Child Is Father to the Man
BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS
CHILD IS FATHER TO THE MAN
24K GOLD CD | Stereo
CATALOG: IMP8306
MSRP: $34.99 USD
Child is Father to The Man
24K GOLD CDIMP8306
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, All Music.com
Impex’s newly remastered Gold CD of this great work was made from the original master tapes (not a digital copy) to bring out all the warmth and magic of the sessions. Included are additional mono demos (which show just how well-rehearsed and spot-on the band was), an essay by Al Kooper, complete lyrics and production credits and new artwork just for this release.
1. Overture
2. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
3. Morning Glory
4. My Days Are Numbered
5. Without Her
6. Just One Smile
7. I Can’t Quit Her
8. Meagan’s Gypsy Eyes
9. Somethin’ Goin’ On
10. House In the Country
11. The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud
12. So Much Love/Underture
13. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (Demo-Bonus Track)
14. Refugee From Yuhupitz–Instrumental (Bonus Track)
15. I Can’t Quit Her (Demo-Bonus Track)
16. The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud
JOHN CROSSETT, THE AUDIO BEAT, AUGUST 23, 2013
Blood, Sweat & Tears’ very first album, Child Is Father To The Man, is something of the redheaded stepchild of the band’s recorded output, overlooked due to its one-off feel — the band that recorded this album was only together for this one session — and the string of hits that emerged from the iteration of the band that followed. But while this Al Kooper-lead group may have gotten short shrift, it did not lack for inventive music-making and an enduring legacy. One listen to Child Is Father To The Man makes one wonder, despite the commercial success of the new group, what might have been had this particular assembly stayed together.
Click here to read John Crossett’s review.
“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… This is the sound of a group of virtuosos enjoying itself in the newly open possibilities of pop music.” – William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com
