Blood, Sweat & Tears
Child Is Father to the Man

Al Kooper was one of the first musicians to explore the elective affinities between jazz and rock. Perhaps not a true alchemist, as Miles Davis and his followers would later be, but more of a sorcerer's apprentice with a cauldron of ideas in his head and a fixation: his own personal big band. This was the driving force that led our talented and celebrated keyboardist to form Blood, Sweat & Tears, together with guitarist Steve Katz and a number of acclaimed instrumentalists, including Bobby Colomby on drums and Randy Brecker on trumpet.

In all likelihood, it would be Kooper's egocentrism that would lead to his premature departure from the group, but not before giving birth to an epochal album like "Child is Father to Man". I dwell on this adjective, which may seem exaggerated if its meaning is misunderstood. The debut of B.S.&W is not a masterpiece in the strict sense, but a historically important work because it would be a source of inspiration for many bands to come. An ambitious record, perhaps even pretentious in some ways, but certainly a work that manages to combine an overflowing creative vein with the search for an original "melting pot" of genres. It is music that, while featuring refined arrangements and interesting instrumental solutions, always puts melody first, never indulging in unnecessary virtuosity.

A fun yet irrelevant "Overture" opens the record, soon giving way to the poignant ballad "I Love you More Than you'll Ever Know". This is the track that defines the artistic nature of this group, a heartrending love song in perfect balance between the rhythm & blues fervor and airy orchestral pop-rock atmospheres. A timeless masterpiece. Among the most inspired tracks of this work are also "My Days Are Numbered", which plays with incisive horn incursions and almost gospel-like choirs, and the relentless "I Can't Quit Her", overwhelming in its syncopated rhythms and with an aggressive vocal performance by Kooper. The group also offers a series of covers, among which stand out a bossa nova version of Harry Nilsson’s "Without Her" and the sunny "So Much Love" by Goffin & King.

Despite some filler ("Meagan's Gypsy Eyes" and "House in the Country"), "Child is Father to Man" proves to be a worthy representative of one of the most effervescent periods in rock history, capturing a band at its creative peak, led by the flair and eclecticism of an ivory keys wizard. Once the imposing Kooper was out, Blood, Sweat & Tears would produce an exquisite self-titled successor, only to later be dazzled by mainstream temptations and gradually lose their artistic verve.