Live And Improvised
(1975-76)
Live Track Listing
Spinning Wheel
I'll Love You More Than You'll
Lucretia MacEvil
And When I Die
One Room Country Shack
And When I Die
I Can Recall Spain
Hi De Ho
Unit Seven
Life
Mean Ole World
Ride Captain Ride
You've Made Me So Very Happy

Lineup:  Varies, as album was recorded at different shows.


Chart History:
     Was officially released in the U.S. in 1991 (Columbia Legacy 46918).  Although it may have been released in the late 70s in Japan or elsewhere.  I don't know if it ever charted or not.  The CD set is currently in print just about everywhere.


William Ruhlman of the All Music Guide Writes:
     A two-disc set of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, recorded in 1975, when the band was in commercial eclipse and the lineup was full of replacements for the original members.  At lesat David Clayton-Thomas was back in the fold, so that the run-throughs of hits like "Spinning Wheel" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" sounded authentic.  But by the mid-'70s, BS&T clearly considered itself a full-fledged jazz band that happened to have a pop music repertoire, and the performances are padded with pointless, showboating solos.  So what possible purpose was there in 1991 in releases two CDs worth of second-rate BS&T 16 years after it was recorded? (Presumably, this is the same material issued in 1976 in HOlland and Japan as a two-LP set called In Concert, although the present package includes no reference to the earlier album.)

Jeremiah Rickert writes:
     The above review really really annoys me for one major reason.  Rock critics long harangued BS&T for not improvising, deviating from the way the music was recorded in the studio.  Yet, the minute they start doing exactly that, the rock critics call it "pointless padding and showboating."  It just dumbfounds me how they can say one thing one day, and the opposite the next.  It just shows how fickle critics in any field can be.
     As for this release, I was just happy to have BS&T material.  I found the soloing to be exilerating at times, especially Dave Bargeron's long tuba solo.  "Ride Captain Ride" really rocked the house, and DCT's vocals sounded just fine.  If Columbia isn't going to release any of the live stuff from their glory days, I'll take what I can get, and this album is just fine.



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