But Madrid's tenure was likewise short-lived and he never recorded with the band. Both Madrid and Soloff left in late 1973, making way for new horn player/arranger Tony Klatka on their next release, Mirror Image (July 1974), which also saw the addition of vocalist/saxophonist Jerry LaCroix (formerly of Edgar Winter's White Trash), sax player Bill Tillman, bassist Ron McClure and the exodus of original bass player Jim Fielder. This recording features the adoption of a sound pitched between Philly Soul and the mid-1970s albums by Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, along with aspirations to Chick Corea's jazz-fusion group Return to Forever.
Jerry LaCroix left BS&T to join Rare Earth after playing his final show with them at Wollman Rink in New York's Central Park on July 27, 1974. Luther Kent, a blues singer from New Orleans, was recruited to replace LaCroix.
Reformations
By the close of 1974, Jerry Fisher decided that he was tired by BS&T's heavy touring schedule, so Bobby Colomby, together with the band's manager Fred Heller, engineered the return of David Clayton-Thomas in the hope of restoring the band to its former level of success. Clayton-Thomas agreed and met the current group at a concert in Milwaukee while Jerry Fisher and Luther Kent were still with the band. All three singers ended up on stage together before a wildly enthusiastic crowd.
The next album, New City in April 1975, featured Clayton-Thomas back fronting the band and contained half cover tunes (Janis Ian, Randy Newman, the Beatles, Blues Image) and half original material. New horn player Joe Giorgianni joined for New City, which charted higher (#47) than any of their previous albums since New Blood. This was chiefly the result of an entry in the singles charts with a cover of the Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life", which peaked at #62. But it still did not sell as well as albums from the group's 1969–71 commercial peak period.
In the summer of 1975, BS&T recorded a live album that was released in Europe and Japan the following year as In Concert. This very same album was later released in the US as Live and Improvised in May 1991. The album featured different guitarists on different nights: Georg Wadenius, Steve Khan and Mike Stern, the latter who took over permanently for a time (Jeff Richman filled in for Stern in mid-1976). Jazz percussionist Don Alias was also present for the live album. After its recording, Joe Giorgianni left and was replaced by Forrest Buchtel (formerly of Woody Herman's band)
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