CLIMAX BLUES BAND – RICH MAN – 1972 (UK) heavy blues

The nucleus of the Climax Blues Band was formed in Stafford in 1968, approaching the end of the British Blues Boom which brought us the likes of Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac. Band members Colin Cooper (vocals, sax, piano, harmonica & guitar), Peter Haycock (vocals, guitar, slide guitar), Derek Holt (bass, met.), Richard Jones (bass, keyboards, vocals), George Newsome (drums) and Arthur Wood (keyboards, harmonica), with their electric blues-rock snapped up a deal surprisingly fast to release two albums, one closely following the other, labelled by Rolling Stone Magazine as "Basic-sounding jazz-rock-blues". They kept tightly to this style during the course of over dozen LP productions, as in classic blues numbers ('How Many More Years'), varying rarely but proficiently through Caribbean sea-shanties ('Cubano Chant'), dry up-beat rock songs ('Hey Baby', 'Everything Gonna Be Alright') and moody Jazz statements ('Flight'). On entering the British tour circuit, the perfectly harmonious sextet found the clubs, festivals and universities full of loyal enthusiastic fans, despite low record sales.
Richard Jones temporarily left the band to further his studies; the brilliantly guitar/sax-duel accented LP 'Plays On' having been recorded without him. George Glover (keyboards, vocals) joined the band on the LP, 'A Lot Of Bottle', and that, along with 'Tightly Knit' and 'Rich Man', demonstrated the strong urban blues influences, clearly traditional blues methods having been estranged by then, with a rhythmic rock lining, individualised with soul & funk elements, performed with an electric edge. The Climax Chicago Blues Band entered their main field of play in 1972, performing in the U.S. for the first time. The convincing live takes on the LP, 'FM/Live', took place in New York. This double album displays the strength of this by now confident stage-worth and their fresh energy mixed with their technical know-how and at times witty, playful deliverance received huge acclaim from audiences and critics alike. George Glover left the band, along with Newsome and Wood, leaving the Cooper/Haycock/Holt trio to engage John Cuffely as drummer and doing so simply fled their name to the present Climax Blues Band.

Pete Haycock (guitar, vocals)
Arthur Woods (keyboards)
Colin Cooper (vocals, saxophone, harmonica, rhythm guitar)
Derek Holt (vocals, bass)
George Newsome (drums)
1 Rich Man 5:50
2 Mole on the Dole 5:08
3 You Make Me Sick 3:52
4 Standing by a River 5:29
5 Shake Your Love 5:27
6 All the Time in the World 6:04
7 If You Wanna Know 5:29
8 Don't You Mind People Grinning in Your Face 2:27
Bonus Track
9 Like Uncle Charlie 4:14

Rip from CD 256@ (artwork included)
Download link
http://lix.in/bc6a20