Climax Blues Band

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The Climax Chicago Blues Band based in Stafford, England was formed in late 1968. The original members were guitarists Derek Holt and Peter Haycock, keyboardist Arthur Wood, bassist Richard Jones, drummer George Newsome and vocalist/saxophonist Colin Cooper.

In 1970, the band shortened its name to the Climax Blues Band. The band has released eighteen albums and has had Top 40 hits in 1976 in the UK with "Couldn't Get It Right"; and in 1981 in the United States with "I Love You". The two songs were also big American hits; "Couldn't Get It Right" reached #3 on the Hot 100 in 1977, and "I Love You" reached #12 in 1981.

1 Band members
2 Trivia
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links

Band members

Vocals
- Colin Cooper (born Colin Francis Richard Cooper, 7 October 1939, Stafford, Staffordshire, UK - died 3 July 2008) - vocalist / saxophonist - also played reeds, harp, flute and guitars.^[1]
- Johnny Pugh, Southend-on-Sea, vocalist / saxophonist / harmonica, 2008
Guitar
- Lester Hunt - (born 21 February 1956, Stretford, Manchester) - also plays bass guitar, keyboards and vocals.
- Derek Holt - (born 26 January 1949, Stafford) - also backing vocals.
- Pete Haycock (born Peter John Haycock, 4 April 1951, Stafford) - guitarist 1968-1984.
Bass Guitar
- Neil Simpson (born 6 January 1959, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) - also plays seven-string bass-guitar and midi bass-synthesizer.
- John 'Rhino' Edwards (born John Victor Edwards, 9 May 1953, Chiswick, West London). Left to join Dexy's Midnight Runners and later Status Quo.
- Derek Holt - moved from rhythm guitar to bass guitar. Wrote and sang the hit "I Love You", but left in 1982 to form the band Grand Alliance.
- Richard Jones - original bass guitarist on the first album. Left for Cambridge University in 1971. Returned from 1975-1977 to keyboards.
Keyboards
- George Glover - (born 28 October 1947, Stoke-on-Trent). Also back-up vocalist.
- Nicky Hopkins - studio keyboardist replaced Filleul and was in Climax for two albums.
- Peter Filleul - live performance keyboardist until 1980.
- Anton Farmer - Second keyboardist, Farmer (nick name 'Humpty') replaced Arthur Wood in 1969 when the band turned professional, and remained with them until 1970, playing on the A Lot Of Bottle album and the single "Reap What I've Sowed", and shared recording work with Wood.
- Arthur Wood (born 3 August 1929, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent) - original keyboardist late 1968-1973, although he stopped live performances in 1971.
Drums
- Roy Adams (born 17 May 1952, Birmingham) - also does backing vocals.
- Neil McCallum - fills in when needed.
- Jeff Rich (born 8 June 1953, Hackney, London) - left to join Status Quo after two years.
- John Cuffley - replaced Newsome and was with Climax from 1973-1983.
- George Newsome (born George Ewart Newsome, 19 August 1947, Stafford) - original drummer for the first four albums. Left Climax in 1973.

Trivia

Both former band members, 'Rhino' Edwards and Jeff Rich, were recruited to join Status Quo in 1986.
Peter Haycock was a member of Electric Light Orchestra Part II when they recorded and toured their first album in 1990.
Although Holt's penned "I Love You" was one of their biggest hits (peaking at #12 in the Billboard Hot 100, and staying in the charts for just over six months), the rest of the band hated the song, and refused to play it on tour, or to include it in compilations.^{[citation needed]} The song can be found on the Climax Blues band 2-CD set titled "25 Years 1968-1993".
"Couldn't Get It Right" was later covered by the Fun Lovin' Criminals on their album Mimosa.
Even though Derek Holt was primarily noted for his guitar & bass guitar work, he was featuring sitting at the electronic keyboard while performing (lyp-syncing) "I Love You" on the music video; probably because the director felt it created a more 'visual' pleasing effect on camera, to have the lead singer play the keyboard while singing, to such a meloncholy/ballad-type composition.

Discography

The Climax Chicago Blues Band (1969)
Plays On (1969) US #197 Billboard 200 (1 week)
A Lot Of Bottle (1970)
Tightly Knit (1971)
Rich Man (1972) US #150 Billboard 200 (10 weeks)
FM Live (1974) US #107 Billboard 200 (30 weeks)
Sense Of Direction (1974) US #37 Billboard 200 (29 weeks)
Stamp Album (1975) US #69 Billboard 200 (11 weeks)
- "Using The Power" (1975) US #110 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (1 week)
Gold Plated (1976) US #27 Billboard 200 (44 weeks), UK #56 UK Albums Chart (1 week)
- "Couldn't Get It Right" (1976) US #3 Billboard Hot 100 (22 weeks), UK #10 UK Singles Chart (9 weeks)
Shine On (1978) US #71 Billboard 200 (11 weeks)
- "Makin' Love" (1978) US #91 Billboard Hot 100 (4 weeks)
Real To Reel (1979) US #170 Billboard 200 (6 weeks)
Flying The Flag (1980) US #75 Billboard 200 (16 weeks)
- "Gotta Have More Love" (1980) US #47 Billboard Hot 100 (12 weeks)
- "I Love You" (1980) US #12 Billboard Hot 100 (27 weeks)
Lucky For Some (1981)
Sample And Hold (1983)
Drastic Steps (1988)
Blues From The Attic (1993)