Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
It was about 1:30 AM, Monday 18 August. Bethel’s dairy farmers would be up soon and hoped that the roads would be open so trucks could pick up their milk. Many Catskill weekend vacationers bemoaned their luck to have picked a weekend when 500,000 others unintentionally closed down the area.
For those who had remained at the festival, there were still four more bands yet to play after Blood, Sweat and Tears to complete Sunday’s lineup: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha Na Na, and Jimi Hendrix. The rain storm had delayed the day’s progression, but even without the downpour, the festival would still have stretched out into early Monday.
The live performance often gave individual band members the chance to stretch out their studio performances. The set lasted about 55 minutes.
Personnel:
- David Clayton-Thomas: vocals, guitar
- Steve Katz: guitar, harmonica, vocals
- Dick Halligan: keyboards, trombone, flute
- Jerry Hyman: trombone
- Fred Lipsius: alto sax, piano
- Lew Soloff: trumpet, flugelhorn
- Chuck Winfield: trumpet, flugelhorn
- Jim Fielder: bass
- Bobby Colomby: drums
Setlist:
- More and More
- Just One Smile
- Something’s Coming on
- More Than You’ll Ever Know
- Spinning Wheel
- Sometimes in Winter
- Smiling Phases
- God Bless the Child
- And When I Die
- You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
More and More
The song is from the band’s second album, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Little Milton first covered it.
According to the funky16corners site: The tune, which was written by a mysterious pair named Don Juan and Vee Pee Smith, would later be covered by Blood Sweat and Tears. Listening to the Little Milton original, it’s not hard to see why David Clayton-Thomas wanted to cover it, as it’s right up his (and the bands) stylistic alley. They take it at a much faster pace, in which the tune loses a little bit of its built-in funk, but it’s still worth a listen.
Like medicine baby
You’re good for me
Like honey, darlin’ girl
I know you’re sweet to me
Each passing day,
Brings us much closer together
And the love you bring me darlin’
Just gets better and better
That’s why my love for you
Keeps on growin’
More and more
All the time
More and more
All the time, yeah!
Uh huh,
Gonna say it again, now now now
Hah!
Like a ship that’s driftin’ baby
You’re apart from me
Like old man time
You controll my destiny
If from my life, you ever tried to go
It would destroy in a second
What took a lifetime to mold
That’s why my love for you
Just keeps on growin’
More and more
All the time
More and more
All the time
As sure as a sunrise
I’ll stand by your side
As sure as the daybreak
I’ll love you for Heaven’s Sake
I’m ready to pay, yeah
My dues for lovin’ you
For lovin’ you too much woman,
You know I stand accused
More,
And more
All the time
More and More!
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Just One Smile
Written by Randy Newman and from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album, Child Is Father To the Man. The Tokens recorded the original version of the song in 1965. It was the B-side to their single “The Bells Of St. Mary“.
Can I cry a little bit
There’s nobody to notice it
Can I cry if I want to
No one cares
Why can’t I pretend
That you love me again?
All I had has been taken from me
Now I’m cryin’
And tears don’t become me
Chorus: Just one smile,
Pain’s forgiven
Just one kiss, girl
Now the hurt’s all gone
Just one smile to my
Make my little life worth livin’
A little dream to build my world upon
How I wish
I could say
All the things that I got to say
How I wish you
Could see what’s here
In My heart
I don’t ask for much
A look, a smile, a touch
Try to forget
Well, the Lord knows I’m tryin’
But it’s so hard to forget girl,
When your whole world is dyin’
(Chorus)
(Solos)
Try to forget
Well, the Lord knows I’m tryin’
But it’s so hard to forget girl,
When your whole world is dyin’
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Something’s Coming on
Also from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album. Chris Stainton and Joe Cocker wrote it and had performed it about 12 hours earlier!
It will hunt you down and leave the stain, so give it a think
When someone’s hurt nobody care
When a children’s being left, hey it’s not fair
All i know this life is just a mess, it’s like a poison kiss
Sometimes it’s useless when you crying
No one will help to wipe those tears
But i will try, i’ll put it in a fight
They could burn and crush me all they want
Leave me if you want to, kill me if you need to
You could drink my blood i don’t care anymore
So listen,
So don’t surrender not this time, so take a breath say a grace
I’ll take a bullet in this fight and i’ll be bleed to reach the light
But I will try, i’ll put it in a fight
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
More Than You’ll Ever Know
The band seques right into the next song. Al Kooper wrote More Than You’ll Ever Know and again it is from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album. Here’s Kooper’s live version. You can decide whose you prefer.
If I ever leave you
You can say I told you so
And if I ever hurt you baby
You know I hurt myself as well
Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you baby, more than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know
When I wasn’t makin’ too much money
You know where my paycheck went
You know I brought it home to baby
And I never spent one red cent
Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you baby, more than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know
I’m not tryin’ to be any kind of man
I’m tryin’ to be somebody you can love, trust and understand
I know that I can dream, yeah
A part of you that no one else could see
I just gotta hear, hear you say : ‘It’s all right, yeah, yeah, yeah’
I’m only flesh and blood
I can be anything that you demand
I could president of General Motors baby, heh
Or just a tiny little grain of sand
Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you babe, I love you babe
I love you more than you’ll ever know
Yeah
Yeah, yeah
If I ever leave you
You can say I told you so
And if I ever hurt you
You know I hurt myself as well
Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I tried to tell I love you baby, love you baby, yeah love you baby
I love you more than you’ll ever know, ooh yeah yeah …
I love you, I love you, I love you baby
Well all right!
I told you so many times before
I love you, I love you, I love you
If you don’t know then I’ll tell you one more time
I love you, I love you, I love you .
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Spinning Wheel
Written by David Clayton Thomas and from Blood, Sweat & Tears second and then most recent album, Blood, Sweat and Tears.
On the critical side, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone wrote in his March 1969 review: “The listener responds to the illusion that he is hearing something new when in fact he is hearing mediocre rock, OK jazz, etc., thrown together in a contrived and purposeless way.”
William Ruhlmann of All Music wrote: “ the second BS&T, under the aegis of producer James William Guercio, was a less adventurous unit, and, as fronted by Clayton-Thomas, a far more commercial one. Not only did the album contain three songs that neared the top of the charts as singles — “Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die” — but the whole album, including an arrangement of “God Bless the Child” and the radical rewrite of Traffic‘s “Smiling Phases,” was wonderfully accessible. It was a repertoire to build a career on, and Blood, Sweat & Tears did exactly that…”
What goes up, must come down
Spinning wheel got to go round
Talkin’ ’bout your troubles, it’s a cryin’ sin
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel spin
You got no money and you, you got no home
Spinning wheel, all alone
Talkin’ ’bout your troubles and you, you never learn
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel turn
Did you find a directing sign on the straight and narrow highway?
Would you mind a reflecting sign?
Just let it shine within your mind
And show you the colors that are real
Someone is waiting just for you
Spinning wheel spinning through
Drop all your troubles by the riverside
Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride
Ha!
Someone’s waiting just for you
Spinning wheel spinning through
Drop all your troubles by the riverside
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel fly
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Sometimes in Winter
Also from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album written by Steve Katz. Katz still sings it.
Sometimes in winter
I gaze into the streets
And walk through snow and city sleet
Behind your room
Sometimes in winter
Forgotten memories
Remember you behind the trees
With leaves that cried
By the window once I waited for you
Laughing slightly you would run
Trees alone would shield us in the meadow
Makin’ love in the evening sun
Now you’re gone girl
And the lamp posts call your name
I can hear, them
In the spring of frozen rain
Now you’re gone girl
And the time’s slowed down till dawn
It’s a cold room and the walls ask
Where you’ve gone
Sometimes in winter
I love you when the good times
Seem like memories in the spring
That never came
Sometimes in winter
I wish the empty streets
Would fill with laughter from the tears
That ease my pain
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Smiling Phases
From Blood, Sweat & Tears album written by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood of Traffic.
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you’re blindGet yourself together,
Give before you take
You’ll find out the hard way,
Soon you’re gonna break
Hey hey heySmiling phases
Showing traces
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you’ll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence youYou don’t need a lawyer
When you’re in a fix
Someone gets to pay up
Your friends are full of tricks
But happiness is something
That you just can’t buy
Own up to the truth girl,
Your love has gone on bySmiling Phases bring you flowers
You can line ’em up
And you can watch ’em grow for hours
And you’ll be amazed at the way that they stare
As they walk by your door.Do yourself a favor,
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you’re blindGet yourself together,
Give before you take
You’ll find out the hard way,
Soon you’re gonna break
Hey hey heySmiling phases
Going Places
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you’ll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence…you!!
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
God Bless the Child
Also from Blood, Sweat & Tears album. Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. wrote “God Bless the Child” in 1939. It was first recorded on May 9, 1941 and released by the Okeh Records in 1942.
It’s likely impossible to top her version.
David Clayton-Thomas says as the song starts, “I don’t think ever in my lifetime…there’s a song that seems so appropriate to me.”
Them that’s got, shall get
Them that’s not, shall lose
So the Bible says
And it still is news
Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own will
That’s got his own
And the strong seem to get more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t
Ever make the grade
Cause mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
And when you got money
You got lots of friends
Their crowding round your door
When the money’s gone
And all you’re spending ends
They won’t be round anymore, no, no, no
And rich relations may give you
A crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
And when you got money
You got lots of friends
Their crowding round your door
But wait a minute children
When the money’s gone
And all you’re spending ends
They won’t be round anymore, no, no
And rich relations may give you
A crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child who can
Stand up and say
I got my own
Every child’s got to have his own bell
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
And When I Die
Again from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album. Laura’s is pretty good, but then a composer’s own version would seem closer to their intent.
With tongue in cheek, Steve Katz introduced the song by saying, “We hope you look upon this next little number as a little piece of sunshine amidst a lot of sunshine.”
I’m not scared of dying
And I, don’t really care
If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then, let the time be near
If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then dying time is near
Just bundle up my coffin
‘Cause it’s cold way down there
I hear that it’s
Cold way down there, yeah
Crazy cold, way down there
And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born
In this world
To carry on, to carry on
Now troubles are many
They’re as
Deep as a well
I can swear there ain’t no Heaven
But I pray there ain’t no hell
Swear there ain’t no Heaven
And I’ll pray there ain’t no hell
But I’ll never know by livin’
Only my dyin’ will tell, yes only my
Dyin’ will tell, oh yeah
Only my dyin’ will tell
And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born, in this world
To carry on, to carry on
Yeah yeah
Give me my freedom
For as long as I be
All I ask of livin’
Is to have no chains on me
All I ask of livin’
Is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dyin’ is to
Go natrually, only wanna
Go naturally
Here I go!
Hey hey
Here come the devil
Right behind
Look out children, here he come
Here he come, heyyy
Don’t wanna go by the devil
Don’t wanna go by the demon
Don’t wanna go by satan
Don’t wann die uneasy
Just let me go
Naturally
And when I die, and when I’m dead
Dead and gone
There’ll be
One child born, in our world
To carry on, to carry on.
This was the “last” song, but the crowd cheers brings back the band for one more song.
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
Written by Gordy Berry, Frank Wilson, Brenda Holloway, and Patrice Holloway, it is from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album
I lost at love before
Got mad and closed the door
But you said child just once more
I chose you for the one
Now we’re havin’ so much fun
You treated me so kind
I’m about to lose my mind
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life
The others were untrue
But when it came to lovin’ you
I’d spend my whole life with you
‘Cause you came and you took control
You touch my very soul
You always show me that
Lovin’ you is where it’s at
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life
Thank you, baby
I love you so much you see
You’re even in my dreams
I can hear
Baby, I can hear you calling me
I’m so in love with you
All I ever want to do is
Thank you baby, thank you baby
You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life
You made me so very happy
You made me so, so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life
Mmmm, I want to thank you, girl
Every day of my life
I wanna thank you
You made me so very happy
Oh, I wanna spend my life thanking you
Thank you baby, thank you baby
Thank you baby thank you baby
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
The next act is Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young