I was living in the Past last week when I listened to Devil With a Blue Dress On and Blood, Sweat & Tears: Greatest Hits.
“Ryder was the last person to perform with Otis Redding; they performed the song “Knock On Wood“, on December 9, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio, on a local TV show called Upbeat. Redding and four members of his touring band, The Bar-Kays, died in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin the following day, December 10, 1967.” (Wikipedia). Ryder withdrew from music in 1973 after experiencing throat trouble,
“Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as “BS&T“) was an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for combining a brass section with rock band instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz. The Canadian lead singer David Clayton-Thomas was added to the group in 1968 and stayed until 1972, marking their most successful period.” (Wikipedia).
I enjoy the Blood, Sweat & Tears sound with David Clayton-Thomas’s distinctive voice. Clayton-Thomas died at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, on 24 June 2026, at the age of 84. If you like music with a lot of brass–like Chicago’s music–BS&T delivers that style of music. Back in 1970, “And When I Die“, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy“, and “Spinning Wheel” hit the Hot 100 and all three songs peaked at number 2 for a total of thirteen weeks.
Needless to say, our local Oldies radio station rarely plays Mitch Ryder or Blood, Sweat & Tears music anymore. But I still have these CD collections and they sound wonderful to me! Are you a fan of Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and/ Blood, Sweat & Tears? Any favorite songs? GRADE: B+ (for both)
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly | 3:32 | |
| 2 | Little Latin Lupe Lu | 3:10 | |
| 3 | Sticks And Stones | 2:39 | |
| 4 | I Like It Like That | 2:47 | |
| 5 | Too Many Fish In The Sea & Three Little Fishes | 3:02 | |
| 6 | Sock It To Me-Baby | 3:12 | |
| 7 | Takin’ All I Can Get | 3:21 | |
| 8 | You Get Your Kicks | 3:09 | |
| 9 | Just A Little Bit | 2:41 | |
| 10 | Break-Out | 3:17 |
TRACK LIST:
| You’ve Made Me So Very Happy | 3:26 | ||
| I Can’t Quit Her | 3:38 | ||
| Go Down Gamblin’ | 2:46 | ||
| Hi-De-Ho | 4:05 | ||
| Sometimes In Winter | 3:08 | ||
| And When I Die | 3:26 | ||
| Spinning Wheel | 2:39 | ||
| Lisa, Listen To Me | 2:58 | ||
| I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know | 5:58 | ||
| Lucretia Mac Evil | 3:07 | ||
| God Bless The Child | 5:57 |