Al Kooper first rose to prominence in the 60s rock scene both as a member of The Blues Project, and for playing keyboards on Bob Dylan's milestone album Highway 61 Revisited. In 1967 he left The Blues Project, and looked to form a new group. He was interested in the idea of fusing rock music with a horn section. Guitarist Steve Katz (also from The Blues Project) joined him. Soon an eight-person band was formed, christened Blood, Sweat & Tears, and consisting of: Al Kooper (piano/organ/vocals), Steve Katz (guitar/vocals), Fred Lipsius (alto sax/piano), Randy Brecker (trumpet), Jerry Weiss (trumpet), Dick Halligan (trombone), Jim Fielder (bass) and Bobby Colomby (drums/percussion).Their debut album, Child Is Father To The Man, came out on Columbia Records in February 1968, produced by John Simon. It was a groundbreaking record for its time, as they were among the first rock bands to make use of a full horn section as an integral part of their sound, rather than just using session musicians to add embellishments (The Electric Flag were doing something similar at the same time). Stylistically it mixed rock, blues, soul and jazz, with notable flavours of psychedelia and classical at the same time. Kooper was the lead vocalist, and the album was dominated by his singing and songwriting (including many of his best compositions). There were also four cover songs, put to exciting new arrangements - "Morning Glory" (Tim Buckley), "Without Her" (Harry Nillson), "Just One Smile" (Randy Newman) and "So Much Love" (Gerry Goffin and Carole King).
It was relatively successful, getting to #47 on the album charts. However shortly after its release Kooper left, followed by Brecker and Weiss. The rest of the band chose to move forward without their original leader, but they had to find a new singer first....
|> Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
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