Whats on your turntable tonight?

Thanks for sharing that, Al.  Seems a nice example of positive parental influence paying dividends.

FWIW - my favorite John Simon credit: tuba on The Band's "Brown" Album.  Added some nice punch to the bass line.

I consider John Simon almost a sixth member of The Band on their first two albums. I hadn't known he produced the first BS&T album, which is completely different from the ones that followed. I've never read why Al Kooper left his own creation after only one album.

Hi Eric (bdp24),

According to the Wikipedia writeup on BS&T:

Colomby and Katz wanted to move Kooper exclusively to keyboard and composing duties, while hiring a stronger vocalist for the group, causing Kooper's departure in April 1968.

The writeup provides a reference for that statement in a footnote, but the link no longer works.

Katz, of course, is Steve Katz, who during prior years in the 1960s was a member of The Blues Project along with Kooper. Their "Projections" album is one of my favorite rock albums.

Best regards,
-- Al 

Climax Blues Band  - FM Live
Climax Blues Band  - tightly Knit
Rory Gallagher  - Irish Tour "74"
Wishbone Ash  - Live Dates

@bdp24 

Looks like you are not alone in that "6th member" opinion...
http://theband.hiof.no/band_members/john_simon.html

Al's Wiki info about Al Kooper leaving BS&T not withstanding, the Wiki entry for Child Is Father to the Man puts it more bluntly:

"After a brief promotional tour, Colomby and Katz ousted Kooper from the band, which led to Child is Father to the Man being the only BS&T album on which Kooper ever appeared."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Is_Father_to_the_Man

All explanations covered handily, no doubt, by the hackneyed "artistic differences".