Blood, Sweat & Tears (Blood, Sweat & Tears album)

Blood, Sweat & Tears
Studio album by Blood, Sweat & Tears
Released	December 11, 1968
Recorded	October 7 - 22, 1968 CBS Studios, New York City using a 16-track recording facility
Genre	Rock jazz fusion
Length	45:36 (original)
Label	Columbia
Producer	James William Guercio
Blood, Sweat & Tears chronology
Child Is Father to the Man (1968) Blood, Sweat & Tears (1968) Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 (1970)

Blood, Sweat & Tears is the second album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in 1968. It was a huge commercial success, rising to the top of the U.S. charts for a collective seven weeks and yielding three successive Top 5 singles. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970 and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA with sales of more than four million units in the U.S. In Canada, it enjoyed four runs and altogether eight weeks at No. 1 on the RPM national album chart.

History

Bandleader Al Kooper and two other members, Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss, had left Blood, Sweat & Tears after their first album. Bobby Colomby and Steve Katz searched for a replacement singer and selected David Clayton-Thomas. Three more musicians joined to bring the band to nine members. Columbia assigned James William Guercio (who was simultaneously working with new band Chicago) to produce a new album.

The song selection was much more pop-oriented than the first album, with more compositions from outside the band. It was recorded at the then state of the art CBS Studios in New York City. The studio had just taken delivery of one of the first of the model MM-1000 16-track tape recorders, built by Ampex. The new technology allowed for far more flexibility in overdubbing and mixing than the 4- and 8-track tape recorders which were standard in 1968. The album was among the very first 16-track recordings released to the public.

The album was selected for the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Rolling Stone	(negative)[3]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Variations on a Theme By Erik Satie" (1st and 2nd Movements) – 2:35
   • Adapted from "Trois Gymnopédies"; arr. by Dick Halligan
   • Recorded October 9, 1968
2. "Smiling Phases" (Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood) – 5:11
   • Recorded October 15, 1968
3. "Sometimes in Winter" (Steve Katz) – 3:09
   • Recorded October 8, 1968
4. "More and More" (Vee Pee Smith, Don Juan) – 3:04
   • Recorded October 15, 1968
5. "And When I Die" (Laura Nyro) – 4:06
   • Recorded October 22, 1968
6. "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr.)^[4] – 5:55
   • Recorded October 7, 1968

Side 2

7. "Spinning Wheel" (David Clayton-Thomas) – 4:08
   • Recorded October 9, 1968
8. "You've Made Me So Very Happy"^[5] (Berry Gordy Jr., Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson) – 4:19
   • Recorded October 16, 1968
9. "Blues – Part II" (Blood, Sweat & Tears) – 11:44
   • Recorded October 22, 1968
   • Interpolating "Sunshine of Your Love" (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown, Eric Clapton), "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon) and "Somethin' Goin' On" (Al Kooper)
10. "Variations on a Theme By Erik Satie" (1st Movement) – 1:49
    • Recorded October 9, 1968
    • The footsteps and door slam heard at the end of the track are those of model Lucy Angle

2000 CD bonus tracks

12. "More and More (Live at The Cafe au Go-Go 8-2-68) - 4:38
13. "Smiling Phases (Live at The Cafe au Go-Go 8/2/68) - 18:44

Musicians

• David Clayton-Thomas – lead vocals except as noted
• Lew Soloff – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Bobby Colomby – drums, percussion, vocals
• Jim Fielder – bass
• Dick Halligan – organ, piano, flute, trombone, vocals
• Steve Katz – guitar, harmonica, vocals, lead vocals on "Sometimes In Winter"
• Fred Lipsius – alto saxophone, piano
• Chuck Winfield – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Jerry Hyman – trombone, recorder
• Alan Rubin - trumpet on "Spinning Wheel" (subbing for Chuck Winfield)

Production

• Producer: James William Guercio
• Engineers: Fred Catero, Roy Halee, Robert Honablue
• Arrangers: Dick Halligan, Fred Lipsius, Al Kooper
• Cover art: Timothy Quay, Bob Cato
• Photography: Harrie George
• Design: John Berg

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1969	Pop Albums	1

Album – UK Albums Chart (United Kingdom)

Year	Chart	Position
1969	Top 40 Albums	15[6]

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1969	"You've Made Me So Very Happy" (3:26 edit) B-side: "Blues – Part II" (5:26 edit)	Pop Singles	2
1969	"And When I Die" (3:26 edit) B-side: "Sometimes In Winter"	Pop Singles	2
1969	"Spinning Wheel" (2:39 edit) B-side: "More and More"	Adult Contemporary	1
1969	"Spinning Wheel"	Pop Singles	2

References

1. "1001 Official Website". Retrieved August 7, 2011.
2. "Blood, Sweat & Tears > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
3. Landau, Jon (1 March 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone (San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.). Retrieved 16 December 2014.
4. David Clayton-Thomas interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1970)
5. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 25 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
6. "Every Hit.com". Retrieved August 7, 2011.