Climax Blues Band - Biography

Biography

Led by Cooper, the former frontman of the R&B group the Hipster Image, the Climax Chicago Blues Band was one of the leading lights of the late 1960s UK blues boom. Prior to the release of 1969's Plays On, Jones left the group, prompting Holt to move to bass. In 1970 they moved to the Harvest label, at the same time shifting towards a more rock oriented sound on A Lot of Bottle. Around the release of 1971's Tightly Knit, Newsome was replaced by John Cuffley; upon Wood's exit in the wake of 1972's Rich Man, they continued on as a quartet, also dropping the "Chicago" portion of their name to avoid confusion with the American band of a similar name.

In 1974 the Climax Blues Band issued FM Live, a document of a New York radio concert. 1975's Stamp Album was their commercial breakthrough, and 1976's Gold Plated fared even better, spurred on by the success of the hit "Couldn't Get It Right". By the mid 1970s they were drawing crowds of up to 20,000 at U.S. concerts. However, the rise of punk rock effectively stopped the group in their tracks. By 1981 the band had left their blues roots behind and attempted to become a mainstream pop-rock band. Derek Holt and John Cuffley left in 1983.

Haycock recorded the instrumental Guitar & Son album for ex-Climax Blues manager Miles Copeland III's record label, No Speak, after parting company with the Climax Blues Band in 1985. He was later recruited by Bev Bevan as a member of Electric Light Orchestra Part II when they recorded and toured from 1990 onwards. He also started his film score career at this time by playing the lead on Hans Zimmer's score to Thelma and Louise, as well as performing on the Night Of The Guitars tours which also featured Derek Holt on bass, keys and occasional vocals. After several years of additional film score contributions, Haycock released a soundtrack CD to the Hollister Rally DVD in 2005. The CD entitled Bikers' Dozen featured John Fiddler (of Medicine Head fame). Following that, Haycock's new band, 'Pete Haycock's True Blues (featuring Glen Turner)' enjoyed touring and recording success with a live album, released in 2008.

Holt's penned "I Love You" was one of the Climax Blues Band's biggest hits. It can be found on the Climax Blues Band double album, 25 Years 1968-1993 which was released by the German record label Repertoire in 1993. "I Love You" still gets over 20,000 radio hits a year in the U.S. and has recently been included in Finn Taylor's 2002 film Cherish and in Kevin Smith's 2008 film Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Holt released five solo albums - I Love You, After the Climax, Sunflowers, Hear and Now, Paradise Lost and Full Circle.

"Couldn't Get It Right" was covered by the Fun Lovin' Criminals on their album Mimosa. Holt revealed in an interview that the song was "about being on the road in America".

After a short period of inactivity, Climax Blues Band minus Haycock but featuring guitarist Lester Hunt recorded the album Drastic Steps and went back to touring extensively around UK, Europe and America. The new lineup soon became established with Colin Cooper, George Glover, Lester Hunt, Neil Simpson and Roy Adams in the early 1990s, releasing the live album Blues from the Attic in 1993 and Big Blues in 2004.

Cooper died of cancer, aged 69, in July 2008. He is survived by his wife and two children. However, the band continues to the present day. Colin Cooper was replaced by Johnny Pugh.