By the close of 1974 Jerry Fisher was tired of BS&T's heavy touring schedule. Colomby and manager Fred Heller engineered the return of Clayton-Thomas in the hope of restoring the band's former success. Clayton-Thomas met the group in
Milwaukee while Jerry Fisher and Luther Kent were still with the band. All three singers appeared on stage before a wildly enthusiastic crowd. The album
New City, in April 1975, featured Clayton-Thomas along with new horn player Joe Giorgianni. It reached number 47 on the US Billboard album chart. The album has half original material along with songs from
Janis Ian,
Randy Newman, and
Blues Image. The highest-charting song was
the Beatles’ “
Got to Get You into My Life" which peaked at number 62. , with
Jorma Kaukonen (rear, left) performing in the Lone Star, New York City In the summer of 1975, BS&T recorded a live album that was released in
Europe and
Japan the following year as
In Concert. The album was released in the US as
Live and Improvised in May 1991. The album featured different guitarists on different nights: Wadenius,
Steve Khan and
Mike Stern, the last who took over permanently for a time (Jeff Richman filled in for Stern in mid-1976). Jazz percussionist
Don Alias was also present for the live album. After recording, Giorgianni left and was replaced by Forrest Buchtel (formerly of
Woody Herman's band). Around the same time, Colomby discovered a talented bass player by the name of
Jaco Pastorius in Florida. He produced Pastorius' first solo album which was released in the spring of 1976. In late 1975, Pastorius toured with BS&T subbing for Ron McClure and when McClure left in early 1976, Colomby arranged for Pastorius to join the band, though he stayed for only about three months. On April 1, 1976, Pastorius joined
Weather Report. Pastorius was briefly succeeded by Keith Jones before Danny Trifan stepped in. In 1975 the group was offered a slot at the
Newport Jazz Festival in
Newport, Rhode Island. The city government was concerned that a "rock band" would attract a rowdy audience; it threatened to revoke the concert permit if BS&T was not removed from the program. Ultimately, concert organizers were able to force the event forward via judicial injunction. The litigation reached the United States Supreme Court. In July 1976
More Than Ever, produced by
Bob James and featuring guest vocals by
Patti Austin and appearances by a host of NYC session players, including pianist
Richard Tee, guitarists
Eric Gale and
Hugh McCracken, trumpeter
Jon Faddis and
Eric Weissberg (banjo, dobro), was released but sold disappointingly. After it stalled at US No. 165, Columbia Records dropped the band. At this time Colomby, BS&T's sole remaining original member, stopped touring with the group and Don Alias assumed sole percussion duties before leaving as well to make way for Roy McCurdy. In 1977, BS&T signed with
ABC Records and began working on
Brand New Day (November 1977). The album was co-produced by Colomby, but his direct involvement with the group ceased after this release. Colomby was by this point the sole owner of the BS&T trademark name.
Brand New Day garnered positive reviews but slow sales. At this same time BS&T were said to be recording tracks for an instrumental album with a personnel of Tony Klatka, Forrest Buchtel, Dave Bargeron, Bill Tillman, Larry Willis, Danny Trifan, Roy McCurdy and Mike Stern, but the album never appeared. During 1977 the BS&T lineup was again in flux. Stern, Trifan, McCurdy, Buchtel and Tillman all departed to be succeeded respectively by
Randy Bernsen,
Neil Stubenhaus, Michael Lawrence and
Gregory Herbert.
Barry Finnerty then took over guitar and Chris Albert trumpet when Bernsen and Lawrence left at the close of the year. In January 1978, the group undertook a European tour that ended abruptly after 31-year-old saxophonist
Gregory Herbert died of a drug overdose in
Amsterdam on January 31, 1978. Rocked by the event, the group returned home. In 1979, with the encouragement of longtime BS&T manager Fred Heller, who had numerous requests for the band to play more shows, Clayton-Thomas decided to continue Blood, Sweat & Tears with an entirely new lineup that consisted of himself and other Canadian musicians (
Kenny Marco – guitar,
David Piltch – bass, Joe Sealy – keyboards, Bruce Cassidy – trumpet, flugelhorn, Earl Seymour – sax, flute,
Steve Kennedy – sax, flute and Sally Chappis – drums, with Harvey Kogan soon replacing Kennedy and Jack Scarangella succeeding Chappis). The group signed to Avenue Records subsidiary label LAX (
MCA Records), with a slightly altered lineup of: David Clayton-Thomas (vocals, guitar), Robert Piltch (guitar), David Piltch (bass), Richard Martinez (keyboards), Bruce Cassidy (trumpet, flugelhorn), Earl Seymour (sax, flute), Vernon Dorge (sax, flute) and a returning Bobby Economou on drums, and with producer and arranger
Jerry Goldstein, recorded the album
Nuclear Blues (March 1980). The album was yet another attempt to reinvent the group, showcasing the band in a
funk sound environment that recalled such acts as
Tower of Power and LAX labelmates
War (with whom BS&T did several shows in 1980). The album was regarded by many Blood, Sweat & Tears fans as uncharacteristic of the group's best work. During this period, another live album was recorded at The Street Scene in
Los Angeles, California, on October 12, 1980 (this was eventually released as
Live in February 1995). Robert and David Piltch left shortly before this concert, as did Richard Martinez. They were replaced by Wayne Pedzwiatr on bass, Peter Harris on guitar and
Lou Pomanti on keyboards. And
Mic Gillette (from
Tower of Power) replaced Cassidy on trumpet at the tail end of 1980. Following more touring, including Australia, this incarnation of the group disbanded in 1981. Since he did not own the rights to the Blood Sweat & Tears name, Clayton-Thomas attempted to restart his solo career in 1983 after taking some time off. This caused complications on the road when promoters would book Clayton-Thomas' group and use the Blood, Sweat & Tears name on the marquee. Consequently, his manager Larry Dorr negotiated a licensing deal with Colomby in 1984 for rights to tour with the BS&T name. For 20 years afterwards, Clayton-Thomas toured the concert circuit with a constantly changing roster of players (see roster below) as "Blood, Sweat & Tears" until his final departure in November 2004. Clayton-Thomas, now residing back in Canada, continues his solo career and does occasional shows using only his name. In 1998, to celebrate thirty years after he first joined the group, David Clayton-Thomas began work on a solo CD titled
Bloodlines that featured a dozen former members of Blood, Sweat & Tears, (Tony Klatka, Fred Lipsius, Lew Soloff, Dave Bargeron, Randy Brecker and others) performing on the album and providing arrangements to some of the songs. Released in 1999, it was first only available at Clayton-Thomas' concerts but made more widely available in 2001. BS&T continued without Clayton-Thomas. Dorr has been manager (and much more) for over 30 years now, and the band is still a popular touring act. At last count, the overall number of BS&T members since the beginning is up around 165 total people (see roster below). On March 12 and 13, 1993, Al Kooper organized two shows at the Bottom Line in NYC that were advertised as "
A Silver Anniversary Celebration of the Classic Album The Child Is Father to the Man", which featured Kooper, Randy Brecker, Jim Fielder, Steve Katz and Fred Lipsius playing together for the first time in 25 years, accompanied by
Anton Fig, Tom Malone, Lew Soloff, John Simon and
Jimmy Vivino, as well as a two-woman chorus and string section. The following year, in early February 1994, Kooper returned to the Bottom Line for his 50th birthday celebration, in which he played with members of his new band plus the Blues Project & BS&T. The BS&T lineup at this show was the same as the 1993 Silver Anniversary show, with the exception of
Will Lee sitting in for Fielder and
John Sebastian (ex-
Loving Spoonful) contributing harmonica. Colomby would not allow Kooper to use the name Blood, Sweat & Tears, so the two reunions were billed as "Child Is Father To The Man". This second show appeared as the CD
Soul of a Man in 1995. According to page 20 of the CD's liner notes, Steve Katz elected not to allow his performances onto the CD, which were digitally replaced by Jimmy Vivino. Bassist Jim Fielder is said to have added some parts to the CD as well. Since late 2005, the band resumed touring with a refreshed line up. The band's first world tour in a decade took place in 2007. From 2008 through 2010, Katz returned to appear at BS&T's shows as a special guest. BS&T and Chicago co-headlined a jazz festival in
Stuttgart, Germany, on July 9, 2011, and they also appeared on the same bill together again at
Gretna Heritage Festival in
Gretna, Louisiana, on October 5, 2013. From 2013 until 2018, Blood Sweat and Tears was fronted by
Bo Bice, who was the runner-up against
Carrie Underwood in the
fourth season of
American Idol. In 2018 the group decided to replace Bice with former
Tower of Power singer Tom Bowes, who had previously done a brief stint with BS&T back in July through November 2012. In 2019 Keith Paluso, from the reality TV show
The Voice, was chosen as BS&T's new singer In March 2022 original bassist Jim Fielder guested with the group at a series of shows in Florida. Under the direction of Dorr and Colomby, the band has enjoyed something of a resurgence. Blood, Sweat & Tears donated money through its "Elsie Monica Colomby" music scholarship fund to deserving schools and students who need help in prolonging their musical education, such as the victims of
Hurricane Katrina. Similar to their 2006-2007 appearances with
Three Dog Night's
Chuck Negron, the band started off 2025 touring with former
Chicago singer
Jason Scheff as a special guest. == Members ==