al room to solo, while Kooper's organ and Katz's guitar swelled in pulsing, shimmering glory. The songs were bold and challenging, and the arrangements gave Lipsius, Brecker, et. That first version of Blood, Sweat & Tears played music that roamed freely through realms of jazz, R&B, soul, and even psychedelia in ways that had scarcely been heard before in one band. The new group was signed to Columbia Records, and the name "Blood, Sweat & Tears" came to Kooper after a jam at the Cafe au Go Go, where a cut on his hand left his organ keyboard covered in blood. The horn section featured Fred Lipsius (saxophone), with Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss on trumpets and flügelhorns, and Dick Halligan playing trombone. Kooper agreed, as long as he was in charge musically. He did, however, find three players who wanted to work with him: bassist Jim Fielder, Blues Project guitarist Steve Katz, and drummer Bobby Colomby.
He planned to pursue this in London, but a series of New York shows involving some big-name friends didn't raise enough money to get him there. An ex-member of the Blues Project, Kooper had been toying with the notion, growing out of his admiration for jazz bandleader Maynard Ferguson, of forming an electric rock band that would include horns and use jazz as the basis for their work. Blood, Sweat & Tears started as an idea conceived by Al Kooper in July of 1967. From their origins as a jazz-rock experiment that wowed critics and listeners, they went on - in a somewhat more pop vein - to sell almost six million records in three years, but ended up being dropped by their record label four years after that.
No American rock group ever started with as much daring or musical promise as Blood, Sweat & Tears, or realized their potential more fully - and then blew it all as quickly.
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