Blood, Sweat & Tears biggest hits
› “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” (No. 2, March 1969)› “Spinning Wheel” (No. 2, May 1969)› “And When I Die” (No. 2, Aug. 1969)› “Hi-De-Ho” (No. 14, Aug. 1970)› “Lucretia MacEvil” (No. 29, Oct. 1970)› “Go Down Gamblin’” (No. 32, July 1971)
If you go
› What: Blood Sweat & Tears featuring Bo Bice› When: 6:30 p.m. tonight› Where: Coca-Cola Stage
The soundtrack of baby boomers’ high school years will play across Ross’s Landing tonight when Blood, Sweat & Tears takes the Coca-Cola Stage.
“I wore (their) albums out,” says Jill Cavan, Brainerd High School class of 1971. “‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’ and so many other hits bring back such good memories of Brainerd High friends. We loved the big horn sounds that Blood, Sweat & Tears played.”
Joe “Dixie” Fuller, Riverbend talent and production coordinator, calls BS&T “the really cool band everybody tried to duplicate.” When Riverbend officials were looking for a group that was “Top 40s/oldies but had a horn flair to it,” BS&T was the match, he says.
“There are so many songs I love that they play. Reminds me of good ol’ City High School,” says Chattanoogan Nancy Fryar.
“Blood, Sweat & Tears was one of my very favorite bands. Even my dad liked it,” says Elaine Sharp Mason of Ellijay, Ga.
The Grammy Award-winning band started in 1967 and produced a string of hits from 1969 through 1971: “God Bless the Child,” “Lucretia MacEvil,” “Go Down Gamblin'” and “Hi-De-Ho.” But local boomers were unanimous on their two favorites: “Spinning Wheel” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.”
BS&T songs were immediately distinguishable for two things: horn-driven rock and the rasp of David Clayton Thomas’ voice. Instead of the ubiquitous guitar solos popular back then, BS&T inserted improvised jazz that highlighted its brass players.
More than 175 musicians have passed through the band over 40 years, and its newest addition is helping the band reach a new generation of fans.
Bo Bice wasn’t even a gleam in his parents’ eyes during the heyday of BS&T, but he impressed the band’s members when they caught his performance of their hits during his 2005 stint on “American Idol.” Ten years later, when they needed a new front man, they called Bice.
BS&T originally asked the singer to do a handful of gigs with them, but the response was so positive, it grew into more, Bice has said in previous media interviews.
Still, the Bo Bice that festival-goers see tonight isn’t the one they’ll remember from “Idol.” He’s cut his shoulder-length locks into a long-top-with-low-fade taper and his beard is gone.
Between Bice and the band, Fuller believes tonight’s show will be “such a singalong. If people will just come sit in front of them for a few minutes, they’ll stay.”
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com.
Five things to know about Blood, Sweat & Tears
› None of the original band members are left.Founder Bobby Columby was the last to go in 1977, although he stills owns the name and runs the band’s business. The current members are Bo Bice, vocals; Dan Levine, trombone; Brad Mason, trumpet; Glenn McClelland, band leader and keyboards; Dylan Elise, drums; Leonardo Amvedo, guitar; Ric Fierabracci, bass; Carl Fischer, trumpet and musical director; and Ken Gioffre, sax and flute.› The band was named after a Johnny Cash album.Al Kooper, a founding member and original band leader, needed a name for the band before its first gig. He saw a Johnny Cash album titled “Blood, Sweat & Tears.”› Drummer Bobby Colomby was responsible for the artistic vision of the band.He assembled a group of musicians with the goal of blending rock and jazz into a genre-bending sound.› The whole band sits in on auditions.When a band member leaves, possible replacements are brought in and the band as a whole decides who gets the job.› Blood, Sweat & Tears’ self-titled second album beat out the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” for Album of the Year at the 1969 Grammy Awards.Overall, BS&T has received 10 Grammy nominations in its career and won three.Source: bloodsweatandtears.com