Cold Blood

Guitarist Larry Field assembled an R&B outfit in San Francisco right after the Summer of Love and gave it the name New Invaders at first. The group stood out for its potent female singer, accomplished guitarist, and robust horn section. Early appearances at Golden Gate Park and the Fillmore led impresario Bill Graham to place the band on his newly launched San Francisco Records imprint, which issued their self-titled debut album in 1969. Over the following five years four additional LPs appeared, several of them featuring production and instrumental input from Steve Cropper, yet Graham’s questionable licensing arrangements with Columbia and Atlantic repeatedly limited their reach.

The debut single “You’ve Got Me Humming” climbed to number 52 on the U.S. charts, but Cold Blood remained overshadowed by acts such as Tower of Power, Chicago, and most persistently Janis Joplin. The latter parallel arose largely because blues singer Lydia Pense had become the youngest member of Field’s lineup; earlier she had captured a national rollerskating title as a child. Her commanding stage charisma soon positioned her as the ensemble’s focal point, prompting the group to bill itself as Lydia Pense With Cold Blood and to issue an album simply called Lydia. Joplin, recognizing a similar spirit, initially berated the band for beating her to a fierce version of “Piece of My Heart,” yet later softened and offered Pense a sip from her bottle of Southern Comfort.

By the late 1970s the band was playing smaller San Francisco rooms and then went dormant for most of the next decade while Pense devoted herself to raising her child. Activity resumed gradually in the late 1980s with regular appearances on California’s festival and fair circuit. A 1998 return to the Fillmore drew the group’s longtime supporters.