Blood, Sweat & Tears – Bloodlines (+ Booklet) 45

Bloodlines follows Blood, Sweat & Tears through four early albums in which the relationship between rock band and horn ensemble keeps changing. Child Is Father to the Man carries Al Kooper’s songwriting and arrangement ideas into a broad mixture of rock, soul, jazz and orchestral colour. The self-titled album then introduces David Clayton-Thomas as a commanding vocal centre and gives the brass an even more structural role.

“I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” reveals the debut’s capacity for slow-building emotional weight, while “Spinning Wheel” turns an unusual rhythmic design and bright brass figures into immediately communicative pop. By Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, the group could move from Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die” legacy into more elaborate album-scale thinking; B, S & T 4 continues the tension between concise songs and musicians capable of jazz-informed expansion. Heard together, the records show personnel and emphasis changing without erasing the central idea: horns are part of the band’s language, not decoration added after the rhythm track.

This is a boxed edition with a booklet. The substantial presentation is designed for collectors who want this early creative arc gathered as one physical set. Its value lies in following the band’s evolving arrangements across complete albums rather than hearing only the familiar singles. The booklet complements an album-by-album journey through changing voices, instrumental roles and approaches to the brass section. Michael 45 keeps the box in Germany and ships it from Hilden, so customers can avoid arranging a personal US import and the related customs wait.

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe