 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Al Kooper already had a host of impressive credits under his belt when, in 1967, he had the brainstorm for a band that would blend rock and jazz. Dating back to the late 1950s, his career path had taken him from the Royal Teens (of "Short Shorts" fame) to Bob Dylan's studio band (the organ lines on "Like A Rolling Stone" were his idea) to a founding membership in the critically acclaimed mid-'60s band, the Blues Project.
After quitting the Project in '67, Kooper began assembling a group that he dreamed "could put dents in your shirt if you got within fifteen rows of the stage," as he recounts in his book Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards. "Like Maynard Ferguson's (early '60s) band, I wanted a horn section that would play more than the short adjectives they were relegated to in R&B bands, but less than Count Basie's or Buddy Rich's. Somewhere in the middle was a mixture of soul, jazz and rock that was my little fantasy."
That little fantasy became Blood, Sweat & Tears-and a celebrated 1968-released debut album, Child Is Father To The Man. Within a year, though, Kooper had left following a dispute with the other musicians over material. Bringing in vocalist David Clayton-Thomas and organist Dick Halligan to replace him, the reconstituted BS&T struck a motherlode. "I was proud when their next album hit #1," says Kooper. "I knew where it had all begun. God bless you, Maynard Ferguson. I had lived in my musical Camelot."
|
|
|
|
|
