"...Emergence and Submergence..."
I've had a few Music On CD
reissues before (Joan Armatrading's "To The Limit" and John
Renbourn's "Faro Annie" to be precise) and they come as is - a
gatefold slip of paper for an inlay and in this case - an SACD-type jewel case.
And while you really do miss a booklet and some decent background details on
this 'huge' album (a second US No. 1 for BST) – you do at least get the
‘original album artwork’ inner gatefold that came with 1970 Vinyl originals
(not that you can actually read any of the miniaturised wording).
What you don't notice is the
Audio. I mention this because I'd swear this is the SACD Remaster done by
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in 2003 – even if it doesn’t mention Remasters or
indeed mastering anywhere on the packaging. I could be wrong of course - but I
guess what I’m saying is that without costing a small part of your already heavily
taxed anatomy - this unassuming and relatively cheap little CD reissue 'sounds
damn good' and is only docked a star because of the lazy inlay. Here is the
Audio Hi-De-Ho (Lucretia)...
UK released 16 June 2014 -
"Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" by BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS on Music On
CD MOCCD 13139 (Barcode 8718627221389) is a straightforward Remaster of their
third LP originally from 1970 and plays out as follows (42:45 minutes):
1. Hi-De-Ho [Side 1]
2. The Battle
3. Lucretia Mac Evil
4. Lucretia's Reprise
5. Fire And Rain
6. Lonesome Suzie
7. Sympathy For The Devil /
Sympathy For The Devil
(i) Emergence - A. Fanfare
(ii) Devil's Game - A.
Labyrinth
B. Satan's Dance C. The
Demand
(iii) Submergence - A.
Contemplation B. Return
8. He's A Runner
9. Somethin' Comin' On
10. 40,000 Headmen
Tracks 1 to 10 are their
third studio album "Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" - released July 1970
in the USA on Columbia Records KC 30090 and August 1970 in the UK on CBS
Records S 64024. Produced by LOU WAXMAN - the album peaked at No. 1 on the US
LP charts and No. 14 in the UK.
BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS
were:
DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS - Lead
Vocals
STEVE KATZ - Guitars and
Harmonica
FRED LIPSIUS - Alto
Saxophone, Piano, Electric Piano, Musical Box [Music Box] and Vocals
DICK HALLIGAN - Organ,
Piano, Electric Piano, Harpsichord, Celesta, Trombone, Flute, Alto Flute,
Baritone Horn and Vocals
JERRY HYMAN - Trombone, Bass
Trombone and Recorder
CHUCK WINFIELD - Trumpet and
Flugelhorn
LEW SOLOFF - Trumpet,
Flugelhorn and Piccolo Trumpet
JIM FIELDER - Bass
BOBBY COLOMBY - Drums,
Percussion and Vocals
Their fabulous April 1968 US
debut LP "Child Is Father To The Man" (when Al Kooper was with the
band) had been a slow burner – peaking at No. 47 in the States but doing seven
better at No. 40 in the UK when released there in July 1968 (on CBS Records).
No such dithering with the New York band's second platter - the self-titled
"Blood, Sweat & Tears" released in January 1969 that went all the
way to No. 1 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and a healthy No. 15 in the UK
(released in Blighty in April 1969). The Jazz-Rock/Blues-Rock band simply
compounded that roaring second success with another in 1970 – the third album
launched in July with the superbly catchy "Hi-De-Ho" 45 on Columbia
Records 45204 (CBS Records 5137 in the UK in August 1970). "Hi-De-Ho"
broke the Top Twenty in America peaking at No. 14, and in both countries came
with "The Battle" from Side 1 of the LP as its B-side. October 1970
saw the album’s other obvious hooky little winner "Lucretia Mac Evil"
get a 7" single release with (not surprisingly) "Lucretia's
Reprise" on the flipside. And although Columbia Records 45235 only made
No. 29 in the USA – it kept the album in the public's ears and hearts,
eventually lasting a whopping 41 weeks on the US Billboard charts.
Three had its fair share of
choice cover versions - Laura Nyro's "He's A Runner" sits alongside
James Taylor's "Fire And Rain while Richard Manuel's "Lonesome
Suzie" from The Band's 1968 debut LP "Music From Big Pink" rubs
up against Traffic's Steve Winwood-penned "40,000 Headmen". And of
course The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" (one of the
Sympathy songs on Side 2 - the other with the same name being by BST's Dick
Halligan) dominates much of Side 2. The other nods to quality songwriters comes
in the shape of two obscure B-sides - the first is the renamed
"Hi-De-Ho" - a Jerry Goffin and Carole King composition given to
Dusty Springfield in 1969 - the flip to her cover of Tony Joe White's
"Willie And Laura Mae Jones" - called (just to be confusing)
"That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)". Blood, Sweat & Tears just kept
it simple and renamed it "Hi-De-Ho". The second nod was the B-side to
Joe Cocker's 1968 single "With A Little Help From My Friends" on
Regal Zonophone Records - a tune called "Somethin' Comin' On" penned
by Chris Stainton and Joe Cocker. The rest of the album is original material
provided by Steve Katz, David Clayton-Thomas, Fred Lipsius and Dick Halligan.
Right from the get-go you’re
blasted with the huge audio and even if it is 1970, the music sounds so hip and
happening even in 2019 – almost fifty years after the event. Like so many other
bands, BST discovered something Soulful in the music of James Taylor and indeed
in Carole King – songs like "Hi-De-Ho" and "Fire And Rain".
That’s not to say that guttural vocalist David Clayton-Thomas and his "Lucretia
Mac Evil" contribution isn’t in fact one of the best songs on here. The
near eight minutes of the double-named "Sympathy For The Devil" Suite
over on Side 2 can (it has to be said) test your patience in the stop-start
world of 2019, but all that brass and fantastic arrangements by Halligan is
still thrilling. And that trio of choice-covers only serve to bring home an
already great LP.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
would start a slow musical decline after this – Clayton-Thomas issuing some
very cool solo LPs in 1972 and 1973 which Repertoire (of Germany) have reissued
on Remastered CDs. But there is something wildly special about their initial
trio of albums – a band on fire – lightning-in-a-bottle moments from the tail
end of one special decade segueing into one even more amazing. Dig in get
dancing...
