Blood, Sweat and Tears "Brand New Day" (1977)
In 1977, the jazz-rock collective known as Blood, Sweat and Tears released an album titled Brand New Day, which was their only release on the soon-to-be-defunct ABC Records. At this point in time, the band's nine-member lineup did not include one single member of the original Al Kooper-led octet which recorded the band's 1968 debut album Child Is Father to the Man. However, original percussionist Bobby Colomby is credited with playing on Brand New Day, and Colomby co-produced the album with Roy Halee. (The two men were also co-producers of the 1971 album BS&T; 4). But this album did feature David Clayton-Thomas, the robust lead vocalist who sang on the band's second-through-fourth albums, and who helped to propel Blood, Sweat and Tears to chart-topping and Grammy-winning success from 1969 until 1971. Clayton-Thomas was given star billing on the front cover of Brand New Day. He had left the band in early 1972, and the band's popularity quickly faded during his absence. He rejoined in time for the band's 1975 album New City, but his return did not result in a comeback for the band. Brand New Day also failed to bring about a bright new day for Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Brand New Day was a commercial failure, and has long been out of print, possibly since the demise of its distributor. It is the only Blood, Sweat and Tears studio album which is not currently available for streaming. The album was unofficially issued on CD in Russia in the early-'00's, with three live bonus tracks added. More recently, the album received another CD reissue in the Netherlands in 2024 (Music On CD 5398504); this version is also likely unauthorized, and is reputed to have a manufacturing defect that causes the CD to skip. The original LP has a die-cut cover, with the upper-right and lower-left corners clipped, as the cover art was meant to resemble a sort of three-dimensional cube.
Brand New Day might have been more appropriately titled "Bland New Day". The album gets off to a promising start with the lively "Somebody I Trusted (Put Out The Light)", which manages to blend rock and jazz sounds to good effect. But then the album quickly settles into middle-of-the-road pop blandness, quite unlike the genre-blending of the early lineups of BS&T. The album contains no less than four Kenny Rogers-like ballads (including "Dreaming As One", a duet with Chaka Khan). The band eventually picks up the tempo again, at least a little bit, for a song about Janis Joplin ("Rock & Roll Queen"), but that song doesn't offer much to musically remind us of Janis. The album's better moments come when the band covers J.J. Cale's "Same Old Blues", and two jazz oldies -- Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain" and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross' "Gimme That Wine" -- which play to the band's strengths. But those tracks don't help Brand New Day come across like anything better than a failed attempt to reinvent a faded brand.
Blood, Sweat and Tears "Brand New Day" (ABC AB-1015) 1977
Track Listing:
1. Somebody I Trusted (Put Out The Light)
2. Dreaming As One
3. Same Old Blues
4. Lady Put Out The Light
5. Womanizer
6. Blue Street
7. Gimme That Wine
8. Rock & Roll Queen (A Tribute To Janis Joplin)
9. Don't Explain
Brand New Day was a commercial failure, and has long been out of print, possibly since the demise of its distributor. It is the only Blood, Sweat and Tears studio album which is not currently available for streaming. The album was unofficially issued on CD in Russia in the early-'00's, with three live bonus tracks added. More recently, the album received another CD reissue in the Netherlands in 2024 (Music On CD 5398504); this version is also likely unauthorized, and is reputed to have a manufacturing defect that causes the CD to skip. The original LP has a die-cut cover, with the upper-right and lower-left corners clipped, as the cover art was meant to resemble a sort of three-dimensional cube.
Brand New Day might have been more appropriately titled "Bland New Day". The album gets off to a promising start with the lively "Somebody I Trusted (Put Out The Light)", which manages to blend rock and jazz sounds to good effect. But then the album quickly settles into middle-of-the-road pop blandness, quite unlike the genre-blending of the early lineups of BS&T. The album contains no less than four Kenny Rogers-like ballads (including "Dreaming As One", a duet with Chaka Khan). The band eventually picks up the tempo again, at least a little bit, for a song about Janis Joplin ("Rock & Roll Queen"), but that song doesn't offer much to musically remind us of Janis. The album's better moments come when the band covers J.J. Cale's "Same Old Blues", and two jazz oldies -- Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain" and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross' "Gimme That Wine" -- which play to the band's strengths. But those tracks don't help Brand New Day come across like anything better than a failed attempt to reinvent a faded brand.
Blood, Sweat and Tears "Brand New Day" (ABC AB-1015) 1977
Track Listing:
1. Somebody I Trusted (Put Out The Light)
2. Dreaming As One
3. Same Old Blues
4. Lady Put Out The Light
5. Womanizer
6. Blue Street
7. Gimme That Wine
8. Rock & Roll Queen (A Tribute To Janis Joplin)
9. Don't Explain
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