I was a huge fan of jazz-rock (what some called horn rock) back in the day. As a drummer, I liked the feel of playing big band-like hits with a rock groove. As an arranger, I appreciated all the harmonic options available from a small horn section. No surprise that I listened to a lot of Chicago and Lighthouse back then, but my favorite jazz-rock band was Blood, Sweat & Tears. The group hit the really big time in 1968 with their second, self-titled album and hits like “And When I Die,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.”
BS&T followed up that success with 1970’s Blood, Sweat & Tears 3. That album wasn’t as big as the previous one, although it had a bevy of tracks that I really liked, including a sublime cover of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.” The big single from the album was “Hi-De-Ho,” and it peaked at #14 on the charts. The second single didn’t do quite as well, but in spite of that I’m featuring it as today’s classic song of the day.
Columbia Records released “Lucretia MacEvil” as a single in October of 1970. It only reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it’s a standout track with its in-your-face horns, Bobby Colomby’s driving jazz-influenced drumming, and David Clayton-Thomas’ powerhouse vocals. It’s fun to listen to and, from a drummer’s perspective, really fun to play. (I can’t tell you how many licks and grooves I’ve copped from Mr. Colomby over the years.)
“Lucretia MacEvil” was written by the band’s vocalist, David Clayton-Thomas, before he joined the group. He said he was inspired by the “bad girls” he saw in the dive bars he played before joining BS&T. The name “Lucretia MacEvil” was a play on the Horace Silver tune, “Filthy McNasty.”
This incarnation of Blood, Sweat & Tears featured a stellar lineup of jazz and rock players. The group included David Clayton-Thomas on vocals, of course, along with Steve Katz on guitar; Dick Halligan on piano, organ, trombone, and flute; Fred Lipsius on alto sax and keyboards; Lew Soloff and Chuck Winfield on trumpets; Jerry Hyman on trombone; Jim Fielder on bass; and Bobby Colomby on drums. Colomby and Roy Halee produced the album.
On the BS&T 3 album, “Lucretia MacEvil” didn’t stop at the final syncopated horn lick. It kept going in an extended jazz jam they called “Lucretia’s Reprise,” which started at a slow simmer and gradually boiled over with a very hot trumpet solo by Lew Soloff, backed by Bobby Colomby’s cookin’ drums and some strategic horn hits. I love the playing on this track; it’s BS&T at their very best.
A quick personal story. When I was in junior high and a huge BS&T fan, I was taking drum lessons from a cat named Roger Fouch, who was the drummer in our high school’s jazz band. One Sunday afternoon I was in the audience in the Ben Davis High School auditorium watching the jazz band when they launched into a big band arrangement of “Lucretia MacEvil,” which was very cool. Midway through the number I saw a look of panic come over Roger’s face and watched him keep reaching down, best he could, to fiddle with something at his feet. Turns out the leather strap on his Rogers Swivomatic bass drum pedal (Roger played a Rogers kit) broke, leaving him bass drum-less for the rest of the concert. Lesson learned—from then on, I always carried an extra bass drum strap in my trap case and later switched to metal- or chain-drive pedals, like Slingerland’s Super Speed pedal and the trusty old Ludwig Speed King. (I currently play a DW 5000 chain-drive pedal.)
And, as good as “Lucretia MacEvil” was on BS&T 3, it’s even better when the band played it live. Segue to today’s daily bonus video of the day, David Clayton-Thomas and BS&T playing “Lucretia MacEvil” live on the September 20, 1970, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. (The clip was actually filmed a few weeks earlier, on September 7, at Caesars Palace Auditorium in Las Vegas.) Bobby Colomby is playing his famed Wine Red Raspberry Ripple Rogers kit that he used for all the BS&T recordings but seldom live. This is great stuff, folks.
