Lucretia Mac Evil

Album: Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 (1970)
Charted: 29
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Blood, Sweat & Tears lead singer David Clayton-Thomas wrote this song. Like "Spinning Wheel," he composed it in his native Canada before he joined the band. The song describes a woman of ill repute who will use men to get what she wants.

    Clayton-Thomas was inspired by the "bad girls" he saw in the funky bars he played when he was starting out.
  • David Clayton-Thomas didn't want to use a real girl's name for this song, so it took him a long time to come up with a title. Inspiration struck after he had moved to New York. He was listening to a jazz station in Newark when a Horace Silver song called "Filthy McNasty" came on the radio. Silver described his song as being about a young man "of dubious character." When Clayton-Thomas heard this, he came up with a similar name for the character in his song: Lucretia Mac Evil.

Comments: 1

  • Whiskeydog from ColoradoI saw them in concert and DCT said he wrote this song in the Holiday Inn in Lincoln, Nebraska.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Richie McDonald of Lonestar

Richie McDonald of LonestarSongwriter Interviews

Richie talks about the impact of "Amazed," and how his 4-year-old son inspired another Lonestar hit.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.