MGM offered Baker a contract for a record to be released on Verve and centered around Blood, Sweat Tears recent output: Chet would be playing their music in his own Jazz style, and in that way, both the record company and the trumpeter, would be able to reach a far wider group of listeners.

Whether in a crowded nightclub, or in a bustling studio, Chet can create an atmosphere of total emotional involvement for the listener.

Chet has always approached music with love rather than commercially.

He has to believe in what he is playing, or the sound is colorless, cold and insensitive.

Go back a few short years and review the accomplishments of this gifted musician.

He has won almost every conceivable award, not only once, but two and three times.

His version of My Funny Valentine is considered a standard by trumpeters of all schools.

Instead, he addresses himself to the subtle, more meaningful comments within the framework of a tune, whether its jazz, blues, a ballad or rock.

Chets voice has the same bitter sweet quality as his playing.

The listener, while hearing him sing, has a tendency to become involved emotionally.

When Chet reaches for a particularly high note, you find yourself pulling for him to make it.

The plan for this album was to use the individual style of Chet Baker together with todays many facets of music, each maintaining their own individuality.

This album has to be considered sheer treasure, like searching for gold and finding uranium.

Artt Frank, from the original back sleeve notes of Blood, Chet and Tears Despite what the liner notes say and according to Chet Baker: The Missing Years - A Memoir by Artt Frank, Chet Baker hated recording this album, he only did it because in those dark years he was in desperate need of money for him and his family.

This record is often considered one of the lowest point in his career, or even his worst album if we exclude those recorded in 1965-66 - probably for the same reason explained in the above paragraph - with infamous The Mariachi Brass, a copycat version of Herb Alpert The Tijuana Brass.

Then why are you treatin us with such crap I hear somebody ask.

Well, basically because crap it aint, my friends, and the vocal version of The Sandpipers Come Saturday Morning included on the LP is a small masterpiece which is worth the admission ticket alone In my humble opinion Blood, Chet and Tears is a very enjoyable album if you take it for just what it really is: an Easy Listening record that tries to make the most out of the success Blood, Sweat Tears were enjoying back in those days.

While compiliing this post I desperately tried to find some pictures of Chet Baker taken sometimes around 1970 - when Blood, Chet and Tears was recorded - but I couldnt find any.

That is for sure a tangible clue of how he sort of disappeared from the scene in those years.

As the story goes, in the summer of 1966, Baker suffered a severe beating in San Francisco that was related to his drug addiction.

The incident is usually misdated and frequently exaggerated in accounts of his life, often due to his own unreliable testimony.

It is said, for example, that all his teeth were knocked out, which is not the case, though one tooth was broken and the general deterioration of his teeth led to his being fitted with dentures in the late 60s, forcing him to retrain his embouchure.

The beating was not the cause of the decline in his career during this period, but it is emblematic of that decline.

By the end of the 60s, he was recording and performing only infrequently and he stopped playing completely in the early 70s.

Chet Baker Chet Baker Sings Rar File