BST Child Father Man
Blood, Sweat and Tears
Child Is Father to the Man
Released February 21, 1968
BST Child Father Man
That crazy and wondrous overture!
The Beatles and Dylan kept changing the equation. In 1967 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band said, Do what you want. Segue songs together. Put lyrics on the album. Add sounds. Add more instrumentation. Or not.
Al Kooper was there when Dylan went electric. Kooper accidentally added the iconic organ on Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” It was Kooper and Steve Katz’s underground masterpiece Projections [produced by Tom Wilson] with the Blues Project that got people searching for more when they left the Project. Where had they gone?
Blood, Sweat and Tears was where they’d gone and had given birth to…
BST Child Father Man
Child Is Father to the Man
Rolling Stone magazine’s review said “This album is unique. More precisely, it is the first of its kind — a music that takes elements of rock, jazz, straight blues, R&B, classical music and almost anything else you could mention and combines them into a sound of its own that is “popular” without being the least bit watered down.”
The All Music review states: “This is one of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late ’60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form.”
BST Child Father Man
The whole band was…
- Randy Brecker – trumpet, flugelhorn
- Bobby Colomby – drums, percussion, vocals
- Jim Fielder – bass guitar, fretless bass guitar
- Dick Halligan – trombone
- Steve Katz – guitar, lute, vocals
- Al Kooper – organ, piano, ondioline, vocals
- Fred Lipsius – piano, alto saxophone
- Jerry Weiss – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
And though Al Kooper wrote most of the songs, he had a great ear from whom to cover. My quick thoughts are in blue following each title.
Overture
“Overture” (Kooper) – 1:32…I don’t know about you, but even the Beatles hadn’t done something as crazy sounding (to that point) as that loony laughing during the Overture.
I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
“I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” (Kooper) – 5:57…How sweet this was. To this adolescent’s innocent ears (I’ll admit it), the passion behind Kooper’s voice was so cool. And those horns! “I could be President of General Motors!”
Morning Glory
“Morning Glory” (Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley) – 4:16...a nice segue into this song. “I lit my purest candle…” And oh yea, recognize that organ sound? Like a Rolling Stone???
My Days Are Numbered
“My Days Are Numbered” (Kooper) – 3:19…more of those horns. I’d never heard (remember those innocent ears) horns used with such strength.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=782yCOaAiJw
Without Her
“Without Her” (Harry Nilsson) – 2:41…This was the first time I heard Nilsson and “Without Her.” I’d come to love his version more, but at that moment, such a cool beat.
Just One Smile
“Just One Smile” (Randy Newman) – 4:38…Didn’t realize that a Randy Newman song could have such strength! And side one ends after over 22 minutes. About how long some entire albums were. Getting my money’s worth.
I Can’t Quit Her
“I Can’t Quit Her” (Kooper, Irwin Levine) – 3:38...cool guitar, bumping bass, and more cool horns. I could get used to this.
Meagan’s Gypsy Eyes
“Meagan’s Gypsy Eyes” (Steve Katz) – 3:24…I loved the Blues Project’s “Flute Thing” and this had that same feel for me. Gurgling vocals. Neat. Mee-gan, not Meg-an.
Somethin’ Goin’ On
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbzDl8DvSbQ
“Somethin’ Goin’ On” (Kooper) – 8:00…Eight minutes. Very nice. This is not American Bandstand.
House in the Country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssdtM2UAOFo
“House in the Country” (Kooper) – 3:04…I was a straight suburban kid who loved the country (part of Woodstock’s appeal) and this song with all its sound effects was another reason that I knew I was headed in the right direction. Who was that kid?
The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud
“The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud” (Kooper) – 4:12…Taking a break.
Father of my morning,
Once my child to the night
I see that you have minds to cop
And I can only watch the sickened sorrow
Little do you know
Of the progressions that you teach
The people that you reach are tired
Of livin’ in a world of elastic towers
Dance with them and sing a song of changes
And talk with them of life and all its dangers
Surround yourself with now familiar strangers
Who kiss and who hug and eventually mug you of your time
So Much Love”/”Underture
“So Much Love”/”Underture” (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 4:47...I’d heard of the term Overture. Never Underture. One hell of a way to split after over 49 minutes of amazing music.
From Jeff Emmer via Facebook: Many years ago..when Dave Herman asked us to send in “Desert Island Record” lists. This album was on my list..it would STILL be included in such a list for me. I had the lucky pleasure of watching live…all the original performers…perform this album live at the Bottom Line. It wasn’t advertised..Vin Scelsa just mentioned it one Sunday night. KOOPER, KATZ and the whole band. Every song including the overture (separate little orchestra appeared at the opening) note for note. I brought my vinyl album and they both signed it. I consider it ( attending this show) one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me.
I was there also.. amazing show.. one I didn’t think I would ever get to see… I got everyone’s autograph, including producer John Simon… what a show..
…and here is the prequel to Jeff Emmer’s story… The week Vin mentioned it on his Sunday show,, we had tickets that following weekend for a show at The Paper Mill Paperhouse in NJ (we live in Westchester) and it wasn’t easy before the internet to get tickets for the Bottom Line.you really had to go pick them up yourself.. so on the way back from NJ we detoured thru the Lincoln Tunnel.( I almost never used that tunnel.. maybe never before or since)) This was the same week that the WTC garage was bombed in 1993. It turned out that we went thru the tunnel around the same time as the suspected bomber. That was getting the tickets,,,, THEN,,,, the weekend of the show,,,it was planned as 2 shows first weekend of March Fri and Saturday nights,, we usually would go on Saturday nights to shows but for some reason I can’t remember I got Friday night tickets for my wife and myself That same Friday night we got a late winter Blizzard,, After the early show we drove home in the storm,,, it was so bad they cancelled the Saturday night shows. So,, by luck we learned about it and by luck we went to Friday night. Its better to be lucky than rich.
from Martin Brooks: I remember waiting for this album’s release. The big record stores didn’t have it yet and I walked into the tiniest record store you could imagine at the top of the DeKalb avenue subway stop. The store was so small it could only fit about 2-3 people besides the one clerk. But there it was sitting in a wire rack mounted high on the wall. It was list price, but I didn’t want to wait. And the cover freaked me out. I loved that album. Over the years I rebought it several times. It’s too bad Al got voted out of his own band and some of the arrangements on the much more commercially successful 2nd album are his, but his version of that second album would have been far better.
from Greg Wall: Saw Al & this full band! A reunion @ The Turning Point In Piermont ,Ny.(10-15 yrs. ago?) Did the Whole album & more! Place Capacity crowd about 80?? Although I’ve seen Al many times and members in solo perfomances, I’ll never forget that night, a real enjoyable treat!
A composition put together by musical geniuses–> Classic of Classics!!
Best summary yet!