The horns + rock formula pioneered by Blood Sweat & Tears was a major factor on the charts for years, but no one really improved on it - not even Chicago, the band's most popular progeny. Blood Sweat & Tears' first two records cut a wide swath through the nascent rock press, and they stand as their lasting achievement. Child Is Father To The Man, helmed by Al Kooper, all but invented jazz rock. The follow-up, Blood Sweat & Tears, featured new vocalist David Clayton-Thomas and contained most of their big hits including "Spinning Wheel" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy."

Later, the critics came to despise BST both for what they became (not very good) and for what they begat ("Color My World"). But those two records or either of two good compilations (the expansive What Goes Up: The Best Of Blood Sweat & Tears or the concise, refurbished Greatest Hits) will satisfy all but the most self-conscious rocker.