Founded in 1967 by ex-Blues Project member Al Kooper, Blood
Sweat & Tears quickly became regarded as one of the more promising and
interesting bands of the late-1960s, crafting tunes out of musical influences
as disparate as Billie Holiday, Tim Buckley and Erik Satie. As initially
conceived by Kooper, the group was a sort of jazz-rock horn band, and the
pioneering fusion of that interesting sound on their debut album, Child Is Father to the Man, enchanted many
critics.

Kooper departed straight away after that recording, though.
New singer David Clayton-Thomas led the band to bigger commercial success, chiefly
via trading in many of the group’s idiosyncrasies for a more pop-oriented
approach. The band released three more albums in relatively quick succession, and
the result was a sort of split decision; despite chart success, they also found
they had alienated many of their first fans, both music writers and more
traditional jazz lovers who had been lured over into the fold by Blood Sweat
& Tears’ hybrid sound.

The concert disc Spinning
Wheel features a full live show from the band’s 1980 United Kingdom reunion
tour, and includes the title track hit single, as well as fellow chart-placers “You
Made Me So Very Happy” and the baroque “Hi-De-Ho,” which I once recall a former babysitter
blasting at full volume — to my joint delight and fear — while my parents were
away. Recorded in April of 1980 at the Civic Center Theatre in Halifax,
England, the sold-out show
runs an hour long, and features an appreciative audience that sometimes drowns
out some of the subtler notes and runs on display. Joining Clayton-Thomas on
stage are Richard Martinez, David Piltch, Keith Seymour, Robert Economou,
Stanley Cassidy and Vernon Dorge. Other tunes alongside the aforementioned trio
include “Nuclear Blues,” “Manic Depression,” “You’re the One,” “God Bless the
Child” and “Blood, Sweat and Tears Blues.”

Presented on a region-free disc and housed in a regular Amray
case, Spinning Wheel comes with a 5.1
surround sound audio track — and a transfer that does little to mitigate the poor
source lighting of the original concert. For those with more of a nostalgic
attachment to the tunes herein, this is a perfectly acceptable release. For more
dispassionate newcomers glimpsing back into the musical-history archives, this
is a shrug of a release. There are, alas, no supplemental extras included herein. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here.
C (Concert) C (Disc)