Blood Sweat & Tears were originally formed as a jazz-rock group by Al Kooper (Royal Teens, Blues Project), Steve Katz, Bobby Colomby (who later went on to work as an A&R exec at Epic, Capitol, EMI and CBS Records), and Jim Felder. The line-up of the band changed several times and for a few years, one of my best friends, Darcy Hepner, played sax and flute, etc., as part of the touring band.In 1969 David Clayton Thomas replaced Al Kooper, and the band took a more commercial direction. DCT had come from Toronto, where he had success with his two groups The Shays (Walk That Walk) and previously The Bossmen (Brainwashed, recorded for my friend Duff Roman's label Roman Records). Between 1969 and 1975 they only charted 10 songs but the success rate was impressive: three Top Five hits and three Gold Records.
This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights Blood Sweat & Tears with two of their big hits: And When I Die and Hi-De-Ho. Have a preference? Come to the Voice Your Choice page and make your selection. As usual, we'll play the song with the most votes in Hour 3 of this week's show.
