kcfoxy's Full Review: Best of Cold Blood by Cold Blood
In Chicago it was Mike Bloomfield, Nick Gravenites and Buddy Miles. In San Francisco it was Raul Matute, Lydia Pense and ColdBlood. You might say ColdBlood were discovered by Janis Joplin during an early gig: it was actually in self defense that Joplin recommended them to Bill Graham and they were signed to San Francisco Records in 1968. They were that good, the singer was that hot and at least then, Pearl was no fool.
Okay, the Summer of Love was but a memory, but the birth of outstanding horn bands, with a blues, rock and jazz sensibility, was at hand. Tower of Power (please see East Bay Grease epinion) and ColdBlood were the premier get down and party bands.
This compilation, released in 1995, combined the best, primarily from the first (ColdBlood) and third (First Taste of Sin) albums. The third album, available as an import, just happened to be produced by Donny Hathaway. We can only hope Matute, the arranger, organist and leader of ColdBlood opens his vaults, and is able to get the cooperation, legal and otherwise, to release further CDs.
Besides Matute, or "Toot" as he was fondly known, we have Sandy McKee on drums, and some of the very same TOP talent on brass, such as Skip Gillette. There was a lot of friendly "guesting" back and forth with these bands, that all tended to play Bill Graham's Winterland and other medium sized venues. I had the distinct pleasure of catching them many times at the Bodega nightclub, in Campbell, CA. We danced in the aisles as there was no dance floor, per say. You just couldn't stay down.
The CD starts out with a very funky, bass-laden I Just Want To Make Love To You. You are immediately enthralled by the tight and muscular brass, the deceptively simple guitar coda and simmering Hammond B3, the aforementioned bass and bottom notes and above all, the absolutely wonderful talent that is Lydia Pense.
Pense, a tiny (okay, okay: vertically challenged) blonde dynamo, has the strongest set of pipes since, well, since The Brill Buiding's own Timi Yuro, (for trivia buffs). The only thing I never liked about Lydia was the way she picked up those annoying Joe Cocker hand movements in the 70's. The crocheted berets were cool, though.
This immaculate CD is jam packed with trademark tunes such as You Got Me Hummin', (...I don't know what you got, but it's getting to me. Even makes my cold eyes hot, Hot chills run right through me..."), fushionesque Funky On My Back and my all time favorite, the gospel-inflected Lo and Behold. Yes, that's the same song as done by James Taylor, ("There's a well on the hill.."), but that's the only comparison.
This CD rocks, cooks, sweats, funkifizes and gets one of my rare 5 star ratings for absolute sin qua non chops!
Also recommended, slightly more jazzy Marin's County's Sons of Champlin: Live, or the more bluesy 1968 Electric Flag'sA Long Time Comin', with Bloomfield, Gravenites and Miles.
January 2000, Update:
I have the distinct pleasure of having been in correspondence with Raul Matute, who indicates, there are indeed plenty of worthy tapes in the attic. He was kind enough to stop by and read this epinion, and hints that a second compilation may be in the works, (and that the dynamic Lydia Pense still tours in the San Francisco Bay Area)!
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