As a result, Al Kooper left the band in early 1968 to concentrate on producing. Unfortunately, by this time the band was beset by problems as tensions among band members, present in the band’s earliest days, began to grow past the breaking point. As the group’s reputation was centered in New York, the album did not immediately catch fire commercially, and the band would have to tour extensively to build its success. The group was quickly signed to Columbia Records, and they released their first album, Child is Father To The Man, in February 1968. As a result of this, the new band was instantly heralded and embraced by the music press and the counterculture after playing their first shows in New York City in late 1967. Fielder had once played with The Mothers of Invention and Buffalo Springfield, and Kooper enjoyed a high profile from his work with Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix before forming The Blues Project with Steve Katz. The band was founded in 1967, with ace session man/producer/vocalist/keyboardist Al Kooper asserting himself as leader, joined by Steve Katz (guitar), Jim Fielder (bass), Fred Lipsius (alto saxophone), Randy Brecker (trumpet), Jerry Weiss (trumpet/flugelhorn), Dick Halligan (trombone/flute), and Bobby Colomby (drums).
Like much music from the time, BS&T sounds like an aural snapshot of the day. Flutes, horns, and cymbals are presented with plenty of studio air and atmosphere, all on a large soundstage arrayed across the room. The electric bass digs deep there’s a realistic snap to the drums. The songs range from “Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie,” which opens and closes the LP, to Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” Traffic’s “Smiling Phases,” and three hit singles that define the album: Lead-singer David Clayton-Thomas’ “Spinning Wheel,” Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die,” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.” MoFi’s One-Step breathes a newfound immediacy and physical presence to these tunes, as well as impressive dynamic punch, detail, and instrumental texture.
A huge commercial and artistic success, Blood Sweat & Tears has just been reissued as part of Mobile Fidelity’s outstanding One-Step series, which removes two steps in the plating process to bring us that much closer to the master tape. Over its lengthy ongoing career and countless personnel shuffles, Blood, Sweat & Tears achieved its peak of fame in 1968 with the release of this eponymously titled LP.