Review by rammiepie November 14, 2014 (10 of 10 found this review helpful)
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In 1960, teenager Al Kooper went to see a Maynard Ferguson concert in the Big Apple and was immediately smitten by the power of both the big band and its horn arrangements. The lesson he walked away with was that he wanted to front a band as loud as "this one." After joining the Blues Project he tried in vain to convince guitarist Danny Kalb, also leader of the group, to possibly add horn arrangements so that a Al Kooper based song could be included on their upcoming album.
"This was when I realized I would have to start a new band to play my new songs 'properly,'" mused Al.
Fortuitously, after a false start with Columbia Records, new A&R head, former lawyer Clive Davis signed Kooper. Kooper's friend, (soon to be legendary producer) John Simon, agreed to produce his new album because "he liked the songs."
The Album was NOT a hit...producing no hit singles and only peaked in the 40's on the Billboard top 100 chart but it remains the ONLY Blood, Sweat and Tears album in the Rolling Stone Top 500 albums of all time.
From its controversial cover art (Kooper's version of mini me predated Austin Powers by decades) to its searing use of horn arrangements, BS&T's Child Is father To The Man remains, at least form me, a brilliant pastiche of blues, rock, jazz and pop infused music with wall to wall emotion....an album that will tug at your musical heartstrings.
Al Kooper's brilliantly super hyper, over the top (and somewhat kitchy) 5.1 remix from the original 8 track analogue masters is nothing short of miraculous and played loudly (if you want to savor the total impact) will certainly reward the listener with 53 minutes of total joy.
IMHO, EVERY song is a winner and while we all contemplate whether the new Pink Floyd Endless River Swan Song disc is relevant, I can absolutely certify that Al's original BS&T concept is the real deal.
And love the way Al prints his name after the liner notes: @l K%per!
And a special thank you to Marshall Blonstein and his wonderful staff at Audio Fidelity for releasing this CLASSIC and a big thumbs up to Bob Ludwig for his super mastering job on the 5.1 remix!
MY PERSONAL PICK AS ROCK MULTICHANNEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
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Review by Marpow November 19, 2014 (3 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Blood, Sweat & Tears: Child Is Father To The Man, Hybrid Multichannel SACD 2014
After receiving positive reviews from my friend rammiepie I made purchase. I share some of his enthusiasm but not all. My disc # is 1407.
Pet Sounds in 66, Sgt Peppers in 67, and this disc, Child is Father to Man in 68. Historically they all tie together to the point of this disc becoming # 264 on Rolling Stones 500 list.
The cover art is worth the buy alone, it is just plain weird.
Performance: This is where I wasn't loving it. Had I purchased in 1968 and then relived it again now I might have a different feeling. It has that 60's psychedelic sound where things can go off beat for no reason. Some tracks where very good of course.
Stereo Sonics: Played a couple times in the car to familiarize myself with the performance and sounded great. Played on home stereo and had excellent sonics, well balanced between amazing horns, vocals and bass.
Multichannel sonics: As usual this is the point of purchase. Al Kooper does an absolutely fantastic job with the 5.1 mix. There are breathtaking moments. Like a sax starting three notes in left rear and then finishing in right rear, fun stuff. Vocals are mostly front right. Everything has perfect clarity and nothing sounds out of place.
Packaging: Plastic jewel box with square corners. Great historic liner notes by Al Kooper. Song list as additional separate notes for each track.
I had decided earlier not to purchase the multichannel of Al Kooper's Super Session, but after listening to this mch disc I have jumped on the purchase of mch Supper Session.
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