Blood, Sweat & Tears 2LP 45rpm 180 Gram SuperVinyl MFSL UltraDisc One-Step UD1S MoFi RTI USA
Title: Blood, Sweat & Tears
Catalog Number: UD1S 2-016
Label: Columbia
Reissued by: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Barcode: 821797201629
Edition: MoFi UltraDisc One-Step UD1S
Original release year: 1968
Reissue year: 2021
Number of discs: 2
Revolutions per minute: 45 rpm
Disc size: 12"
Vinyl Weight Grade: 180gr
Limited Edition: Yes
Numbered Edition: Yes
Total Item Weight: 1249gr
Pressing country: USA
For Market Release in: USA
Added to catalog on: June 5, 2021
Collection: MFSL Original Master Recording
Vinyl Gourmet Audiophile TOP 100: Yes
Note: Never eligible for any further discounts
Vinyl Gourmet Club: No
Blood, Sweat & Tears stormed the charts in 1969 with their own brand of jazz-rock fusion! This memorable album is now given the best audiophile treatment, UltraDisc One-Step cut at 45rpm by Krieg Wunderlich at MFSL from the Original Master Tapes and pressed on 180 Gram SuperVinyl at RTI, this is Blood, Sweat & Tears at their very best and it will blow you away!
Winner of three Grammy Awards in 1970, this album peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. charts, staying there for seven weeks and going double platinum in 1969, then stayed on the Top 40 for 66 weeks!
- Strictly Limited Edition Box Set
- Numbered Edition (6000 units)
- UltraDisc One-Step UD1S
- 180 Gram High Definition SuperVinyl
- 2LP 45rpm Pressed at RTI, USA
- Half-Speed mastering on MFSL Gain 2 Ultra Analog System
- Mastered from the Original Master Tapes
- Cut by Krieg Wunderlich
- Deluxe gold-foiled box set
- Contains special jackets
1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256
Don't call it a comeback. Not only did Blood, Sweat & Tears' eponymous album establish new precedents for musical fusion and record production upon release in late 1968, the quadruple-platinum set marked a new commercial beginning for a cross-cultural group nearly decimated months earlier when its prominent co-founder, Al Kooper, departed along with two other members. The resultant sophomore effort simply went on to top the charts for seven straight weeks, earn the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, spawn three successive Top 5 singles, and land the group a headlining slot at Woodstock. No wonder its reputation remains golden among listeners, particularly audiophiles, which have never experienced the hybrid fare in more vibrant fashion than on this collectible reissue.
Limited to 6,000 numbered copies and pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP edition presents Blood, Sweat & Tears with exacting sonics and unsurpassed visuals. Prized for decades for its rainbow of textures, colors, and openness – as well as the tonalities, extension, and subtleties associated with the horn section – Blood, Sweat & Tears now comes across with multi-dimensional scope and tremendous frequency responsiveness. The collective's genre-bending brass and woodwind instrumentation possess pointillistic details as rich, deep, and complex as a succulent Turkish espresso. Similarly, the originality, sophistication, and melodicism of the songs – anchored by Jim Fielder's can-do-anything bass playing – emerges with a newfound warmth, realism, and presence that surpass those even on the out-of-print ORG 45RPM reissue. Such is the allure of UD1S and MoFi SuperVinyl.
In addition, the lavish packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Blood, Sweat & Tears pressing also befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact meant to be preserved, pored over, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the images to the finishes.
Speaking of these critical aspects, it remains obvious producer James William Guercio valued them above all else when he manned the boards for the sessions. Working with engineer Roy Halee and the band's sensitive arrangements – including that for the Number Two smash "You've Made Me So Very Happy," co-arranged by Kooper – he helped spin the nonet's melange of classical, jazz, rock, folk, and blues into pop gold. Ignoring any stylistic boundaries, and preceding Chicago's similarly jazz-rock-centric debut by almost four months, the album interrupted formal convention and went against the grain of the era's dominant psychedelia. Along with creative interpretations of tunes by Traffic, Laura Nyro, and more, and fearless interplay of horns and keyboards, a key to the effort's mega-success and sterling reputation remains the vocals of David Clayton-Thomas.
Reportedly discovered by Judy Collins, Clayton-Thomas brings a soulfulness and drama to the palette absent from the first album. His baritone emerges front and center on the country-leaning "And When I Die" and syncopated "Smiling Phases." The singer's multifaceted ability complements his colleagues deft approaches to tempo, transition, and tension, with solos dovetailing with jazz-derived segues to produce music that's at once elaborate, eclectic, and accessible – never better represented than on the thrice Grammy-nominated "Spinning Wheel," a sly takedown of the LSD-addled era that ends with an Austrian tune from 1815 added at the last minute by Guercio to correct a mistake – a one-off error on a set that seemingly has none other.
Indeed, the most enduring appeal of Blood, Sweat & Tears pertains to the cohesive performances of a group that blazed its own trail. To focus on the playing of trumpeters/flugelhornists Lew Soloff and Chuck Winfield, drummer Bobby Colomby, organist Dick Halligan, guitarist Steve Katz, alto saxophonist Fred Lipsius, trombonist Jerry Hyman, and the aforementioned Clayton-Thomas and Fielder (many of whom also played auxiliary instruments) is to experience one of pop music's remarkable adventures.
Musicians:
Fred Lipsius, alto sax, piano
Chuck Winfield, trumpet, flugelhorn
Lew Soloff, trumpet, flugelhorn
Jerry Hyman, trombone
David Clayton-Thomas, lead vocals
Dick Halligan, organ, piano, flute, trombone, vocals
Steve Katz, guitar, harmonica, vocals
Bobby Colomby, drums, percussion, vocals
Jim Fielder, bass
Track Listing:
01. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie
02. Smiling Phases
03. Sometimes in Winter
04. More and More
05. And When I Die
06. God Bless The Child
07. Spinning Wheel
08. You've Made Me So Very Happy
09. Blues - Part II
10. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie
Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫
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