For our final day of horn rock week, I’m pulling out another Blood, Sweat & Tears tune, because I really like BS&T. This one is the combo of “Snow Queen” and “Maiden Voyage,” the closing tracks from their 1972 album New Blood. You didn’t hear it on the radio but it really encapsulates all that I like about this period in the band’s history.
New Blood was the first album by the band after lead singer David Clayton-Thomas left, after the BS&T IV album. (Founding members Fred Lipsius and Dick Halligan left around the same time.) To replace them, the band brought in Jerry Fisher on vocals, “Blue” Lou Marini on sax and flute, Dave Bargeron on trombone and tuba, and Larry Willis on keyboards. They also added a second guitarist, in the form of Geog Wadenius, to supplement founding member Steve Katz.
With the loss of Clayton-Thomas, the new members pushed BS&T more into the jazz direction, which is evident in these two tracks. “Snow Queen” is more traditional pop but with a very interesting horn arrangement by Dave Bargeron and bassist Jim Fielder. (I admit to, when I was doing horn arrangements in college, stealing the way they break up a single horn line into two intertwined parts.) This one also features some great solos by Larry Willis on Fender Rhodes piano, Lou Marini on sax, and Dave Bargeron on trombone. Then there’s “Maiden Voyage,” which is straight up modal jazz, no vocals at all, and an extended solo by new guitarist Georg Wadenius. Just to solidify their jazz cred, there’s also a very, very interesting little drum interlude between the two tunes that lets drummer Bobby Colomby show off his stuff.
The first tune, “Snow Queen,” was written by the legendary songwriting team of Carole King and Gary Goffin. It was first recorded by the Roger Nichols Trio in 1966 then by Carole King’s group The City in 1968. The Tokens and the Association also took cracks at it before it landed with BS&T.
“Maiden Voyage” is a classic jazz composition by Herbie Hancock, first appearing on his 1965 album of the same name. (That album also featured Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums). The tune defines modal jazz, where traditional chord progressions and harmony are replaced by a single modal tonal center across the entire piece. If you’ve ever listened to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album, you’ve been listening to modal jazz.
By grafting multiple horn solos onto a traditional pop song and then fully embracing the modal jazz of “Maiden Voyage,” the new BS&T fairly screamed that they were emphasizing the jazz part of jazz rock. It was an exciting combination, especially live, and definitely an extension of the more pop-oriented fare on their previous albums.
New Blood did okay, hitting #32 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart, but that was a far cry from the chart-topping success of their earlier albums. The change in vocalists and the shift to a jazzier direction just didn’t cut it with casual fans, even if jazzers like me liked the refreshed sound. New Blood is my favorite BS&T record and I liked the new players and the new direction. That puts me in a minority, I know, but I’m used to that. Take a listen to it and see what you think.
[…] and the remaining members hired vocalist Jerry Fisher for their next two albums, that year’s New Blood and 1973’s No Sweat. Both of these albums took the group more into the jazz direction, which […]