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

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

70s Music Quiz 1

70s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

The '70s gave us Muppets, disco and Van Halen, all which show up in this groovy quiz.

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A Timeline

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A TimelineSong Writing

Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!