Blood, Sweat & Tears
at Woodstock 1969
The jazz-rock fusion group Blood, Sweat & Tears were one of the biggest bands in America in 1969, winning the Grammy for Album of the Year.
Blood, Sweat & Tears — Woodstock 1969
Blood, Sweat & Tears were one of the most commercially successful acts at Woodstock 1969. Their self-titled second album (1969) had reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, containing three Top 5 hits: "You've Made Me So Very Happy," "Spinning Wheel," and "And When I Die."
The band pioneered jazz-rock fusion, combining rock rhythms and electric instruments with horn arrangements, sophisticated jazz harmonics, and soul vocals. Founded by Al Kooper after he left The Blues Project, the band had undergone a significant lineup change before achieving their commercial breakthrough with lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas.
Their Woodstock performance was somewhat overshadowed by the more visually dramatic acts around them, but their musicianship was unimpeachable. The brass arrangements and Clayton-Thomas's powerful baritone gave them a sound that stood apart from the guitar-dominated music of the era.
Despite their enormous commercial success in 1969, Blood, Sweat & Tears faced criticism within the counterculture for accepting an invitation to perform at State Department-organized concerts in Eastern Europe, which many saw as endorsing U.S. foreign policy.
The band has continued performing under the BS&T name with various lineups through the decades.