Customer Reviews

New Blood

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Actually,this isn't the worldwide CD debut for the album(I have it on a 1993 Japanese Sony release SRCS 6314).This was the last consistently good Blood Sweat & Tears album.Vocalist David Clayton-Thomas & keyboardist Dick Halligan had left the group to be replaced by Jerry Fisher & Larry Willis.Also,because the group wanted more complex guitar solos,Steve Katz was demoted to rhythm guitar & Swede Georg Wadenius was added.At first,it is incongruous hearing a Louisiana swamp-rock voice like Jerry Fisher's fronting a quintessential New York band,and I don't think the general public accepted him.Still,the album contains some fine songs,fine arangements(especially Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" & Bob Dylan's "Down in The Flood"),and especially superb recording quality(the best since the 2nd album.Dig the superb presence on the horn section on "Down in The Flood")."I Can't Move No Mountains" should have been a hit single,but wasn't,despite lots of airplay.During the making of the follow-up album "No Sweat",the group disintegrated,with Steve Katz,Jim Fielder & Lew Soloff all exiting partway through the making of the album."No Sweat" & "Mirror Image" have occasional interesting moments,but too much of the group's sound was lost,and drummer Bobby Columby was basically keeping a brand name going.It's too bad that "New Blood" is being given the no frills reissue treatment by a reissue label,instead of the deluxe expanded treatment by Sony Music,because there is unreleased material to add.Originally,before Jerry Fisher & Larry Willis were added,a singer/keyboardist named Bobby Doyle was briefly with the group,and participated in intial sessions towards this album at "914 Studios",but Doyle exited,and sessions moved to Columbia Studios,where two of the backing tracks cut at 914 studios were reworked with Doyle's vocals removed and replaced by Jerry Fisher(though Doyle's piano playing remains on the tracks).The CBS sessions reportedly yielded a Steve Katz song known as "M",and a Swedish-language track sung by Georg Wadenius whose title translates to "The Crow's Funeral".Through liner notes for Sony's 2-CD BS&T complation "What Goes Up" says that Bobby Doyle exited because he had difficulty singing over the horn section,reports at the time indicated that there were contractual problems with another label that he was already signed to,and that he was handicapped in some way that would limit his on-stage mobility.I wonder if Sony's vaults has an early mix of "Touch Me" with Doyle's vocals.Now,we may never know,or have the chance to hear the other unreleased tracks from these sessions.Still the CD is worth buying,and this is the first-ever U.S.A CD release.The 2 albums that followed "New Blood"("No Sweat" & "Mirror Image") are for hard-core fans/completists only.

This was a good start to a new era in the group's history. Fisher is a strong vocal, equal in power to Clayton-Thomas with as strong a blues influence without the affectations. Now hearing this years later I would say that Jerry was the best of the Blood, Sweat & Tears vocalists. It was a shame more people didn't know of this edition of the group.

The material is strong save for one throwaway song, which would be "Velvet". The group personnel were stronger for the additions of the ingenious and talented Georg Wadenius as well as Larry Willis. Georg is a gifted and original guitarist who was one of the first to successfully use the simultaneous guitar/vocalization technique. The guitar is now an integral part of the ensemble, in a different way than Steve Katz was. The ensemble passages more embellished by his presence, than the more traditional guitar accompaniments.

Larry Willis is another important addition since he gave them a keyboard player with much stronger jazz sensibilities, while still able to handle the rock material, a much stronger player than either Halligan or Fred Lipsius, who occasionally would take the piano solo's on the previous recordings.

They lend a completely different aesthetic to the group sound. The group had one of several new focal points.

This editions is much more graceful than previous versions of the group, where there approach is much more tailored to the song than the song to the group sound.

There fusion of the jazz and rock elements fuse seamlessly.

"Snow Queen", "Down in the Flood", "Alone", "Maiden Voyage", "I Can't Move No Mountain" and "Over the Hill" are real high points.

The group also introduces a vocal chorus in this recording consisting of group members via Fisher, Wadenius, Katz and Willis.

Lew Soloff, Jim Fielder, Bobby Colomby, Chuck Winfield and Steve Katz are left over from the edition of the band that had so much commercial and critical success.

This is a good start in a different direction. Almost as strong as "No Sweat" which had a stronger personnel line up and had the advantage of having the line-up refine itself. A very good recording.

This edition of the group seems to more gracefully combine the seemingly disparate influence of jazz and rock.

The ensemble passages are strong and the group incorporates the guitar sound into the ensemble passage in a different way. Wadenius' guitar is included in the voicing in a more linear way than in the more conventional way that they had in the past. By that I mean that Steve Katz had been largely in the background much more rhythmically based with the occasional solo line. Wadenius role is much more integral to the group sound. Again, this is refined further in "No Sweat".

Their rendition of "Maiden Voyage" is spellbinding for it's graceful beauty, Wadenius' unique solo and Larry Willis' accompaniment. It was intriguing the way they seamlessly sequed from "Snow Queen" into "Maiden Voyage" making it seem like it was one piece.

Fisher deserved more credit than he got. It's a shame that this edition of the group didn't get the recognition that it should've gotten.

One of the sad parts of the CD era is how the cover art is diminished by the smaller display, the paper it's processed on, since the cover art is stunning.

This Wounded Bird re-release of Blood, Sweat & Tears' 1972 LP is stunning. The boys wail on the Bob Dylan song "Down in the Flood." While it was Chris Smither whose recording of this tune first resonated with me, BS&T get way wild, "Who's gonna be your best friend now?" "Alone" is a slow soulful track that lets loose in the second half with BS&T's jazz jam. "I Can't Move No Mountains" is a quick pop nugget with a pretty melody and great energy. "So Long Dixie" penned by the classic writing team Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil has been playing in my changer throughout the Hurricane Katrina era, "Some memories fade & die but Dixie you still shine." Carole King's "Snow Queen" was a favorite of mine with a version by the Association recorded in 1972 for an LP "Waterbeds in Trinidad" being the only one I had for a long time. After Carole's recording on her 1980 "Pearls," this is a great jazz rave-up of this lovely melody. The Herbie Hancock instrumental "Maiden Voyage" that closes the set is also breathtaking. This is a classic CD that was quite underrated & sounds incredibly fresh on this Wounded Bird re-release. Enjoy!

For me, this is the best of the Blood,Sweat and Tears catalog. The singer (I think ex-Sugarloaf) is great, and even though the originals are few, the performances are great. Dave Bargerone and Georg Wadenius shine on "Alone". Wadenius does a great guitar/scat solo on a marvelous Herbie Hancock cover of "Maiden Voyage" (pre George Benson,by the way!) I also love "Snow Queen" (Carole King), and the moving ballad "Velvet". This is really a great album!

First off, don't buy this if you're looking for the BS&T of "Spinning Wheel" reknown. But DO buy this if you want to hear some great music, great playing, and great arrangements. After BS&T 4, the band and David Clayton-Thomas parted ways. Enter Jerry Fisher, the new lead singer. There had always been a couple of "factions" within the band, the "Rockers" (basically the rhythm section) and the "Jazzers" (the horn section). And with each of the previous 3 albums, there was always pressure to come up with tunes that would highlight Clayton-Thomas' vocals for the next "hit". Now with a new lead singer, as well as a new guitarist, keyboardist, and saxophonist, the band decides to make an album that THEY enjoy recording. And the "Jazzers" seemed to exert more control over this project, although one would still be hardpressed to call it a "jazz album".

Unfortunately for BS&T, the record-buying public wasn't ready to accept a BS&T without the Clayton-Thomas "sound". Jerry Fisher was certainly a fine vocalist and a lot easier to work with than Clayton-Thomas, but as you will hear, the band certainly took a different direction on "New Blood". More soloing (David Bargeron really gets to shine on 2 numbers, as well as he should!) and the new guitarist Georg Wadenius gets to stretch out on Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". But there are other numbers certainly designed for radio airplay for the masses, with compositions by Bob Dylan and Carole King among them.

The playing is first-rate on this album. But to try and compare THIS band with the band on "Spinning Wheel" would be the same as comparing any of it with the band on "Child Is Father To The Man". Lot of the "core" players are still there (Colomby, Katz, Fielder, etc) but with the newer players it stands to reason that musical sensibilities would change. And this album marked the start of major personnel changes over the next few years that would change the musical landscape of this band until it very little resembled the BS&T of it's heyday. By the time "No Sweat" came out (Another EXCELLENT album BTW), Katz and Winfield had left and others had 1 foot out the door.

But the good news is, this is a solid effort by a band filled with actual musicians playing actual music THEY wanted to play. This would be a great addition to your CD collection.

David Clayton Thomas is gone and Jerry Fisher is the vocalist on this album. Jerry has a great voice just as good as David Clayton Thomas and without the sometimes goofy quality that DCT had. This album has some great songs my favorites are Down In The Flood, Alone, Over The Hill and Show Queen. Im not crazy about Maiden Voyage it wouldnt matter who covered that song as a Jazz fan i find that song fairly dull. B,S&T had four really good albums Child Is Father To The Man, 1969 Self Titled, 4, 1971, and this one. The playing here is great the album is uptempo and has lots of energy also the song Alone has a smokin guitar solo and the horns sound deadly. Wounded Bird did a great job on the remaster as well the sound is clear and loud. If you like Blood, Sweat & Tears get this album.

By 1971 and album four, Blood Sweat and Tears seemed boxed in. Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 did not go so well. The band did fine with the R&B, but when they tried to do "Sympathy For The Devil," making into a suite, it was a disaster. On four, they went back to the basic framework that they thrived on.

David Clayton Thomas was a good singer, but had a vagas sound, and the band seemed trapped. So when he left and was replaced by Jerry Fishcer, who was much more soul geared, the band had the chance to experiment, but with a little more crediability.

This pays off on New Blood. The R&B tracks are here--a funky version of Dylan's "Down In The Flood," and "I Can't Move No Mountins."

"Mountins" in particualr is breezy, jazzy soul, and works well with Fishcer's more subtle approach. He gave the band a flexability that Thomas--who would have turned this into a showcase-- could not lend. Listen to the scatting on the end of the track, which is light as a ballareas toes. Thomas could have never made this work.

The second half of the album continues with the soul, but also has a beautiful take on Herbie Hancock's "Madain Voyage." With all the talk of jazz rock, this is the first time the band took on a serious, complex piece of modern jazz, and with the guitar and vocals synced, it is lyrical and perfect.

Dummer Bobby Colomby produced here, and he keeps the music sharp and lean as opposed to the kitchen sink production of James Gurrceio, which tended to make BS&T albums patchy.

If you look at the photos here, the band has long hair, which was not as big a deal in 1972 as it was in 1969. Those 60s divisions were giving way to the laid back 1970s, and BS&T could be looked at as a band, not an establishment pawn against the Doors or the Jefforson Airplane.

The music always mattered, but on New Blood, Blood Sweat and Tears had all the elements in place to make their music work best.

If you are a fan of top-40 Blood, Sweat and Tears, this album may not be for you. It's not that the album is not good; it's quite good. It's just that this group sounds nothing like the earlier incarnation of BS&T that featured David Clayton Thomas. As a matter of fact, it doesn't much like anything else I've heard.

Originally released in 1972, this unique blend of jazzy brass and a raspy southern vocal lead has stood the test of time well. I must admit I'm not crazy about the guitar work, although the rest of the instrumental work is excellent (especially the percussion). Particularly good are "Snow Queen" and "Maiden Voyage". The former finishes with a series of instrumental leads and, finally, a short and restrained drum solo slides smoothly into a beautiful rendition of the Herbie Hancock piece.

I just picked up a copy of the CD for the first time. I had the vinyl edition 30 years ago, and I'm happy to have it in my collection once more. It's well worth a listen.

I still listen to the cassette I purchased when it FIRST came out. It is a remarkable mix of rock, jazz, with a touch of ballad.
Keep this one alive.

While I love music, I don't get into the shinnanegans that go on behind the scenes. I don't know, or care, that band members are prima donnas, or are publicly ignored and don't care who comes or goes. I don't care how music is defined; labeling it jazz, country, rock, or bohemian chamber funk means little to me. All I care about is good music. What defines 'good music' to me is anything that is fresh, inventive, and sticks to your ribs.

I liked the popular stuff that Blood, Sweat, & Tears created early on; Spinning Wheel, God Bless the Child, and Lucrecia McEvil all were hits in my book and I still enjoy them today. But what has to be my absolute favorite album of all time has to be New Blood. I don't mean my favorite B,S&T album, I mean of ANY album.

While each tune on New Blood can stand on its own, it is the whole album and how each tune fits that makes this bit of B,S&T magic shine.

Starting off with a funky, humorous 'Down in the Flood', you hear guitar, horn and harmonica work that is unsurpassed, and you know you if the rest of the album is this good you've got something real.

'Touch Me' did just that with powerful vocals and anthem-like horns, then some jazzy-funky introspection with 'Alone' is a treat for anyone who likes good solo preformances.

"Velvet' seems like an odd duck in the lineup, this ballard about a horse is down-tempo and has a haunting quality that almost seems out of place in the album, but it does work as a setup for 'I Can't Move No Mountains', which is up tempo with flashy horns and jazzy rythyms.

'Over the Hill' resets the mood with humor and funk, and 'So Long Dixie' gets things moving again with strong vocals.

The crown jewels of the New Blood, however, is the final two cuts; 'Snow Queen' and 'Maiden Voyage'.

Both tracks offers up some of the finest instrumentals ever.

I'm sure there are those who won't find 'New Blood' to thier liking, but if you appreciate 'good music' New Blood does not disappoint.