1. Spinning Wheel (4:05)
2. You've Made Me So Very Happy (4:15)
3. God Bless The Child (5:56)
4. And When I Die (4:01)
5. Smiling Phase (5:07)
6. Hi-De-Ho (4:24)
7. Lucretia Mac Evil (3:03)
8. Fire & Rain (4:00)
9. Somethin Comin On (4:32)
10. Go Down Gambin (4:17)
11. John The Baptist (3:36)
12. Lisa Listen To Me (2:59)
13. So Long Dixie (4:27)
14. Got To Get You Into My Life (3:20)
15. I Love You More Than Ever (5:26)
16. Katy Bell (4:27)
17. Sweet Sadie The Savior (4:22)

This "Definitive collection" is actually slightly inferior to the "Collection" compilation released by Castle Communications. Here we have 17 tracks taken from the band's second (self titled) album through to "More than ever", their last album with CBS/Columbia. Thus nothing is included from the band's first album which featured Al Kooper, and nothing from "Brand new day" or "Nuclear blues". In fairness, the omission of the later albums is no loss, but Kooper's "Child is the father to man" album is a key part of the BS&T story.

The tracks which appear here are obvious choices, naturally including the excellent singles "Spinning wheel", "You've made me so very happy", and "Hi-de-ho". Those from the later albums will be less familiar, although the cover of the Beatles "Got to get you into my life" demonstrates how the band had moved from jazz rock into R&B as their career progressed.

There is little here to demonstrate the more complex jazz rock experimentation of the second and third albums, but this is more than compensated for by the wonderful voice of David Clayton-Thomas. DC-T came, went away and came back again during the period covered by the compilation, but he features on the majority of the tracks.

In all, a decent, if rather superficial introduction to the music of Blood Sweat and Tears, but the better option is to obtain their early studio albums. ---Easy Livin, progarchives.com

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01. Agitato (B.Cassidy) - 5:51
02. Nuclear Blues (D.Clayton/Thomas) - 4:23
03. Manic Depression (J.Hendrix) - 4:17
04. I'll Drown In My Own Tears (H.Glover) - 7:21
05. Fantasy Stage (D.Clayton/Thomas/R.Piltch) - 5:41
06. Suite: Spanish Wine - 15:10 including:
a). Introduction: La Cantina (R.Piltch) - 2:15
b). Theme: Spanish Wine (B.Cassidy) - 1:02
c). Latin Fire (B.Cassidy/B.Economou/D.Piltch/R.Martinez/V.Dorge/E.Seymour) - 2:22
d). The Challenge (B.Cassidy/B.Economou/D.Piltch/R.Martinez/V.Dorge/E.Seymour) - 2:15
e). The Duel (B.Cassidy/B.Economou/D.Piltch/R.Martinez/V.Dorge/E.Seymour) - 2:20
f). Amor (B.Cassidy/B.Economou/D.Piltch/R.Martinez/V.Dorge/E.Seymour) - 3:16
g). Reprise: Spanish Wine (B.Cassidy) - 1:42

Personnel:
- David Clayton-Thomas - vocals
- Bruce Cassidy - trumpet, flugelhorn, Steiner Electric trumpet
- Bobby Economou - drums
- David Piltch - bass
- Robert Piltch - electric and classical guitar
- Earl Seymour - baritone and tenor sax, flute
- Vern Dorge - alto and soprano sax, flute

Recorded with totally different musicians, "Nuclear Blues" is the final studio album that bears the name of the band. Led by singer Clayton-Thomas, this is a worthy swan song of the famous brass-rock band. It is very much in the jazz-rock style with firm funk rhythms, so that way it deviates from the earlier albums. I personally like this album better than the previous "Brand New Day" because it contains more jazz improvisations, good brass sections and excellent bass solo parts by D. Piltch. The only throwaway is a slow blues "I'll Drown In My Own Tears" which is a rather boring track despite soulful and convinced vocal by Thomas. "Suite: Spanish Wine" is a 15-minutes pure jazz improvisation with Spanish-like melodies and it is generally successful, even if somewhat too extended. In "Fantasy Stage" the author is mistakenly singing about "habla espanyol" while the story takes places in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (!) Maybe he forgot to consult the tourist guide...

Overall, this is a fine last album by BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS and can be recommended to the jazz-rock and jazz listeners in the first place. ---Seyo, rogarchives.com

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01. Overture (Al Kooper) – 1:32
02. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (Kooper) – 5:57
03. Morning Glory (Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley) – 4:14
04. My Days Are Numbered (Kooper) – 3:19
05. Without Her (Harry Nilsson) – 2:39
06. Just One Smile (Randy Newman) – 4:36
07. I Can’t Quit Her (Kooper, Irwin Levine) – 3:36
08. Meagan’s Gypsy Eyes (Steve Katz) – 3:24
09. Somethin’ Goin’ On (Kooper) – 8:00
10. House In The Country (Kooper) – 3:04
11. The Modern Adventures Of Plato, Diogenes And Freud (Kooper) – 4:12
12. So Much Love/Underture (Carole King, Gerry Goffin) – 4:42

Personnel:
– Al Kooper – organ, piano, ondioline, vocals
– Randy Brecker – trumpet, flugelhorn
– Bobby Colomby – drums, percussion, vocals
– Jim Fielder – bass guitar, fretless bass guitar
– Dick Halligan – trombone
– Steve Katz – guitar, lute, vocals
– Fred Lipsius – piano, alto saxophone
– Jerry Weiss – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
+
– Anahid Ajemian, Paul Gershman, Manny Green, Julie Held, Harry Katzman,
 Leo Kruczek, Harry Lookofsky, Gene Orloff – violins
– Harold Coletta – viola
– Al Gorgoni – organ, guitar, vocals
– Doug James – shaker
– Fred Catero – sound effects
– Charles McCracken, Alan Schulman – cellos
– Melba Moorman, Valerie Simpson – choir, chorus
– John Simon – organ, piano, conductor, cowbell
– The Manny Vardi Strings
– Bob Irwin, John Simon – producers

Child Is Father to the Man is keyboard player/singer/arranger Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements (including strings and horns), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work. This is one of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late '60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form. It's Kooper's bluesy songs, such as "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her," and his singing that are the primary focus, but the album is an aural delight; listen to the way the bass guitar interacts with the horns on "My Days Are Numbered" or the charming arrangement and Steve Katz's vocal on Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory." Then Kooper sings Harry Nilsson's "Without Her" over a delicate, jazzy backing with flügelhorn/alto saxophone interplay by Randy Brecker and Fred Lipsius. This is the sound of a group of virtuosos enjoying itself in the newly open possibilities of pop music. Maybe it couldn't have lasted; anyway, it didn't. --- William Ruhlmann, Rovi

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01. You've Made Me So Very Happy
02. I Can't Quit Her
03. Go Down Gamblin'
04. Hi-De-Ho That Old Sweet Roll
05. Sometimes In Winter
06. & When I Die
07. Spinning Wheel
08. Lisa, Listen To Me
09. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
10. Lucretia Macevil
11. God Bless The Child

Personnel:
    Dave Bargeron - trombone, tuba, bass trombone, baritone horn, acoustic bass
    Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn
    David Clayton-Thomas - lead vocals except as noted, guitar on "Go Down Gamblin'"
    Bobby Colomby - drums, percussion, vocals
    Jim Fielder - bass
    Dick Halligan - organ, piano, electric piano, harpsichord, celeste, trombone, flute,
    alto flute, baritone horn, vocals
    Jerry Hyman - trombone, bass trombone, recorder
    Steve Katz - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, vocals,
    lead vocals on "Sometimes In Winter"
    Fred Lipsius - alto saxophone, piano, organ, clarinet, vocals
    Lew Soloff - trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet
    Jerry Weiss - trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
    Chuck Winfield - trumpet, flugelhorn
    Al Kooper - Piano, Organ, lead vocals on "I Can't Quit Her" and
    " I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know"

Sometimes, a greatest-hits set is timed perfectly to gather together a group's most successful and familiar performances just at the point when that group has passed the point of their maximum exposure to the public, but before the public memory has had a chance to fade. That was the case when Columbia Records assembled this compilation for release in early 1972. At that point, Blood, Sweat & Tears had released four albums and scored six Top 40 hits, each of which is heard here. But lead singer David Clayton-Thomas had just quit the group, so that the unit that recorded songs like "You've Made Me So Very Happy" was not working together anymore. And even when Clayton-Thomas returned, the band would continue to decline commercially. As such, BS&T's Greatest Hits captures the band's peak in 11 selections--seven singles chart entries, plus two album tracks from the celebrated debut album when Al Kooper helmed the group, and two more from the Grammy-winning multi-platinum second album. Using the short singles edits of songs like "And When I Die" emphasizes their radio-ready punch over the more extended suitelike arrangements on the albums, but this selection gains in focus what it lacks in ambition. For the millions who learned to love BS&T in 1969 when they were all over AM radio, this is the ideal selection of their most accessible material. (A later CD reissue of Blood, Sweat & Tears' Greatest Hits replaced each singles edit with the original full-length version.) ---William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com

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