Blood, Sweat, & Tears

Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American group known for playing contemporary jazz-rock from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. They recorded songs which were written by well-known rock and folk songwriters such as James Taylor and Billie Holiday. They came together in 1967 in New York City and made a mix of music which included rock, blues, pop, horn arrangements, and improvised jazz.

The original members of the group were Al Kooper, Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz, and Bobby Colomby. Kooper was the one who named the band Blood, Sweat, & Tears after a 1963 album recorded by Johnny Cash under the same name. Four of the members Al, Bobby, Steve, and Jim did a few shows in New York at the Cafe Au Go Go and at the Fillmore East. Afterward, when Fred Lipsius joined them, he also recruited three jazz horn players.

As a now complete group, they made their official debut in November of 1967 at the Cafe Au Go Go and thrilled the audience with their creative mix of jazz, acid rock, and psychedelic rock. Seeing that the band was successful they were signed on to Columbia Records. Their first two singles were” Without Her” and “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” from their first album Child is Father to the Man.

Their second album was called Blood, Sweat & Tears and rose up to the top of the charts going on to win Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1969. Three super singles came from it “You Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die.” All of these singles wound up on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 Chart. They went on to perform at Woodstock.

Blood, Sweat & Tears toured Eastern Europe in May and June of 1970 and when they returned to the states they released their third album called Blood, Sweat & Tears 3. The singles from this album included “Hi-De-Ho” and “Lucretia MacEvil.” They decided to perform in Las Vegas, Nevada at Caesars Palace and in 1970 did the soundtrack for the Barbara Streisand movie comedy The Owl and the Pussycat.

At the beginning of 1971, the group came together to record their fourth album calledBlood, Sweat & Tears 4in San Francisco and played their own composed songs. Singles from this album included “Go Down Gamblin" and “High on a Mountain.” Their fourth album broke into the charts and became a Gold Record.

Other albums were released and there were changes in the group lineup. Blood, Sweat & Tears performed at the Wollman Rink in Central Park in New York City in July of 1974 and at the end of the year gave a concert in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the delight of their fans. The group recorded another album in April of 1975 called New City but it wasn’t very successful. This album included a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney “Got to Get You Into My Life.”

That summer they recorded a live albumIn Concert and this was released in Europe and Japan. In the U.S. the album was called Live and Improvisedand was released in 1991.

Among their best albums, you’ll find Nuclear Blues which was released in 1980 a year before they disbanded. It includes such songs as “I’ll Drown in My Own Tears” and “Amor.”

Blood, Sweat & Tears went on a European tour at the beginning of 1978 but it ended suddenly when one of their band members, saxophonist Gregory Herbert, died of a drug overdose in Amsterdam. Returning home they stopped performing for a while. When they did begin performing again, it was with a completely new lineup.

After several more tours including one to Australia, Blood, Sweat & Tears finally disbanded in 1981. However, you just can’t keep a great group down and they returned once more with new members. Now they tour frequently and donate money through “Elsie Monica Colomby,” a music scholarship fund set up to provide for deserving schools and students who need help to be able to continue their musical education. They do tours worldwide and all of their albums are available on CD.