Formed in 1967 in New York City, it fused rock, blues, pop music, horn arrangements and jazz improvisation into a hybrid that came to be known as jazz-rock. Unlike jazz fusion, which tended toward virtuoso instrumentals and some experimentation with electric instruments, Blood, Sweat & Tears' sound merged the varied stylings of rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band coupled with small combo jazz.
The original incarnation of the band was led by Al Kooper and included Jim Fielder (bass), Fred Lipsius (alto sax and piano), Randy Brecker (trumpet and flugelhorn), Jerry Weiss (trumpet and flugelhorn), Dick Halligan (keyboards, trombone, flute), Steve Katz (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Bobby Colomby (drums). Kooper was bandleader, having insisted on that position based on his experiences with the Blues Project, his previous band with Katz, which had been organised as an egalitarian collective. Fielder was from Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention and had played briefly with Buffalo Springfield. But undoubtedly, Kooper had the highest profile from his contributions to various historic sessions of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and so forth.
The group's first live introduction was at Cafe Au Go Go in New York City in 1967, opening for Moby Grape. The band was a hit with the audience, who liked the innovative fusion of jazz with acid-rock and psychedelia.
After signing to Columbia Records, the group released perhaps one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the late 1960s, Child Is Father to the Man. Characterised by Kooper's penchant for studio gimmicks, the album slowly picked up in sales amid growing artistic differences between the founding members. Colomby and Katz wanted to move Kooper to the keyboard and composing chores exclusively and hire a stronger vocalist for the group.
As Blood, Sweat & Tears' musical genre slowly achieved critical mass alongside similarly configured ensembles such as Chicago Transit Authority and the Electric Flag, Kooper left the group to become a record producer for Columbia. The group's trumpeters, Brecker and Weiss, also left after the album was released.
Colomby and Katz started recruiting singers, finally settling on David Clayton-Thomas, a Canadian singer. Halligan moved to piano and Jerry Hyman joined to replace him on trombone. Trumpeters Lew Soloff and Chuck Winfield joined to bring the band up to 9 total members.
The group's second, self-titled, album was released in 1969 and was much more pop-oriented. It quickly hit the top of the charts, won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and spawned three major hit singles.
Arguably, as a result of Kooper's exit, Blood, Sweat & Tears had difficulty maintaining a hippie credibility at a time when this was deemed very important in the youth market. This was compounded by a United States Department of State-sponsored tour of Eastern Europe. Any voluntary association with the government was extremely unpopular at the time, and the band was ridiculed for it. In retrospect, it is now known that the State Department subtly requested the tour in exchange for more amicability on the issue of Clayton-Thomas' visa.
After returning to the US, the group released Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, which was another popular success but there was still the image problem which was exacerbated by a decision to play at Caesar's Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, a notoriously unhip place in an unhip city.
In 1970, the band provided music for the soundtrack of the film comedy The Owl and the Pussycat.
Their fourth album, Blood, Sweat & Tears 4 restored some credibility with an outstanding repertoire of songs written mostly from within the group, while still achieving major commercial success.
Difficulties arose inside the group between its pop-rock and jazz factions, with Clayton-Thomas striding the middle and eventually choosing to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Bobby Doyle and then by Jerry Fisher who went on to front the next generation of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Lipsius left and was replaced by jazz legend Joe Henderson (who did not stay long enough to record), before Lou Marini settled into the new lineup. Halligan was replaced by jazz pianist Larry Willis and Katz retired from active playing, taking on an A&R job. Swedish guitarist Georg Wadenius joined as lead guitarist around the same time.
Amid the personnel changes, a Greatest Hits album was released. During this time, a proliferation of similarly styled bands were competing in the popular music marketplace. The new edition of Blood, Sweat & Tears released New Blood, which found the group moving into a more overtly jazzy repertoire. Their following album, 1973's No Sweat, continued in a jazz fusion vein and featured outstanding horn work.
The 1974 release Mirror Image, saw the addition of vocalist Jerry LaCroix, sax player Bill Tillman and the exodus of long time members Soloff and Fielder. This recording features the adoption of a sound pitched between Philly Soul and the mid-1970s albums by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.
Personnel changes continued, capped by the return of Clayton-Thomas and the release of the comeback album New City. They released a final album for Columbia Records, More Than Ever, before the last original band member, Colomby, left in 1976.
The band then signed a new contract with ABC Records, with Colomby serving as its album's executive producer. Their sole album for that label, Brand New Day, did not fare well in the charts and, following a European tour in 1978 to promote the album, the group ceased activity.
In 1980, Clayton-Thomas decided to re-form Blood, Sweat & Tears, consisting of Canadian musicians. They signed to Avenue Records subsidiary label LAX (MCA Records) and, with producer and arranger Jerry Goldstein, recorded the album Nuclear Blues. The album was another attempt to reinvent the group, with a funk sound that recalleds (among others) Tower of Power, but was rejected by fans and, following a brief tour, including Australia, the group disbanded again.
Clayton-Thomas then negotiated a licensing deal with Colomby for rights to tour using the band's name. For almost 20 years afterwards, he toured the concert circuit under the name Blood, Sweat & Tears until his final departure in 2004, with yet another failed attempt at a solo career.
Blood, Sweat & Tears continues its heavy touring schedule through out the world with its current line-up of members, some of whom have been in the band 20 years, including a world tour during 2007.