Blood, Sweat and Tears member dies, at 78
RIPDick Halligan played on the first four Blood, Sweat and Tears albums.
He was the trombonist on Child is Father to the Man, then played flute and keyboards on its successors.
He won a Grammy in 1969 for best contemporary instrumental performance for Variations on a Theme by Eric Satie.
Halligan moved on to composing for films, starting with Barbra Streisand’s The Owl and the Pussycat.
His music was lately referenced in Licorice Pizza.
Remember his playing well, which is his legacy. He will be missed, yet his recordings are eternal. Those were very interesting years when there was cross-over before it was called cross-over. RIP, Dick.
Dick Halligan took over the main creative control of BS&T after founder Al Kooper was fired and the result was their phenomenally successful and timeless 2nd album.
He came up with sophisticated, yet accessible arrangements that were a perfect balance of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Classical.
Dick was a student at Ithaca College during my first few years at Ithaca. A huge talent and then some right from his early years.
I had a club in Dallas in the 90s and Bill Tillman was my go-to house band whenever possible.