Child Is Father to the Man

by Blood, Sweat & Tears

Overview

Child Is Father to the Man is keyboard player/singer/arranger Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements (including strings and horns), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work. This is one of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late '60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form. It's Kooper's bluesy songs, such as "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her," and his singing that are the primary focus, but the album is an aural delight; listen to the way the bass guitar interacts with the horns on "My Days Are Numbered" or the charming arrangement and Steve Katz's vocal on Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory." Then Kooper sings Harry Nilsson's "Without Her" over a delicate, jazzy backing with fluegelhorn/alto saxophone interplay by Randy Brecker and Fred Lipsius. This is the sound of a group of virtuosos enjoying itself in the newly open possibilities of pop music. Maybe it couldn't have lasted; anyway, it didn't. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/05/2000
Label:	Bmg / Sony Music / Sony Music Entertainment
UPC:	0886976920722
Rank:	35970

Tracks

1. Overture
2. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
3. Morning Glory
4. My Days Are Numbered
5. Without Her
6. Just One Smile
7. I Can't Quit Her
8. Meagan's Gypsy Eyes
9. Somethin' Goin' On
10. House in the Country
11. The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud
12. So Much Love/Underture
13. Refugee From Yuhupitz
14. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
15. The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Blood, Sweat & Tears   Primary Artist
Bs&T String Ensemble   Primary Artist
Bs&T String Section   Primary Artist
Fred Lipsius   Alto,Piano,Soloist,Saxophone,Sax (Alto),Animal Sounds
Valerie Simpson   Choir/Chorus
Randy Brecker   Soloist,Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Paul Gershman   Violin
Jerry Weiss   Vocals,Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Al Kooper   Organ,Piano,Vocals,Keyboards,Ondioline,Drums (Bass),Animal Sounds
Al Gorgoni   Organ,Guitar,Vocals,Guest Artist
Manny Green   Violin
Melba Moorman   Choir/Chorus
The Manny Vardi Strings   Viola
Leslie Gurgle   Vocals
Ztak Evers   Guitar,Soloist
Bennett Glotzer   Guest Artist
Charles McCracken   Cello
Bobby Colomby   Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Tambourine,Animal Sounds,Drums (Snare)
Gene Orloff   Violin
Harold Coletta   Viola
Harry Katzman   Violin
Doug James   Shaker
Fred Catero   Sound Effects,Special Effects
Alan Schulman   Cello
John Simon   Organ,Piano,Cowbell,Conductor,Tack Piano,Animal Sounds
Steve Katz   Lute,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Anahid Ajemian   Violin
Dick Halligan   Trombone
Harry Lookofsky   Violin
Jim Fielder   Bass,Fretless Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Leo Kruczek   Violin
Julie Held   Violin

Technical Credits

Fred Lipsius   Arranger
Roger Waters   Composer
Richard Wright   Composer
Nick Mason   Composer
Randy Newman   Composer
Al Kooper   Arranger,Composer,String Arrangements
Howard Fritzson   Art Direction
Bob Cato   Photography
Don Hunstein   Photography
Mike Cimicata   Packaging
Larry Waterman   Music Stand
Penny Gladstone   Screams
Bob Irwin   Producer
Irwin Levine   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Larry Beckett   Composer
Carole King   Composer
Fred Catero   Arranger,Engineer
Al Gorgoni   Arranger
Harry Nilsson   Composer
David Gilmour   Composer
Tim Buckley   Composer
Alan Schulman   Arranger
Gerry Goffin   Composer
John Simon   Mixing,Arranger,Producer,String Arrangements
Steve Katz   Composer
Vic Anesini   Mastering