Rare Rarer & Rarest

Who would have thought that, at this late date, any record company would assemble a rarities CD for fans of Blood,Sweat & Tears? This disc is certainly welcome. The disc opens with the single edits/mixes (mostly mono sound) of the group's biggest hits. Then, there are two vault tracks from sessions for the group's "New Blood" album(the album that the group made after David Clayton-Thomas left the group). "M" is sung by Steve Katz, while Krakbergravningen(The Crow's Funeral) is sung in Swedish by Georg Wadenius, the guitarist who gradually replaced Steve Katz(Katz was demoted to rhythm guitarist on the "New Blood" album when Wadenius joined the group, and at the start of sessions for the group's next album "No Sweat", Katz quit). Avid collectors will note that "Krakbergravningen" was once released as a B-side in Europe, but it will be new to fans in the U.S.A., while "M" has been recently mixed down from the original session multitrack tape.The disc continues with the soundtrack music that the group recorded for the film "The Owl & The Pussycat". This music, which I had never heard before, is new to CD, and this release omits the overdubbed film dialogue that was included on the original L.P., so that you can hear the Blood,Sweat & Tears music without the distracting dialogue voice-overs. The disc concludes with four previously unheard alternate takes from the film soundtrack sessions. The film soundtrack music(composed by lead trumpeter Lou Soloff) is mostly instrumental(there's one vocal song featuring David Clayton-Thomas). The instrumentals show off the group's substantial instrumental chops in a much jazzier direction than most of the group's studio recordings, BUT, as incidental film soundtrack music, designed to precisely fit a specified time slot (as required by the filmmakers), the selections are often brief musical fragments, some of which end abruptly, just as they (musically) seem to be getting going. Still, I'm happy to have them in my collection.Still, I wonder if there could be more Blood,Sweat & Tears unreleased material in the vaults, specifically from the "Blood,Sweat & Tears 4" sessions, and from an apparently aborted/unfinished album recorded(at 914 Studios) in-between "Blood,Sweat & Tears 4" & "New Blood", specifically after David Clayton-Thomas exited, but before singer Jerry Fisher & keyboardist Larry Willis joined the group. Originally, Clayton-Thomas was going to be replaced by singer/keyboardist Bobby Doyle, and Doyle was present at the sessions at "914 Studios", though all that was deemed useable from those sessions were the backing tracks-only (with Doyle's piano playing) for the songs "Touch Me" & "Velvet". Doyle's vocals(if they were ever recorded) were erased or mixed out(replaced by Jerry Fisher on "Touch Me" & Steve Katz on "Velvet") when the album project was re-started at Columbia Studios. In recent years, it has been repeatedly stated that Doyle(who passed away in 2006) had difficulty singing over the horn section, but, at the time(in 1972) it was reported that Doyle was under contract to another record company, and there were problems with that, plus Doyle was a blind musician whose on-stage mobility would have been very limited. I wonder if there is anything remaining in Sony's vaults from Doyle's brief studio participation at "914 Studios".

In my opinion, Wounded Bird (which has reissued several other BS&T albums in the past) has given Blood Sweat & Tears fans a real treat with this release. A casual listener might not be interested in anything other than the first seven cuts, all of which should be familiar to almost everyone.In addition to these first seven tracks (which are mono versions of seven of the band's biggest singles,) the listener gets one song which was released in the UK, Germany and Holland (but not here in the USA) and one previously unissued track (with vocals by Steve Katz, I believe.)The remaining tracks are from the "Owl and the Pussycat" soundtrack. I know a lot of BS&T fans who have been anxiously awaiting a CD release of this soundtrack for years. Unlike the vinyl version of that soundtrack, there is no film dialogue here; just the music! (Thank you Wounded Bird!) Only one or two tracks would be classified as complete songs (and those who are fans of David Clayton-Thomas's voice might be a bit disappointed that he only sings on one of the "Owl and the Pussycat" tracks.) Mostly what we get are brief snippets of instrumental music, which cut off abruptly or fade quickly.) Don't get me wrong. Considering the fact that this is all incidental soundtrack music, there are some really great tunes here (and the members of BS&T at this point were some of the best musicians of all time.) Just don't be surprised if you're really getting into a track and it just stops dead.Let me say that I am NOT an audiophile; these tracks all sound perfectly fine to my ears.Liner notes are fairly basic. No biographical information; just recording / copyright dates, composer information, etc. For me, the worst part about the liners is that the print itself is a light gray, which is hard to read against the white background. (Maybe younger eyes won't find this so difficult to read.)

I love the Barbra Streisand/George Segal movie, "The Owl & The Pussycat," and have always enjoyed hearing the soundtrack music while watching the movie (that was done by the group Blood, Sweat & Tears), but for years it has been out of print.Finally, Wounded Bird Records has reissued it in this CD RARE, RARER & RAREST. It also includes other hit songs by Blood, Sweat & Tears including "Spinning Wheel," their hit cover version of Brenda Holloway's "You've Made Me So Very Happy," and Laura Nyro's "And When I Die," so there's much more on this CD than just the soundtrack.I never had the original LP of The Owl & The Pussycat, but going by other reviewers there was incidental dialogue from the movie on the record. This CD has no dialogue just the music and it's FANTASTIC!The only way to actually make this better would be to add the original dialogue/music background tracks as bonus tracks, but it's fine the way it is. I also wished there had been liner notes included in this release because I'm curious as to why dialogue was added to the original soundtrack album in the first place (did the record producers feel that they had to have Barbra on the record for it to sell?) and I'd like to know why the album was out-of-print for so long?On a side note, this was Streisand's first non-singing role in a movie.

In den achtziger Jahren des vorigen Jahrhunderts, sah ich in Amsterdam,im Schaufenster eines Schallplattengeschäftes die Soundtrack LP " the owl and the pussycat". Da ich den Film kannte und wusste, das der Soundtrack von Blood,Sweat and Tears aufgenommen wurde wollte ich die LP eigentlich sofort kaufen. Dummerweise hatte das Geschäft schon geschlossen und ich hatte mein Rückfahrticket schon in der Tasche. Irgentwann habe ich die Sache auch vergessen. Um so größer war meine Freude, dass auf dieser CD sämtliche Aufnahmen, bis auf eine Ausnahme, zwar alles Instrumental- Titel, nun wiederveröffentlicht wurde. Filmmusik ohne Film im Vordergrund klingt nicht so interessant als wenn man die Bilder dazu sieht. Aber wer die B,S&T- Bläsersätze mag, dem wird der Soundtrack auch ohne alles andere gefallen. Dem Kenner und aufmerksamen Zuhörer wird nicht entgehen, dass einige Passagen benutzt wurden die später auf der LP/CD B,S&T 4 bei" go down gambling" verwendet wurden. Nicht so rar sind die Aufnahmen:" You've made me so very happy""Blues part II","Spinning wheel",und "When I die" als mono Single Version, auch when sie in mono aufgenommen wurden, so sind sie dem B,S&T Kenner wohl bekannt ebenso wie "Hi-de-ho" und "Got to get you into my life" als Singleversionen. Wirklich rar ist der Titel "Kräkbergravningen ( the crow's funeral) der nur in den Niederlanden als B-Seite von "So long Dixie" erschien. Gesungen wird dieser Titel von Georg Wadenius. Ich vermute, dass der vorher unveröffentliche Titel"M" der sich auch auf dieser CD befindet auch von ihm gesungen wird, es könnte allerdings auch Steve Katz sein- wo wir jetzt beim Inlay angekommen sind, dass leider sehr dürftig gestaltet wurde und keine richtigen Informationen preisgibt- was z.B die Sänger der beiden letzgenannten Titel betrifft oder die Chartplazierungen der anderen Titel.Deshalb nur vier Sterne. Für B,S&T-Sammler zu empfehlen. Zum kennenlernen der Band sollte man sich aber lieber eine der Complikationen zulegen.

Le titre de cet album "Rare,Rarer,Rarest" est un brin racoleur.Le non initié y trouvera un amalgame boiteux de titres,musicalement irréprochable,certes,mais sans grande unité;alors que "l'initié"à la musique deBS&T y trouvera des titres connus,deux ou trois inédits plus la B.O.du film "The owl and the Pussycat(un vieux machin avec Barbra Streisand,qui n'a pas marqué l'histoire du cinéma,bien que le sujet ne fut pas inintéressant.Les six premiers titres sont hyper connus et repris à chaque concert de BS&T,au moins jusqu'au début des 80's.La seule originalité est leur présentation en mono.Ca n'apporte pas grand chose,à part peut être,un peu de fluidité;(il s'agit entre autres de"Spinning Wheel" "More and more" "And when i die" "Hi-De-Ho" etc...)Nous avons aussi la version single du "Got to get you into my life" des Beatles,très punchy,avec un arrangement étoffé assez agréable.La surprise vient de "Krâbergravningen (The crow's funeral)(Tout un programme!)que je ne connaissais pas,étant même incapable d'identifier la langue utilisée pour le texte.En regardant du côté de l'auteur,j'ai aperçu le nom de Georg Wadenius,citoyen américain né en Suéde,guitariste de son état,qui deviendra à partir de BS&T5 (New Blood)le guitariste du groupe pendant deux ou trois albums,avant de continuer sa carriére comme musicien de séances très appréçié (Steely Dan,Diana Ross etc....)Je ne certifie pas que le texte est en suédois,mais il y a des présomptions.On terminera la premiére partie avec un inédit "M",une ballade comme savait les composer et les chanter le groupe à cette époque;elle est d'ailleurs écrite et composer par quatre des membres.Mon petit doigt m'a dit que ce titre chanté par Steve Katz le guitariste,fondateur du groupe avec Al Kooper,était un hommage à une certaine Mélanie Katz,dame du monsieur précité.Le reste de l'album est consacré à la B.o.de The owl and the Pussycat.Je ne suis pas un spécialiste de la musique de films,mais cet exercice demande un sens du découpage et du choix des instruments pour transcrire les diverses émotions.C'est un travail assez fastidieux,qui certes s'apprend au conservatoire mais demande de la discipline.Il est heureux qu'en ce tout début des 70's,de jeunes et talentueux musiciens se plient à cet exercice;ce ne furent pas les seuls;je pense à Lovin'Spoofull qui composera deux B.O.pour FRancis Coppola (you're a big boy now)et pour Woody Allen (What's up Tiger Lily?)Et il y en eut d'autres.Amateur ou non de BS&T,on ne pourra qu'apprécier la qualité musicale de l'ensemble.Le groupe est à son top,et le line up est celui d BS&T2.Sinon RAS.Terminons par un vrai bon point:Wounded Birds Records,spécialiste de la reédition de vieilleries avait pour habitude de fournir des pochettes merdiques sans aucune indication.Sur cet album,nous avons droit à quelques dates,nom des producteurs etc...Bref,une petite évolution.

Disco per fanatici della band. Si tratta proprio di rarità come le registrazioni da tratte dai 45 giri o tutta la colonna sonora de Il gufo e la gattina mai giunta in Italia. Registrato bene buona resa sonora, solo poche note di copertina. Ripeto: solo per fanatici....come me!

David Clayton-Thomas wie immer in Höchstform mit bekannten und mir unbekannten Material.Eine hörenswerte Scheibe und ein Muß für alles Blood, Sweat & Tears Fans.

シングル等熱心なファンむけですが内容はよいです、後サントラが入ってます