The album under consideration here - BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS LIVE - was originally released in Europe and Japan only in 1976, with the tracks being recorded at four different shows on their 1975 tour, namely the Schaeffer Music Festival in New York City July 5th, 1975; City Hall Plaza in Boston (Recorded on the Record Plant NY Remote Truck), July 20th, 1975; National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, August 11th and 12th 1975; and at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California, September 21st 1975. The Columbia / CBS label, which was the bands' recording home since 1967, had developed a marketing ploy for their artists by releasing live recordings outside of the US marketplace as a way of keeping an acts' fanbase supplied with new product - artists such as Donovan, for example released an overseas-only Live in Japan set, and, in one notable example, the Cheap Trick Live At The Budokan live album, initially only available as an expensive Japanese import release ended up becoming the album that would seal their domestic commercial breakthrough. The Blood Sweat and Tears album would not get a release States-side until 1991, under the title Live and Improvised.
The BST personnel on this album is close to that of their 1975 studio release, New City, and comprises David Clayton- Thomas (lead vocals), Bobby Colomby (drums, backing vocals), David Bargeron (trombone, tuba, percussion, backing vocals), Larry Willis (keyboards, backing vocals), Bill Tillman (saxophone, flute, backing vocals), Anthony Klatka (trumpet, backing vocals), Joe Giorgianni (trumpet, backing vocals), Steve Khan (Guitar, backing vocals - at Schaeffer Music Festival and City Hall Plaza recordings), George Wadenius (guitar, backing vocals at National Arts Centre recordings), Mike Stern (guitar, backing vocals at Monterrey Jazz festival recordings), Ron McClure (bass), and Don Alias (Percussion, backing vocals). The album was produced by Colomby and executive producer Jimmy lenner. lenner had made something of a reputation for himself as a producer for Capitol Records acts such as The Raspberries, Grand Funk Railroad, and later The Bay City Rollers, Air Supply and others, as well as the multi- million selling soundtrack to the global smash Dirty Dancing, in 1987.
Opening with 'Spinning Wheel', which includes a typically impassioned lead vocal from Clayton-Thomas, the band also work into the song arrangement a fine instrumental interlude, with walking bass, trumpet, trombone and tenor sax solos, which really shows the kind of high-quality musical chops that this variant of BST had at their disposal.
'I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know' is an Al Kooper opus, and it's blessed here with a vocal of real subtle soulfulness and commendable restraint by Clayton Thomas, that vocal complemented by a fine horn arrangement. Again, though, its inclusion serves to illustrate that, eight years and seven albums since their debut, the band were still mining material from the Al Kooper era in their live shows.
'And When I Die' another one of the bands' excursions into the songbook of Laura Nyro, is dusted off and rendered in sprightly fashion here, even giving Bill Bargeron an extended tuba solo (which is not something a sleeve note writer often gets to mention), and it segues into 'One Room Country Shack', an opus from the pen of John Lee Hooker. From the just-released New City album, it opens with a blast of fruity, under-the-floor tuba from Bargeron, with an appropriately raw-throated vocal from Clayton-Thomas, a bluesy interlude that morphs seamlessly back into 'And When I Die'. Clayton-Thomas takes a break whilst the band breeze though the Chick Corea penned instrumental, '(I Can Recall) Spain', which has the BST ensemble inhabit Jazz- Fusion terrain with genuine instrumental virtuosity.
'Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll)', penned by Carole King and Jerry Goffin, is a Gospel-coloured workout that is tailor- made for Clayton-Thomas' soulful pipes, but the band also turn in Yeoman service with a steady-rolling backup throughout. Clayton-Thomas also gets the audience to indulge in a bit of call-and response to great effect, the song having been a hit single culled from their third album. Another lengthy instrumental excursion, the eleven-minute 'Unit Seven', is introduced as a tribute to the-then recently deceased Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley (he passed away on August 8th, 1975). 'Life', which was also taken from the New City album, was written by Allen Toussaint, and its strutting funk and massed backing vocals make for a neat shifting of musical gears. 'Mean Ole World', (penned by Jerry LaCroix, who had replaced vocalist Clayton-Thomas when he left (albeit temporarily) the band in 1972), is another tough funk offering, with an enviably tight rhythm section providing some great bedrock for the band to do their stuff on top.
'Ride Captain Ride'was also from the freshly-released New City, and is a cover of a 1970 hit by the band Blues Image. Perhaps at six-minutes plus, it overstays its welcome, but there's no doubting its fine, punchy arrangement and gutsy vocal. Closing proceedings is another BST smash, their incisive take of 'You've Made Me So Very Happy', penned by Berry Gordy and Brenda Holloway, it rounds off a satisfying and varied set neatly.
Blood, Sweat & Tears would record one more album for the Columbia CBS label, More Than Ever, released in July, 1976, but their commercial moment had long since passed, as Disco came to the fore, rendering BST's take on old School Blue Eyed Soul and Funk redundant, sales-wise.
Removed from the critical milieu of the time, BST can be enjoyed as purveyors of superior adult-orientated pop. Back in the mid-1990s, the music industry indulged in a brief nostalgic flirtation with middle-of-the-road pop sounds, 'Easy' listening, and then morphed into the 'Guilty Pleasures' scene, where appreciation for light pop sounds as purveyed by the likes of Andy Williams and other caramel-voiced crooners saw a renewed appreciation for the likes of BST. Back in the early seventies, the likes of 'Spinning Wheel', 'And When I Die' and 'You've Made Me So Very Happy' became staples of popular Light Entertainment shows, and the cheesy appeal fed into the kitsch values of the 'Easy' 1990s scene.
In the end, the best of Blood, Sweat and Tears music, removed from the febrile atmosphere of its initial creation, easily stands up to contemporary scrutiny. This live double set celebrates both their commercial and musical innovation, and its reappearance is both enjoyable and welcome.
by Alan Robinson, September 2017
Tracks
Disc 1
1.Spinning Wheel (David Clayton-Thomas) - 5:57
2.I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (Al Kooper) - 8:56
3.Lucretia MacEvil (David Clayton-Thomas) - 7:11
4.And When I Die (Laura Nyro) - 6:28
5.One Room Country Shack (John Lee Hooker) - 2:42
6.And When I Die (Reprise) (Laura Nyro) - 3:06
7.(I Can Recall) Spain (Al Jarreau, Chick Corea, Joaquín Rodrigo) - 9:01
Disc 2
1.Hi-De-Ho "That Old Sweet Roll" (Carole King, Gerald Goffin) - 6:33
2.Unit Seven (Sam Jones) - 11:03
3.Life (Allen Toussaint) - 5:19
4.Mean Ole World (Jerry Lacroix) - 9:44
5.Ride Captain Ride (Frank Konte, Carlos Pinera) - 6:29
6.You've Made Me So Very Happy (Berry Gordy, Jr., Brenda Holloway, Frank Wilson, Patrice Holloway) - 6:42
Blood Sweat And Tears
*David Clayton-Thomas - Lead Vocals
*Bobby Colomby - Drum, Background Vocals
*Dave Bargeron - Trombone, Tuba, Percussion, Background Vocals
*Larry Willis - Keyboards, Background Vocals
*Bill Tillman - Saxophone, Flute, Background Vocals
*Anthony Klatka - Trumpet, Background Vocals
*Joe Giorgianni - Trumpet, Background Vocals
*Steve Khan - Guitar, Background Vocals (At Schaeffer Music Festival; City Hall Plaza)
*Georg Wadenius - Guitar, Background Vocals (At The National Arts Centre)
*Mike Stern - Guitar, Background Vocals (At Monterey Jazz Festival)
*Ron McClure - Bass
*Don Alias - Percussion, Background Vocals
