Having relied largely on outside songwriting for its last two wildly successful albums,
Blood, Sweat & Tears
decided (as many groups had before) to bring some of that song publishing income into the family by writing their own material. Singer
David Clayton-Thomas
contributed the Top 40 hit
"Go Down Gamblin',"
and he and keyboard player
Dick Halligan
collaborated on another chart entry,
"Lisa, Listen to Me."
Ex-bandleader
Al Kooper
even contributed a track,
"John the Baptist (Holy John)."
But Side two was given over largely to songs by guitarist
Steve Katz
that were substandard, and the band's cohesion seemed to be disintegrating. Although the album scraped the Top Ten briefly and went gold, it marked the end of
BS&T
's period of wide commercial success on records. By the next outing,
Clayton-Thomas
had quit and the band's heyday was behind it. ~ William Ruhlmann