Blood, Chet And Tears (Remastered) Chet Baker

• 1 Easy Come, Easy Go 02:51
• 2 Sugar, Sugar 02:52
• 3 Something 03:20
• 4 Spinning Wheel 03:16
• 5 Vehicle 02:44
• 6 The Letter 03:34
• 7 And When I Die 02:57
• 8 Come Saturday Morning 02:48
• 9 Evil Ways 03:35
• 10 You've Made Me So Very Happy 03:40
• Total Runtime 31:37

Info for Blood, Chet And Tears (Remastered)

This album is a Pop-Jazz milestone! Somewhat of an oddity in Chet Baker's catalog, Blood, Chet & Tears is a record of his efforts to adapt to the changing musical landscape around him in 1970. Baker leans into light and easy-listening territory. His renditions of the Beatles' "Something" and the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" gives some indication as to who he was intending to appeal to. On a different note, Baker's rendition of "Come Saturday Morning," a song that received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, is moving and highlights his unique vocal approach.

"Some of the finest jazz artists of the 1960s and early '70s could do good "sell out" albums with mass pop appeal without actually selling out. Wes Montgomery, Grover Washington, Jr., and Herbie Mann come to mind. But these diverse musicians had a funky, groove-driven side to them that Chet Baker just doesn't possess. Blood, Chet & Tears is legendary for being one of the most shameful releases in his catalog, but the reality of the album isn't quite as bad as the legend behind it. Yes, the title is a groaner and, yes, this is an easy listening album of late-'60s soft rock hits, but to be fair -- the album isn't that bad. It's actually better than some of the Herb Alpert releases of the same era that inspired it. But the difference is that Alpert was just being himself, while Blood, Chet & Tears finds Baker trying to sound like somebody else and that's the worst thing about the album. It literally sounds like Baker is hiding his true musical personality rather than expanding upon that personality. And when you come right down to it, that really is selling out as opposed to what George Benson and others were doing during this same period. That said, except for a bizarre version of "You've Made Me So Very Happy," the album stands up as kitschy easy listening. Interestingly enough, the same version of "Come Saturday Morning" that appears here was the theme song to The Sterile Cuckoo, a coming-of-age teen romance. "Come Saturday Morning" ended up being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. That fact, along with the one that Baker sang over the credits to a major Hollywood movie at this stage in his career, seems to have been expunged from the Chet Baker story entirely." (Nick Dedina, AMG)

Chet Baker, trumpet, vocals
Tony Terran, trumpet
Ray Triscari, trumpet
Ollie Mitchell, trumpet
Miles Anderson, trombone
Dick Hyde, trombone
George Roberts, bass trombone
Plas Johnson, tenor saxophone
Buddy Collette, reeds
Larry Knechtel, keyboards
Al Casey, guitar
Mike Deasy, guitar
Joe Pass, guitar
Tommy Tedesco, guitar
Joe Osborn, electric bass
Ray Pohlman, electric bass
Hal Blaine, drums
Gary Coleman, percussion
The Sid Sharp Strings
Jerry Styner, conductor

Recorded July 6, 1970 at Sunwest Recording Studios, Hollywood, California

Digitally remastered

Chet Baker Trumpeter and singer Chet Baker encountered jazz when playing with Army bands where he quickly developed his distinctive style. A short stint with Charlie Parker (1952) was followed by a long association with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. The pianoless quartet performed and recorded with great success - immediate fame came to Chet Baker and his cool, subdued style. His lyricism became typically associated with West Coast jazz and found many followers around the world. Baker led his own groups after leaving Mulligan for many years in both the US and Europe. His career became somewhat erratic in the sixties when he lived and worked mostly in Europe.

In the seventies he began his comeback and his very unique talent as a vocalist and instrumentalist soon put him back on the major concert stages. Excellent albums were done during the last ten years of his life which were maybe less perfect than his early West Coast work in the technical sense but showed a depth of feeling and intensity rarely heard. Luckily his last concert was recorded: it is one of the finest of his career (The Last Concert ENJ-6074 22). Chet Baker was very involved with the production of the concert, choose the music well in advance which was arranged for an ensemble consisting of a regular bigband, a symphony orchestra and a jazz quintet. He was very happy that he could finally record and perform under the best of circumstances. That night's version of My Funny Valentine,a song he had performed uncountable times before will stand out for all times as an absolute masterpiece of vocal jazz.

Dec. 23, 1929 (Yale, Oklahoma) - May 13, 1988 (Amsterdam).

This album contains no booklet.