Cold Blood -

Cold Blood was an American Bay Area brass-rock band that released the 1969/70 albums Cold Blood and Sisyphus on Bill Graham’s San Francisco Records label, followed by the 1972/73 titles First Taste of Sin and Thriller! and the 1974 Warner release Lydia, named after frontwoman Lydia Pense.

Members: Larry Field (guitar), Lydia Pense (vocals), Danny Hull (saxophone), Larry Jonutz (trumpet), Raul Matute (Hammond organ, piano), Jerry Jonutz (saxophone), David Padron (trumpet), Rod Ellicott (bass), Frank Davis (drums), Steve Salinas (keyboards), Steve Dunne (guitar), Mike Morgan (percussion), Evan Palmerston (bass), Rich Armstrong (trumpet, percussion), Rob Zuckerman (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute), Donny Baldwin (drums), Joel Behrman (trombone, trumpet), Dana Moret (vocals)

Background

Cold Blood formed in 1968 and hit the Bay Area rock and R&B circuit. They impressed breakout star Janis Joplin, who recommended Lydia Pense (b. December 14, 1947), a Redwood City resident who idolized Brenda Lee and sang in The Dimensions, comprised of Sequoia High School classmates. Lydia’s new Cold Blood bandmates encouraged her to emulate the raspy caterwaul of older R&B male vocalists (Fats Domino, James Brown, Ray Charles).

Joplin recommended Cold Blood to local music promoter Bill Graham, who signed the band to his nascent Atlantic-subsidiary San Francisco Records.

Cold Blood

Cold Blood released their self-titled debut album in November 1969 on San Francisco Records.

The album features the core nine-piece Cold Blood lineup: Lydia Pense (vocals), Larry Field (guitar), Rod Ellicott (bass), Frank J. Davis (drums), Raúl Matute (keys), Jerry Jonutz (alto, baritone sax), Danny Hull (tenor sax), and three trumpeters — David Padrón, Larry Jonutz, and Carl Leach — plus Mic Gillette on trombone. Matute, the band’s chief arranger, trades Hammond organ lines against Field’s guitar across the band’s molten brew of rock, funk, blues, and soul.

Cold Blood opens with a brass-charged version of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” the civil rights-era standard popularized by Nina Simone. Vocalist Lydia Pense builds from a hushed gospel croon to a scorching soul wail, backed by swelling horns and organ. Keyboardist Raúl Matute contributes “If You Will,” a lumbering slab of minor-key blues-rock with fuzzy guitar and punchy horns. Their take on the Sam & Dave staple “You Got Me Hummin’” favors a slower, groove-heavy approach with vocal vamping and layered brass interplay.

Side B opens with a searing reinvention of the Willie Dixon chestnut “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” rendered as a slow-burning funk-rock epic with a brooding intro, fuzz-toned bass, and trumpet swells. Pense reprises “I’m a Good Woman,” the Barbara Lynn burner she first sang with her teen group The Generation, here cast in full-throttle mode with brass and organ firepower. The album closes with a slow-burn rendition of “Let Me Down Easy,” followed by the psychedelic soul-funk finale “Watch Your Step,” a brassy call-to-arms where saxophonist Danny Hull lets loose with an unhinged solo over Hammond swirls and a breakbeat groove.

A1. “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” (5:58)
A2. “If You Will” (5:35)
A3. “You Got Me Hummin” (5:47)

B1. “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (5:13)
B2. “I’m a Good Woman” (3:00)
B3. “Let Me Down Easy” (5:35)
B4. “Watch Your Step” (5:27)

Sessions took place at Pacific Recording Studios in San Mateo with Fillmore Corporation producer David Rubinson, a recent soundman for Aum, Chambers Brothers, Moby Grape, and Taj Mahal. Fred Catero (Appaloosa, Chicago Transit Authority) handled recording duties with mastering by Bob Ludwig at Atlantic Studios.

The album cover, illustrated by Rick Griffin, shows Lydia Pense’s portrait framed in a surreal, bleeding heart motif. She’s flanked with heart-shaped blue roses wrapped in green tendrils, bursting with flame and electricity. The band name appears in frosty blue bubble letters, dripping with icicles, while the word “BLOOD” cartoonishly oozes down in bold red, evoking both horror kitsch and Fillmore poster art.

Cold Blood reached No. 30 in Canada and established Pense as a formidable voice in late-’60s soul-rock.

Sisyphus

Cold Blood released their second album, Sisyphus, in 1970 on San Francisco Records.

The album features a retooled Cold Blood lineup with returning members Lydia Pense (vocals), Larry Field (guitar), Rod Ellicott (bass, percussion), Raúl Matute (piano, organ, electric piano), and Danny Hull (tenor saxophone, now also on flute). They’re joined by newcomers Sandy McKee (drums, vocals, percussion), Larry Jonutz (trombone, trumpet), and Mic Gillette (trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn), the latter two expanding the brass section with deeper harmonic range. Santana percussionist José “Chepito” Areas guests on the first two tracks.

Sisyphus opens with “Shop Talk,” a brassy Latin-funk instrumental with a percussion breakdown that showcases Chepito’s congas and timbales alongside syncopated horn blasts. “Funky on My Back” continues the Afro-Cuban groove with vocal chants, a bouncy Matute-led rhythm, and punctuating flute lines from Hull. The album’s lone outside composition, “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)” by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, features Lydia’s slow-burning delivery over lush horn charts and jazzy piano fills, with backing vocals by the Pointer Sisters.

Side B opens with “Understanding,” a Rhodes-laced soul-funk tune layered with vocal harmonies, shifting grooves, and brass counterpoint. “I Can’t Stay” veers into driving funk-rock with scratch guitar, syncopated percussion, and a raspy vocal from Sandy McKee, whose drumming lends the album a looser, more fluid feel than its predecessor. Sisyphus closes with “Too Many People,” a mid-tempo funk-soul cut with bittersweet lyrics and radiant horn interplay.

A1. “Shop Talk” (7:23)
A2. “Funky On My Back” (6:55)
A3. “Your Good Thing” (5:22)

B1. “Understanding” (6:35)
B2. “I Can’t Stay” (4:26)
B3. “Too Many People” (4:06)

Sessions took place at Mercury Sound Studios in San Francisco with returning soundman Fred Catero and engineering assistant Aulikki “Mischka” Niityen. Cold Blood co-produced with Catero, who worked in sequence on the second Santana album (Abraxis) and 1970 titles by Hammer, Lamb, Lovecraft, and Linda Ronstadt.

Sisyphus appeared in a gatefold with outer photography by Tony Lane and inner-gate monochrome member portraits by Herb Greene. Lane’s contemporary credits include the red visuals on 1969–71 albums by Hubert Laws (Crying Song), Argent (Argent), Freddie Hubbard (Red Clay), and Rusty Bryant (Fire Eater).

The Sisyphus cover visualizes the mythic struggle evoked in the album’s title. Set against a sun-drenched California hillside, the image shows a line of human figures ascending a steep incline, each in a slightly different pose of strain or forward motion—visually echoing the Greek myth of Sisyphus, the condemned figure doomed to push a boulder uphill for eternity. Their line stretches into the distance, suggesting a task with no endpoint—a collective labor mirroring the emotional and existential weight often explored in soul and blues music.

First Taste of Sin

Cold Blood released their third album, First Taste of Sin, in March 1972 on Reprise.

Produced by Donny Hathaway, First Taste of Sin marks Cold Blood’s transition from the Bill Graham-run San Francisco Records to Warner Bros.’ Reprise imprint. Hathaway—already an established soul innovator and frequent Roberta Flack collaborator—brought refined vocal and instrumental arrangements to the band’s raw fusion of soul, funk, and jazz-rock.

The album features returning members Lydia Pense (vocals), Rod Ellicott (bass), Sandy McKee (drums, vocals), Raúl Matute (piano, organ), and Danny Hull (tenor sax), joined by new recruits Michael Sasaki (guitar), Max Haskett (trumpet, vocals), and a greatly expanded horn section with Mel Martin, Bill Baker, Peter Christlieb, Bill Atwood, Gordon Messick, Pat O’Hara, and Ernest Diridoni (tuba). Percussionists Pete and Coke Escovedo lend Latin inflections, while Paul Beaver contributes Moog synthesizer textures.

Hathaway arranged the band’s dynamic cover of his own composition, “Valdez in the Country,” which he re-recorded for his 1973 solo album Extension of a Man. On Sin, the instrumental version closes the album with lush horn voicings and layered keys, a fitting coda to the LP’s diverse sonic range.

Cold Blood co-wrote seven of the album’s nine tracks. Opener “Visions” is a slow-burning soul-funk tune, while “Down to the Bone” and “All My Honey” flex brassy, percussive muscle with tight, unison horn jabs and syncopated rhythm guitar. Lydia Pense commands the mic with gospel-torch energy on “You Had to Know,” a Hathaway ballad with soaring, sustained vocals and elegant piano runs. On “Inside Your Soul,” trumpeter Max Haskett takes over lead vocals for a raw funk-rock track. Meanwhile, “Lo and Behold” reimagines the James Taylor song with punchy horn charts and raspy vocals.

A1. “Visions” (3:19)
A2. “Lo and Behold” (4:12) originated on Sweet Baby James, the 1970 second album by James Taylor.
A3. “Down to the Bone” (5:19)
A4. “You Had to Know” (5:47)

B1. “My Lady Woman” (4:01)
B2. “No Way Home” (3:23)
B3. “Inside Your Soul” (3:26)
B4. “All My Honey” (3:27)
B5. “Valdez in the Country” (3:44)

Sessions occurred at Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles and San Francisco, engineered by Richard Moore. The album was mastered at Artisan Sound Recorders and packaged with liner photos by Jim Marshall and cover photography by Marty Evans. Hathaway produced First Taste of Sin in sequence with 1972 titles by Aretha Franklin (Young, Gifted and Black) and Dionne Warwick (From Within), as well as his collaborative album with Roberta Flack.

The First Taste of Sin album cover depicts the band gathered in a dimly lit baroque lounge, with Lydia Pense seated center, surrounded by her male bandmates in relaxed, bohemian poses. With chandeliers overhead and reflective wallpaper behind them, the scene evokes both seedy glamor and roadhouse camaraderie—conjuring a backstage moment between debauchery and performance. The album’s title appears in bold gothic red above the group, pairing ironic grandeur with the sultry, confessional tone of the music.

Thriller!

Cold Blood released their fourth album, Thriller!, in 1973 on Reprise.

The album presents Cold Blood’s signature brass-laden funk–R&B sound in full force, this time with minimal original material. Lydia Pense returns as lead vocalist, supported by guitarist Michael Sasaki, bassist Rod Ellicott, keyboardist Raúl Matute, and drummer Gaylord Birch. Returning brass mainstays include trumpeter Max Haskett (who also contributes vocals), saxophonist–flutist Skip Mesquite, and trumpeter Peter Welker. Additional horns were supplied by Mel Martin, Pat O’Hara, Bennie Maupin, Bill Atwood, and others. Vocal backing comes courtesy of Holly Tigard and the Pointer Sisters, who previously guested on Sisyphus.

Thriller! opens with a dynamic, horn-punctuated take on the Jerry Ragovoy soul belter “Baby I Love You,” followed by a richly arranged version of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” with a restrained yet soulful vocal by Pense and smooth brass voicings by Tom Harrell. Matute’s Hammond organ takes center stage on a cover of the blues classic “Feel So Bad,” in an arrangement reminiscent of Ray Charles’ original.

Side B opens with the Band’s “Sleeping,” rendered as a moody ballad with warm harmonies and keyboard textures. The lone original, Max Haskett’s “Live Your Dream,” is an uptempo funk-soul burner with strong brass flourishes and exuberant chorus vocals. Cold Blood puts a sultry spin on Boz Scaggs’ “I’ll Be Long Gone,” while Bill Withers’ “Kissing My Love” closes the album with a slow, syncopated groove anchored by layered horns and a tightly coiled rhythm section.

A1. “Baby I Love You” (6:10)
A2. “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (7:40)
A3. “Feel So Bad” (7:22)

B1. “Sleeping” (5:16)
B2. “Live Your Dream” (3:21)
B3. “I’ll Be Long Gone” (5:40)
B4. “Kissing My Love” (6:07)

Sessions took place at Wally Heider Studios and Funky Features in San Francisco, with engineering by Fred Catero and Jerry Zatkin. Matute co-produced the album with original Cold Blood soundman David Rubinson, who handled Thriller! in sequence with 1973 albums by Malo, Herbie Hancock, the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, and the long-awaited Pointer Sisters debut.

The Thriller! cover, designed by Globe Propaganda, depicts a glamorously dressed woman sprawled lifeless on a blood-red floor, her pearl necklace broken, her compact and purse spilled — a visual send-up of pulp crime fiction and B-movie poster art. The provocative image stirred controversy at the time and was later cited in a 1978 U.S. congressional hearing on domestic violence. The back cover presents the album’s song titles and credits in a layout akin to the advertisement pages in Golden Age comics.

Lydia

Cold Blood released their fifth album, Lydia, in 1974 on Warner Bros.

Lydia finds Cold Blood splitting sessions between Clover Recorders in Los Angeles and Trans Maximus Studios in Memphis, with Steve Cropper — famed guitarist and producer for Stax and Booker T. & the MG’s — at the helm. This is the band’s most studio-centric effort to date, featuring a revolving cast of players and a greater reliance on outside songwriters.

Lydia Pense fronts a dual rhythm section: bassist Rod Ellicott and drummer Gaylord Birch handle the LA tracks, while Tommy Cathey and Joe Williams appear on the Memphis sessions. Guitarist Michael Sasaki remains in place with Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Steve Cropper, and Paul Cannon also contributing. Keyboardist Raúl Matute returns on organ, electric piano, and clavinet.

The horn section varies by location. The LA sessions feature a nine-piece brass unit with trumpeters Max Haskett, Chuck Findley, and Bobby Shew, plus saxophonists Don Menza, Pete Christlieb, and David Luell. Jim Horn contributes a flute solo on “Under Pressure.” On the Memphis tracks (“Considerations,” “I Only Wanted Someone to Hear Me,” and “You’re Free Lovin’ Me”), the band is backed by the famed Memphis Horns. Vocal support comes from Brenda Gordon, Brooks Hunnicutt, Gwen Edwards, Pat Coulter, and others, with Max Haskett, Smith Dobson, and Pense herself adding layered harmonies.

A1. “Ready to Live” (5:22)
A2. “Simple Love Life” (3:15)
A3. “Under Pressure” (3:27)
A4. “When My Love Hand Comes Down” (4:20)
A5. “When It’s Over” (2:30)

B1. “Considerations” (3:34)
B2. “I Only Wanted Someone to Hear Me” (3:51)
B3. “You’re Free Lovin’ Me” (3:48)
B4. “Come Back Into My Life Again” (3:39)
B5. “Just Like Sunshine” (4:39)

Sessions for tracks B1–B3 were recorded at Trans Maximus in Memphis by Ron Capone; the remaining tracks were cut at Clover with Robert Appére, who also handled remixing duties.

The front cover, photographed by Herb Greene, features a posed studio portrait of Lydia Pense, her name now foregrounded as the album’s title suggests a deeper focus on her vocal persona. Cropper’s involvement, along with the Memphis tracking, marks this album as a stylistic pivot — one that leans into tightly arranged, cross-regional soul.

Lydia Pense & Cold Blood

Lydia Pense and Cold Blood released their self-titled sixth album in 1976 on ABC.

The album features ten songs, including covers of Ashford & Simpson (“Drink the Wine”), Allen Toussaint (“Blinded by Love”), and Al Kooper, whose “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know” offers a slow-burning showcase for Lydia’s sultry vocals. Side B includes “Back Here Again,” composed by Vitamin E mastermind Paul Tillman.

The remaining seven songs originate from Cold Blood members, including keyboardist Raúl Matute (“Let Me Be the One”) and saxophonist Danny Hull (“Feel the Fire”). Trumpeter Max Haskett and bassist Domingo Balinton contribute to the opening medley.

Guitarist Michael Sasaki and drummer Harvey Hughes co-wrote “I Get Off on You” and “I Got Happiness,” which feature string arrangements by Ron Stockert. The album closes with their cover of the Judy Clay chestnut “It Takes a Lot of Good Lovin’.”

A1. “We Came Down Here & Cold Blood Smokin’ (Medley, 4:20)
a. “We Came Down Here”
b. “Cold Blood Smokin’”
A2. “I Get Off On You (3:40)
A3. “Drink the Wine (4:01)
A4. “I Got Happiness (3:19)
A5. “Feel the Fire (5:01)

B1. “Let Me Be the One (4:04)
B2. “Back Here Again (P. Smith) – 3:34)
B3. “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (5:47)
B4. “Blinded by Love (3:48)
B5. “It Takes a Lot of Good Lovin’ (3:31) originated as a 1967 Stax side by Judy Clay; written by Alvertis Isbell and Booker T. Jones and covered in 1970 by Fanny.

Cold Blood recorded the album at Quantum Recording Studio in Torrance, California, with producer Bob Monaco, associate Gary Monaco, and engineers John Notar, Scott Spain, and brothers Don and Tony Sciarrotta.

Matute contributed string charts and co-arranged the horns with Hull, Haskett, and Sasaki. The Memphis Horns appear on the first three Side B tracks, recorded separately at Trans Maximus Sound Studios in Memphis.

Discography: