Despite 1968’s strong debut Child is Father of the Man, with Al Kooper as chief songwriter, Blood, Sweat & Tears quickly parted ways with founding members Kooper, Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss. Just months later, the group re-emerged with a new, self-titled album, adding Lew Soloff, Jerry Hyman, Chuck Winfield and Canadian lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas to the mix. (Bobby Colomby, Steve Katz, Jim Fielder, Dick Halligan and Fred Lipsius all remained in the band.) Blood, Sweat & Tears, produced by James William Guercio (The Buckinghams, Chicago), rocketed the band to superstardom with the hit singles “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die.” And Clayton-Thomas quickly established himself as a contender for the title of best blue-eyed soul vocalist out there.
Real Gone’s 2-CD set The Complete Columbia Singles offers all three of those smashes in their original mono mixes, plus 29 more single sides (five of which are making their CD debuts) all in original 45 RPM versions. The first eight tracks are in mono; the remaining cuts are in stereo.
Blood, Sweat & Tears was a platinum-selling, Grammy-winning Album of the Year. But inner turmoil still plagued the band. 1970’s follow-up Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 also reached No. 1, but following 1971’s fourth album, Clayton-Thomas, Halligan and Lipsius all departed for greener pastures. Clayton-Thomas was back in the fold by 1975, but the time for Blood, Sweat & Tears had passed. The band continued to record, with diminishing returns, despite the presence of well-known producers including Steve Tyrell, Bob James, Henry Cosby and Jimmy Ienner. BS&T’s final studio album for Columbia was released in 1976. Producer Ed Osborne’s new liner notes include recollections from founding member Steve Katz, and the entire set has been remastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in NYC. The Complete Columbia Singles looks to be a definitive anthology from one of the most underrated bands of the era.
Tracklist:
CD 1
01. I Can’t Quit Her [Mono Version] – 3:36
02. House in the Country [Mono Version] – 3:07
03. You’ve Made Me So Very Happy [Mono Single Version] – 3:32
04. Blues-Pt. II [Mono Single Version] – 5:28
05. Spinning Wheel [Mono Single Version] – 2:42
06. More And More [Mono Single Version] – 2:43
07. And When I Die [Mono Single Version] – 3:28
08. Sometimes in Winter [Mono] – 3:10
09. Hi-De-Ho [Single Version] – 3:59
10. The Battle – 2:43
11. Lucretia Mac Evil – 3:06
12. Lucretia’s Reprise – 2:19
13. Go Down Gamblin’ [Single Version] – 2:48
14. Valentine’s Day – 3:59
15. Lisa, Listen to Me – 2:42
16. Cowboys and Indians – 3:08
CD 2
01. So Long Dixie – 4:28
02. Alone – 4:16
03. I Can’t Move No Mountains – 2:56
04. Velvet – 3:30
05. Roller Coaster – 3:21
06. Inner Crisis – 5:42
07. Save Our Ship – 3:43
08. Song For John – 2:55
09. Tell Me That I’m Wrong – 2:30
10. Rock Reprise – 2:14
11. Got to Get You Into My Life – 3:17
12. Naked Man – 4:00
13. Yesterday’s Music – 3:36
14. No Show – 5:15
15. You’re the One – 3:14
16. Heavy Blue – 5:23
Media Info:
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Channels: joint stereo
Samplerate: 44100
Encoder: LAME 3.99
MPEG-1 layer 3
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