David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat, and Tears Passes Away at 84

David Clayton-Thomas, the lead singer of Blood, Sweat, and Tears during their peak years, passed away “peacefully” in Toronto on Tuesday, as stated in a press release. The cause of death has not been disclosed. He was 84.

With his rich baritone voice and dramatic style, Clayton-Thomas brought an emotional depth to numerous hits for Blood, Sweat, and Tears in the late Sixties and early Seventies. It’s hard to read song titles like “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” and “Spinning Wheel” without hearing his heartfelt yet robust expressions of love echoing in your mind.

Clayton-Thomas is a proud inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He received a special Juno Award acknowledging his impact on Canadian culture and has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. “Spinning Wheel” is also honored by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, on September 13, 1941, he was the son of Fred Thomsett, a Canadian soldier, and Freda, an English music student. He grew up in a suburb of Toronto. A tough relationship with his father led him to experience homelessness as a teenager. According to legend, he found an abandoned guitar while at a reformatory or jail and taught himself how to play it, entertaining fellow inmates until he was released for vagrancy in ’62.

He immersed himself in Toronto’s music scene under the name David Clayton-Thomas while performing with a band called the Fabulous Shays. With another group called the Bossmen-a bluesy rock band with jazz influences-he achieved radio success in Canada with “Brainwashed” in 1966. A couple of years later, Judy Collins spotted him singing in New York City and recommended him to Bobby Colomby-the drummer for Blood, Sweat, and Tears-after they had parted ways with their founding frontman Al Kooper in ’68. Clayton-Thomas then joined this brass-infused band that drew inspiration from jazz as well.

Clayton-Thomas’ debut album with the group was Blood, Sweat, and Tears (1968), featuring arrangements from composer Erik Satie along with songs by Billie Holiday, Laura Nyro, Steve Winwood, and Berry Gordy Jr. It topped charts for seven weeks selling over four million copies shortly after its release. Each single-including “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “And When I Die,” and his own composition “Spinning Wheel”-reached Number Two on Billboard charts. In 1970 that album won Album of the Year at the Grammys beating out The Beatles’ Abbey Road among others.

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In that year while playing venues like Madison Square Garden and Hollywood Bowl at their height of popularity, Blood, Sweat, and Tears partnered with the U. S. State Department for goodwill tours across Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland, making them one of the first musical acts to break through the Iron Curtain. This period is explored further in the recent documentary titled What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?“We went over there thinking about how much so-called Communist fascism is American propaganda,” Clayton-Thomas shared with Rolling Stone back in 1970.“And I found that some propaganda is actually pretty close to reality. It’s frightening.”

The band’s follow-up album, Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 (1970), also soared to Number One on Billboard chart, gaining gold status thanks to popular tracks like “Hi-De-Ho”and “Lucretia Mac Evil,”which he wrote. After their next LP, B, S,& T4 (1971) didn’t perform well despite being certified gold-it peaked at Number10 due to similar sounding bands like Chicago filling up charts-Clayton-Thomas decided to leave for solo opportunities in1972.

The singer released David Clayton-Thomas! in1969 which peaked at Number159in U. S. hits. His subsequent post-B, S,& Talbum, Dav id Clayton – Thomas didn’t fare any better landing only at Number184. The dozen or so albums he produced afterwards throughout his career did not make much impact on charts though one track,“Anytime…Babe”, releasedin1974was mildly successfulin Canada.

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Luckily for him, C layton-Thomass’ returnto Blood, Sweat, and Tears In1974 helpedreviveband’schartpresence although Columbia dropped them after More Than Everflopped at Number165in1976. During this time, the group started billing themselves as Blood , Sweat, and Tearsfeaturing David Cl ayton – Thomasperforming Las Vegasresidencies. Two more albums followed but eventuallythe band broke upin1981.

C layton-Thomasshare d co-ownershipofband’snameandcatalogand branchedoutinto A&Rworkalongwith TVreportingwhile still pursuinghis solocareer. He led various reunionsfor Blood , Sweat , and Te arsb etween1984and2004. In2010, h e underwent heart surgery. Inthatsameyear, h e his autobiography titled Blood , Sweat, and Te ars.

Awayfrommusicbusiness, C lay ton-Thomascampaignedfor Peacebuilders Canadaaimedataidingatrisk youth. He also participatedin benefitsandal galasforrelatedcauses.

Trending StoriesC lay ton – Th omas le av es behind two daughters, Ashleigh C lay ton-T homasand Christine Graham. Amemorial concertto support Peacebuilders Canad aisbeingplanned.In2013, C lay ton-T homas reminisced aboutthefirst timehe sangwith Blood , Sweat, and Te ars saying it felt like lightningstruck.“We were just, h olly shit, thisis somekindof band, and we knewit,”h etold Rock Cellar.“It wasn’t arrogance. It wasjust amazing confidence. Andsure enoughwithinaboutthree weeksafter we openedatthe Go Go-weweren’t eveninthestudio yet-therewouldbeathousandpeople linedupdown Bleecker Streettogetintoa200-seatclub.”

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