Farewell To Canada’s Own David Clayton-Thomas Of Blood, Sweat & Tears Fame

“I’m not scared of dying
And I don’t really care
If it’s peace you find in dying
Well, then let the time be near.”  – Lyrics from the song ‘And When I Die’ as sung by David Clayton-Thomas and as written by Laura Nyro

A Brief Tribute by Doug Draper

Posted June 25^th, 2026 on Niagara At Large

David Clayton-Thomas in his prime

Way back in the late 1960s during my final years of high school, a friend called me over to his house to listen to a new album by a group I had hardly heard much of before.

They were Blood, Sweat and Tears featuring Canadian singer David Clayton-Thomas, who had replace Al Kooper who founded the group.

My friend put the album on his turntable, cranked the sound up, and the first song I heard was; ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’ which would soon become a big hit. After that one, came another huge hit in Clayton-Thomas’s self-penned  ‘Spinning Wheel’, then Laura Nyro’s ‘And When I Die’, Billie Holiday’s ‘God Bless The Child’, Carole King’s ‘Hi-De-Ho’ and the great music from this and future album just kept coming.

It left me saying; ‘Holy S**t!’ and immediately I began saving up my school lunch money to buy that album and I would do my best to go out and see the group every time they appeared at the old Ontario Place Forum in Toronto where they filled the hills surrounding the rotating stage with thousands of fans.

John Lennon of Beatles fame, who was pretty much a rock & roll purist, didn’t much care for the music coming from Clayton-Thomas and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and I can understand that.

David Clayton-Thomas, third from right, with the whole band, Blood, Sweat & Tears

But if you didn’t mind rock and blues mixed in with a strong dose of jazz, they were pretty hard not to like. At the very least, you had to admire the high quality of  musicianship coming from everyone from the singer, to the horn players and that oh, so, hot drummer Bobby Colomby.

Sad to say that this June 25^th, 2026 David Clayton-Thomas, a Grammy Award winner and member of the Canadian Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, died of causes that, as of this post have not been reported, at age 84.

I  leave you with a performance David-Clayton Thomas and Blood, Sweat & Tears of the song ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’ from the Midnight Special program in th 1970s. To watch it, click on the screen immediately below –

• R.I.P. David Clayton-Thomas

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