"...Emergence and Submergence..."
"Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" album from 1970
"Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" album from 1970
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...
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