A poor quality copy had been posted on YouTube, but we managed to find pristine prints buried in a storage facility here in Los Angeles last June. Curiously, that version was never officially released. A 53-minute program was ultimately completed, intended to be syndicated to television stations around the world. The original intention for that footage was to make a 2-hour film for exhibition in movie theaters, but somewhere along the way that idea was abandoned. Multiple sources confirmed that 65 hours of film were shot during the 26-day journey through Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland. Our rough cut editing process has just begun and I’m really excited about what this documentary will be when finished.Īt the heart of our film is footage shot by the documentary film crew that accompanied Blood Sweat & Tears on its groundbreaking tour behind the Iron Curtain in the summer of 1970. With the help of many people, including members of BS&T, the film’s creative team has accumulated an extraordinary collection of rare and unusual film, video, photos, slides, recordings, private travel journals, government documents and behind-the-scenes information with which to tell this remarkable and compelling story. But perhaps the most enjoyable part of being a filmmaker is the “treasure hunting.” What this entails is not unlike the forensic research done in detective shows such as CSI and LAW AND ORDER. “Created with the full cooperation of Blood, Sweat & Tears,” reads a press release, “the film will overflow with great music, international political intrigue, compelling human moments, humor, and fresh insight into this strange never-before-told story.”Īugust 2021: Directing, writing, and producing a documentary are, in equal measure, exasperating and exhilarating, stressful and stimulating, irritating and inspiring. The upcoming documentary What The Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? will finally tell the band’s complete story, using 65 hours of unseen footage shot on the band’s infamous Iron Curtain tour, which was much more complicated than most fans understood at the time. They were never able to regain the lost momentum and their fortunes rapidly waned throughout the Seventies.

Thanks to the ongoing Vietnam War, it was a time of maximum distrust in government and the tour sparked a huge fan backlash. For a brief moment in time, Blood, Sweat & Tears were one of the biggest rock bands in America, scoring giant hits like “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” and “Spinning Wheel,” winning a Grammy for Album of the Year - despite facing off against the Beatles’ Abbey Road - and playing a triumphant set at Woodstock.īut at the pinnacle of their fame in 1970, they went on a State Department-sponsored tour of the Iron Curtain nations Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

List of blood sweat and tears songs