Blood Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father to the Man

Written By: Moti Kupfer

Release date - 21.02.1968

Al Kooper had a daring idea: to merge rock and roll with a full horn section. The seed for that idea was planted when, as a teenager, he attended a concert by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. That experience inspired him to imagine a band that would blend soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, with horns at the very center of the sound.

Kooper, who had already shared high energy jam sessions with B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix, once cut his hand during a session so intensely that it bled without him noticing. From that image of passion and sweat mixed with blood came the name "Blood, Sweat & Tears".

Born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt in February 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, Kooper grew up exposed to music at home, including the gospel recordings of Bessie Smith. A natural talent, he taught himself to play piano first and later guitar. By the mid fifties he was drawn to gospel, and as rock and roll began to take shape, he gravitated toward it, initially through doo wop. At just fourteen he joined "The Royal Teens" as a guitarist.

In the early sixties he became a session musician and songwriter, composing for artists such as Gene Pitney and Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Ambitious and determined, Kooper understood early on that if he wanted a career in music, he had to be everywhere. That drive led him to publisher Aaron Schroeder and, more importantly, into the right rooms at the right time.

When producer Tom Wilson invited him to attend the recording sessions for Bob Dylan’s album "Highway 61 Revisited", Kooper showed up with his guitar before anyone else, plugged into an amplifier, and waited for his moment. Then he realized Dylan had brought in another guitarist, Mike Bloomfield. Knowing he could not compete with Bloomfield, Kooper improvised. He sat down at a Hammond organ that happened to be there and began to play, despite barely knowing how to operate it.

Listening back to the playback, Dylan heard Kooper’s organ part and famously asked for it to be turned up in the mix. That spontaneous performance on "Like a Rolling Stone" gave Kooper the breakthrough he needed to launch himself as a serious musician.

After a period playing with Dylan, Kooper joined the blues rock band "The Blues Project" as a keyboardist, again working alongside Tom Wilson. He sang and played keyboards, gradually trying to introduce his horn driven vision into the band. Guitarist Danny Kalb resisted the idea, and Kooper understood the message. He left, with no intention of returning.

Toward the end of 1967 he finally set out to realize his dream. Reuniting with Steve Katz from "The Blues Project" and joined by bassist Jim Fielder, drummer Bobby Colomby, saxophonist Fred Lipsius, and, following a newspaper ad seeking horn players, trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss along with Dick Halligan on trombone and French horn, the lineup of "Blood, Sweat & Tears" was complete.

Determined not to repeat past frustrations, Kooper made sure both his bandmates and Columbia Records were fully committed to his artistic direction. This would be his vision, and he would guide it.

The album opens with the brief instrumental "Overture", written by Kooper, immediately followed by the blues tribute "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", a heartfelt homage to Otis Redding, whom Kooper deeply admired.

Steve Katz also takes on lead vocals on "Morning Glory", his fragile and trembling voice perfectly suited to the song. Kooper was aware that his own voice was not his strongest asset. He compensated with passion and intensity, but his desire to control every aspect of the band, combined with his limited vocal range, would eventually contribute to his departure later that same year.

The first serious cracks appeared when Kooper insisted on including a song he strongly believed in, despite resistance from the rest of the band. Its minimalistic arrangement, reminiscent in spirit of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yesterday" by "The Beatles", did not fit the group’s live driven format. Still, Kooper pushed it onto the album. The song tells the story of a follower of Timothy Leary and his LSD centered philosophy, and its elegant string arrangements were crafted by producer John Simon. That decision marked the beginning of a rift that could not be repaired.

Yet artistically, Kooper’s vision was fully realized here. Blues rock songs driven by bold horn arrangements and rich vocal harmonies shine throughout the record, especially on "My Days Are Numbered", "Just One Smile", and "So Much Love", which closes the album.

Shortly after, Al Kooper would leave to pursue a new chapter, collaborating with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. But on "Child Is Father to the Man", his revolutionary dream was captured in full, raw and ambitious, a blueprint for jazz rock fusion before the genre even had a proper name.

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