David Clayton Thomas, lead singer on all of Blood, Sweat and Tears' hit singles in the late '60's and early '70's, died peacefully in a hospital in Toronto on Wednesday (June 24th). He was 84 years old.
It was actually Al Kooper who started the band ... HE had the concept of blending horns with a rock and roll band ... and the group's first album, "Child Is Father To The Man," gave us two rock classics in "I Can't Quit Her" (which placed at #1025 on our Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All Time list, higher than ANY of the David Clayton Thomas sung hit singles) and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know," both sung by Kooper.
Incredibly, Kooper was ousted from his own band and Thomas took over lead vocals in 1969 ... and then the hits just kept on coming ... six straight that made The Top 20 and one that just missed. (See the Blood, Sweat And Tears Hit list below.)
Thomas had one of the most recognizable and distinctive voices in rock and roll ... you knew immediately that that was him singing the moment you heard it ... and their first three singles all went to #2 in Billboard. ("And When I Die" topped the Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles Chart.) Although he was born in England, he is most identified as a Canadian ... and after leaving the group, he released a dozen solo projects ... but none of them brought him the acclaim that his work with BS&T did. (I was fortunate enough to see them perform at The Arie Crown Theatre here in Chicago in 1972 ... their opening act was an up-and-coming female singer named Linda Ronstadt who, at the time had THREE future Eagles in her back-up band. In fact, she gave them the center spotlight to showcase two new songs that would be appearing on their first album ... so the audience I was sitting in was treated to one of the very first listens to "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman!")
"Hi De Ho" was always my BS&T favorite, which was enough to inspire my girlfriend at the time to gift me with dinner and a concert for my birthday!
Several other lead singers have fronted Blood, Sweat and Tears over the past fifty years (including American Idol Bo Bice and former Tower Of Power lead singer Tom Bowes.) David Clayton Thomas even returned briefly (1979 - 1985), but he's performed as a solo act ever since. (Wikipedia lists Thomas' stints as 1968 - 1972, 1974 - 1981 and 1984 - 2004. I'm not sure just how accurate that dates are as Thomas also tried to get the rights to the name Blood, Sweat and Tears so that he could still perform that way. They also show over 175 former members of the band ... talk about your revolving doors!!!) kk
David Clayton Thomas ... Great voice ... R.I.P. David
Clark Besch
| The BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS Hit List | US PEAK |
CAN PEAK |
|
| 1969 | You've Made Me So Very Happy | 2 | 1 |
| 1969 | Spinning Wheel | 2 | 1 |
| 1969 | And When I Die | 1 | 1 |
| 1970 | Hi-De-Ho | 8 | 5 |
| 1970 | Lucretia MacEvil | 17 | 10 |
| 1971 | Go Down Gamblin' | 21 | 8 |
| ANOTHER KEY TRACK: God Bless The Child |
After reporting the news of Rod Stewart getting dizzy and disoriented on stage last week, we heard that Lionel Richie experienced the same dilemma on opening night of his new tour with Earth, Wind and Fire! He has since been hospitalized for observation. Their next stop was to be here in Chicago but we never did get tickets ... I would have LOVED to see that pairing ... but not if Lionel isn't well.
Lionel took a seat during his performance of "Dancing On The Ceiling." He then attempted to sing "Three Times A Lady" but had to leave the stage, ending the show early.
Prior to making his exit, Lionel told the crowd: “What I have learned about my years of being in the business, iswhen you are feeling dizzy, sit your ass down. And when you are feeling strange about yourself, sit your ass down!”
He then added, “Now, I want you to know, that’s the first time in the history of ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ I’ve done it sitting down. That’s a bad sign, y’all!”
And then we got this regarding Daryl Hall ...
I'm not even sure how many people out there were even aware of this ... but we just got this note from Shelley regarding Daryl Hall ...
DARYL HALL
Hi everybody,
I thought you should know that I recently received a kidney transplant from a very kind and generous living donor.
It happened a couple of weeks ago, and I’m already starting to feel better. It was, according to my doctors, a complete success.
I should be back to normal in a few months — so get ready for more music and lots of Daryl’s House shows.
Thank you for all your support. It means the world to me.
You all take care.
Love,
Daryl
We wish him a speedy recovery. (kk)
Also recuperating is Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon ...
Yesterday (June 25th) was Global Beatles Day ... and to celebrate, Apple released a brand new, colorized video of The Beatles' performance on the Our World global satellite, letting the whole world know, without any reservations, that "All You Need Is Love," first broadcast live (in black and white) on June 25th, 1967.
Look closely and you'll see friends and cohorts Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, Mike McGear (Paul's brother), Jane Asher (Paul's girlfriend), Patti Boyd (George's wife), Graham Nash, Eric Clapton, George Martin and Marianne Faithfull surrounding The Fab Four and singing along. (kk)
Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones are dropping a brand new single and video today called "Jealous Lover."
We were able to "sneak peek" it yesterday ... but weren't allowed to post it. However, if you check out YouTube later today, you will definitely find it ... and their new B-Side, too.
In the meantime, here is the Lyrics Video that WAS available for posting yesterday ... (kk)
Harvey Kubernik sent us this to share with our readers ...
Here is what Patti Smith had to say about Clive Davis in a 2004 Interview she did with Harvey Kubernik:
HK: This December, 2004, marks the 25th anniversary of your debut Arista Records album “Horses.” Can you talk a bit about your quarter of a century friendship and relationship with label head Clive Davis, who signed you to the label?
PS: The thing about Clive is that he believed in me when I was a total fledgling, you know … I really knew very little about music, I knew nothing about the music business, didn’t care, I just wanted to do work. And in the last 25 years he has allowed me to do my work. I’ve done eight albums. It’s taken me 25years. I don’t have much of a sales record ... yet he never dropped me.
Although we’ve had words and not always agreed on things, he never tampered with my work, never insisted that I change anything and I can look at this time in my life and a body of work that I’m proud of you know, and I didn’t compromise and I’m grateful for that. I had forgotten that one of the titles I was going to call this record early on was Grateful. Just because I felt, well it’s my last record on Arista, you know, I’ve fulfilled my contract and sort of wanted to say that. That I was grateful. We have very little in common in some ways. We don’t always see eye to eye ... but he’s really been sort of a patron, which is unique in the music business.
Patti Smith Photo by Heather Harris
That really is a GREAT tribute to Clive and the freedom he allowed his artists to pursue their visions. Thanks, Harvey! (kk)
Harvey also sent us this comment by Al Kooper from a 2002 interview they did together ...
I came to Columbia Records in 1967, after the June Monterey International Pop Festival, where I had been assistant stage manager. assembled BS&T and joined the label as a staff producer. I singe-handedly brought BS&T to Columbia. I went to Jerry Wexler, Mo Ostin and Bill Gallagher at Columbia, because Clive Davis wasn’t in power yet. And I got turned down by Jerry Wexler and Mo Ostin ... but Bill Gallagher liked it.
So I went to follow it up, and Bill Gallagher was gone. And so I ended up with Clive. I played it for Clive,
"Well, what did Bill say?’‘
"That we were going to have a deal."
And Clive said, "I agree with that."
"Oh, fabulous. Great!"
And Clive took me to breakfast, and we closed the deal.
After the Monterey International Pop Festival, when Clive took over in late ’67, Clive Davis at Columbia was flying by the seat of his pants.
Al Kooper
And, in 2012, Jerry Wexler (another "Man With The Golden Ears") had this to say about Clive ...
More on Clive here, including a great tribute from The Second Disc ...
https://theseconddisc.com/2026/06/23/in-memoriam-clive-davis-1932-2026/
Peter Asher, subject of that great new documentary we told you about the other day, will be going out on tour this fall with Colin Blunstone (former lead singer of The Zombies) and the '80's rock band The Fixx.
(Yeah, I thought it sounded like a really unusual pairing, too!!! lol)
In any event, it's a quick jaunt thru the US in September.
Here are the dates we're aware of so far ...
September 2nd – Somerville, MA – Somerville Theatre
September 4th – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
September 5th – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
September 6th – Westerly, RI – United Theatre
September 8th – Derry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall
September 10th – New York, NY – Adler Hall @ New York Society for Ethical Culture
September 11th – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
September 12th – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
September 13th – Kent, OH – The Kent Stage
September 15th – Minneapolis, MN – Uptown Theater
September 17th – Waukegan, IL – Genesee Theatre
September 18th – Cincinnati, OH – Ludlow Garage
September 19th – Madison, WI – Barrymore Theatre
September 21st – Grand Rapids, MI – DeVos Performance Hall
September 23rd – Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
September 26th – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall
Sep 27 – Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center
Sep 29 – Rochester, NY – RIT Performing Arts Center
Sep 30 – Troy, NY – Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
I don't know if Peter will be performing or doing his nostalgic look back at his career ... more details when they become available.
Meanwhile, if you missed our review, please scroll back to Tuesday (6/23) and check it out ... this is a very well-done tribute to a too-often overlooked talent. (kk)
