Weekly finale: Climax Blues Band

With a long weekend ahead, due to Presidents Day on Monday, i am closing up blogging shop early today. That means an early weekly musical finale!

This week's finale features a 1970's band which should be featured in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie (due to their frequent use of 1970's ear candy). The band in question is a two-hit wonder known as the Climax Blues Band, and the song is their biggest hit, Couldn't Get It Right:



Ironically, this song almost didn't get made. From Wikipedia:

The song was specifically written and produced after the manager of the band, Miles Copeland III, demanded that the band append a radio-friendly song to the track listing. The band at the time had released eight albums and although that had translated into fame, they did not have a great impact on the charts. Copeland suggested a cover version of an Elvis Presley song; this suggestion was ignored, and instead the band came up with an original composition "from absolutely nowhere". It was simply a case of sitting in the studio, conjuring up a rhythm, appending the traditional dual vocals for which Climax Blues Band were known for, and coming up with a couple of hooks. The sudden emergence of the song irritated the producer, as he thought the band had been withholding a hit from him.

In an interview with Songfacts, [bassist] Derek Holt explained that the song was "just a lucky moment in time", and that it is about being on the road in America. The chorus "kept on looking for a sign in the middle of the night" referred to searches for Holiday Inn signs, the sight of which meant that beds had been found for the night. When the band's career first started in America, they used to fly everywhere, in some cases involving up to three flights just to get to one place. Their itineraries meant that getting to any one place was difficult and involved arriving in a town, getting into a car, getting to the gig just in time to perform the sound check, performing the gig, re-entering the car and then looking for a bed. The final few years of the band's life were easier as they switched to using tour buses. This enabled them to leave the gig, enter the bus, get a bed, drive extended distances (in Holt's words, "1,000 miles or whatever") and turn up at the next gig refreshed. The saxophonist Colin Cooper sang the baritone lead on this song, with the bassist Derek Holt, guitarist Pete Haycock and drummer John Cuffley singing harmony.

Sadly, no cover has ever matched the original's musical perfection. From Colin Cooper's perfect baritone (don't attempt this song if you cannot do a baritone, because you will instantly sound second-rate) on down to John Cuffley's perfect percussion, this song is perfect in itself. However, I would be curious to hear a woman singer cover it. Paging Annie Lennox!

That is all for me. I will return on Tuesday, so I hope you get it right this long weekend.