Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (1968)

For a long time, I only knew Blood, Sweat & Tears from their song Spinning Wheel that appeared on numerous hippie-era compilation albums. Later on I realised that the band actually has a lot to offer. They were one of the first bands to mix jazzy big band sounds to soulful rock music. This mixture of different styles and instruments gave them quite an identifiable sound. This self-titled album is their second one. It was more pop-oriented than their debut album and it has some songs written by pop and rock artists of the time. The album became a massive hit. It sold millions of copies and has even won a Grammy. The album is also featured on many lists about the greatest albums of all times. To me personally, the album isn't that important, but it's still a great classic record that any music collector should have in their collection.



I especially like the bass lines on this album. There are some amazing funk-elements there for an era that preceded the actual funk era. There are also some great fairytale-style flute sequences on the album that I really like. Blood, Sweat & Tears have been influenced by numerous different musical styles of the era, but they themselves sound original. You might say there's something for everyone on this album, but at the same time, this might be off-putting for people who don't like all of these musical styles. As a music-nerd, I can appreciate all of the different styles on the album.

The album starts with a calm dream-like song, Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie, which is filled with fresh acoustic guitars and flutes. The first actual song Smiling Phases is one of the greatest ones on the album. There are some fast-paced bass lines and great brass sections blowing jazzy tunes over the hippy almost musical type of song. Sometimes in Winter takes the listener to the psychedelic hippie world again. I'm reminded of bands like Moody Blues. More and More sounds like a proper funk song before the whole funk movement had even started. The melodies are great and the raspy rock vocals are very impressive. And When I Die draws some country and bluegrass influences, while still maintaining the bluesy rock style. The song sounds like it could be a lost track from the Hair musical. God Bless the Child is even more bluesy song and has some actual jazz sequences towards the end. This is followed by Spinning Wheel, which must be the most well-known song by this band. This groovy jazz rock song features on many compilation albums of the late 60's. You've Made Me so Very Happy was also a huge hit back in the day. It's a bit cheesy for my taste. I'm kind of reminded of some Carpenters songs that came later. Blues, Pt. 2 has some excellent bass lines and even an actual bass solo which continues into a great saxophone solo. This shows the talent in the band. The album ends in the same theme we heard at the beginning.

The live performances by the band from back then show that the band also played brilliantly live, but the performance itself was a bit cheesy especially from today's perspective. This live performance of Spinning Wheel is still very much worth watching.

I haven't really listened to Blood, Sweat & Tears that much, which is probably due to the fact that I only bought my first albums by them from here in London on vinyl and my record player here is not that good which results in me listening less music on vinyl, but I should probably listen to them a bit more. Especially the proper jazz songs are quite amazing.

Listen to the album on Spotify.