes respectively where their
album compatriots clocked in at 4:20 and a whopping 11:45 minutes for the
expansive Blues jam. "You've Made Me So Very happy" had in fact been
a 45 for Soul Siren Brenda Holloway on Tamla T-54155 in August 1967 but I'd
argue that our boys improved it - the BST arrangement retaining its Soulful
upbeat vibe while stamping their distinctive Brass-Rock sound on it (that final
piano 'wanna thank you girl' portion gets me every time). Not surprisingly, US
45 number two was the huge "Spinning Wheel" b/w "More And
More" in May 1969 on Columbia 4-44871 - and again both sides were single
edits at 2:39 and 2:38 minutes respectively. The David Clayton-Thomas classic
made No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts for two weeks. Last was their cover
of Laura Nyro's "And When I Die" b/w "Sometimes In Winter"
on Columbia 4-45008 with only the A being an edit at 3:26 minutes. I'd argue
that it would have been better to have all five of the Single Edits as Bonus
Tracks and not the two live cuts lazily taken off the Columbia 2000 reissue CD
- but alas.
The card digipak mimics the
original vinyl gatefold sleeve but the 12-page booklet expands the LP's story
with new liner notes from noted writer CHRIS WELCH (of Melody Maker fame).
There are photos, a potted history of the band and detailed recorded credits on
the last few pages. The Audio Restoration and Remaster is by EROC at The Ranch
and it sounds incredible. For sure the music is terribly dated in places (that
Nyro cover has never been a fave of mine) but Audio lovers have always sought
this platter out on MOFI and Japanese SHM-CD reissues - well Repertoire are up
there with the best of them. The stunning "Blues - Part 2" track that
dominates Side 2 only to segue into another clever instrumental take of Erik
Satie's "Variations On A Theme" (1st Movement) is an example. When
the band goes into "Spoonful" half way through, the sonic punch is a
wow. Hell - you can almost forgive Steve Katz and his weak-kneed lead vocal on
"Sometimes In Winter".
For sure after 50 years -
certain elements of this 1969 platter are showing their 60ts hipster age - but
it is also a milestone that deserved its Grammy for Best Album of the Year and
warrants your spondulicks in 2019. "Blood, Sweat & Tears" would
be followed by "3" in 1970 (another No. 1) and "4" in 1971
(No. 10) - but when Clayton-Thomas departed thereafter for the first of two
cracking solo albums, the downward slide began. Remember them this way...
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