Blood, Sweat & Tears is a Canadian-American jazz-rock music group originall… Read Full Bio ↴Blood, Sweat & Tears is a Canadian-American jazz-rock music group originally formed in 1967 in New York City by Al Kooper, Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz and Bobby Colomby.

Founder Al Kooper conceived Blood, Sweat and Tears as an experiment in expanding the size and scope of the rock band with touches of jazz , blues , classical , and folk music. When Kooper was forced out of the band soon after its eclectic debut, Child Is Father to the Man, BS&T became increasingly identified as a "jazz-rock" group, although its music was essentially easy-listening rhythm and blues or rock with the addition of brass.

Kooper formed BS&T after leaving the Blues Project in 1967. The nucleus of the original band was Steve Katz, also of the Blues Project; Jim Fielder, who had played with the Mothers of Invention and Buffalo Springfield; and Bobby Colomby, who had drummed behind folksingers Odetta and Eric Andersen. The horn players were recruited from New York jazz and studio bands. Child Is Father featured songs by Harry Nilsson, Tim Buckley, Randy Newman, Gerry Goffin, and Carole King, along with Kooper originals and arrangements by Fred Lipsius for brass, strings, and studio effects. The band nearly broke up when Kooper, Randy Brecker, and Jerry Weiss left (Brecker to join The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra). Regrouping under Katz and Colomby, and fronted by David Clayton-Thomas (who had sung with a Canadian blues band, The Bossmen), BS&T entered a period of immense popularity. Blood, Sweat & Tears featured arrangements of music by French composer Erik Satie and jazz singer Billie Holiday, as well as by Laura Nyro, Steve Winwood, and others. It was the #1 album for seven weeks in 1969, sold over 3 million copies, and spawned three gold singles: “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die,” each of which hit #2.

In 1970 the U.S. State Department sent the band on a goodwill tour of Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland. Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 duplicated the Blood, Sweat & Tears mix of styles and was almost as popular. The album went to #1, and two singles, “Hi-De-Ho” and “Lucretia MacEvil,” hit the Top 30. But interest in the group began to wane, and 4, which contained almost all original material, barely made the Top 10. In 1971 “Go Down Gamblin’” was its last hit. By the time Clayton-Thomas left for a solo career in 1972, BS&T’s place on the charts had been filled by similarly styled bands such as Chicago, Chase, and Ides of March. Katz left the next year, first to join the short-lived American Flyer and then to an A&R position at Mercury Records.

BS&T became regulars in Las Vegas, with ever-changing personnel recruited largely from big bands like Maynard Ferguson’s, Woody Herman’s, and Doc Severinsen’s. Vocalist Jerry LaCroix appeared between his tenures with Edgar Winter’s White Trash and Rare Earth, while guitarist Mike Stern later played with Miles Davis’ early-’80s band. Clayton-Thomas’ return in 1974 briefly boosted BS&T’s popularity, but Columbia dropped the group, and Colomby, the last original member, left in 1976. He continued to influence BS&T as producer of Brand New Day and, with Clayton-Thomas, as co-owner of the band’s name and catalogue. He then moved on to a career in A&R for several labels, as well as TV reporting. Since 1975 the live act has been billed as Blood, Sweat and Tears Featuring David Clayton-Thomas. [from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bloodsweatandtears/biography

In late 2005, the band returned to touring. The year 2007 witnessed the band's first world tour in a decade. From 2008 through 2010, Steve Katz returned to appear at BS&T's shows as a special guest.

From 2013 till 2018, Blood Sweat and Tears was fronted by Bo Bice, who was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol.

In 2018, the group decided to replace Bice with former Tower of Power singer Tom Bowes, who had previously done a brief stint with BS&T back in July through November 2012.

In 2019 Keith Paluso, from the reality TV show The Voice, was chosen as BS&T's new singer.

Lisa Listen to Me
Blood Sweat & Tears Lyrics

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Blood, Sweat & Tears
Once a girl I knew, all alone and unprepared.
Everyone she knew, runnin' scared.
Then she found him or maybe he found her.
His were gentle words she had never heard before.
He said, "Lisa, listen to me,
Don't you know where you belong?
Darling, Lisa, you can tell me...

You've been silent for too long."
Once another man took her on a younger day,
All a young girl can do is pray.
Then she found him or maybe he found her.
His were gentle words she had never heard before.
She had never heard before.
He said, "Lisa, listen to me,
Don't you know where you belong?
Darling, Lisa, you can tell me...
You've been silent for too long."
He said, "Lisa, listen to me,
Don't you know where you belong?
Darling, Lisa, you can tell me...
You've been silent for too long."
Then she found him or maybe he found her.

His were gentle words she had never heard before.
She had never heard before.

Overall Meaning

The song "Lisa Listen to Me" by Blood, Sweat & Tears is a powerful ballad that tells the story of a young girl named Lisa who may have been lost, alone, and unprepared before eventually finding a man who gave her a sense of belonging and reassurance. The first verse of the song speaks of Lisa's past, where she seemed to be surrounded by fear and people who were running scared. Then, she meets a man whose gentle words she had never heard before, and he tells her to listen to him, asking her if she knows where she belongs. The chorus begs Lisa to speak up and not remain silent any longer, as if she had been holding back all her life.

The second verse of the song describes another man who may have taken advantage of Lisa when she was younger, leaving her with nothing but prayer to cope. Once again, Lisa meets a man who gives her gentle words of hope, and he asks her the same question as before: "Do you know where you belong?" The last verse is a repetition of the first, where Lisa finds herself in the man's gentle arms, where she has never heard such comforting words before. The song's theme revolves around the idea of belonging and finding one's place in life, assuring the listener that no matter how lost they may feel, they can find a sense of comfort if they open up and listen to the ones who care.

Line by Line Meaning

Once a girl I knew, all alone and unprepared.
The singer knew a girl who was alone and unprepared.

Everyone she knew, runnin' scared.
Everyone around her was scared and fleeing.

Then she found him or maybe he found her.
She met a man, or perhaps he met her.

His were gentle words she had never heard before.
The man used kind and compassionate language that she had never experienced before.

He said, "Lisa, listen to me, Don't you know where you belong? Darling, Lisa, you can tell me... You've been silent for too long."
The man encouraged her to confide in him, assuring her that he would listen and that she had remained quiet for too long.

Once another man took her on a younger day, All a young girl can do is pray.
When she was younger, another man took advantage of her, and all she could do was hope for a better situation.

He said, "Lisa, listen to me, Don't you know where you belong? Darling, Lisa, you can tell me... You've been silent for too long." (Repeated)
The man continued to offer support and a listening ear to Lisa, emphasizing that she had not spoken up for herself in some time.

Then she found him or maybe he found her. His were gentle words she had never heard before. She had never heard before.
Lisa found comfort and solace in this man whose kind and caring words were unfamiliar to her.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS, DICK HALLIGAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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