Customer Reviews

25 Years : 1968-1993

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Getting married? I Love You by CBB is the best reception song for the bride and grooms to dance to alone that i have ever heard.. this CD is the ONLY place anywhere - that you can get this song. believe me - I HAVE LOOKED.

There are many reasons, some of which may sound obvious but for some reason many label execs just don't get it, why this compilation is among the best that has been made to properly showcase the life's work of any band.

Like most if not all of the people who actually bought this set, I never really knew or even cared much about the Climax Blues Band until I had heard "I Love You." With my wedding coming soon at the time, I frantically sought out cds where I could find the song. Knowing that it was by CBB, I obviously started there but was continually frustrated until I found it here. I got the cds in the mail too late to use them for my wedding though.

However, I know now the reason why such a big hit of theirs would not be on any best of compilations of CBB on their own major labels and that the best hope of getting the song is from independent labels that license the rights and make their own compilations just as Repertoire Records has done here or as Rhino Records regularly does for other bands as well.

The song was pretty much a solo effort by one band member, Derek Holt, who not only wrote and arranged the song, he also sang it. Holt and the rest of the band had creative differences and soon left the band taking his prized possession with him. These things happen quite often in the music business and if ever you happen to be looking for a tune by any artist and have similar difficulties, especially if the artist has changed labels, personnel etc, a very similar case is most probably the reason.

Anyways, why is this package so great? First of all the sound quality is very, very good; the original masters must have been perfectly preserved because this sounds better than many allegedly digitally remastered cds that I have had the misfortune of buying of which the list is too long to put down here.

Secondly, the packaging is fantastic with two jewel cases packed and slides out easily from a cardboard holdall that itself is very colourfully and artfully designed. The 42 page booklet is brilliant as it has great photos of the band and most important of all, the great liner notes from no other than the frontman of the band himself, Colin Cooper!

Colin seems to imply the he also had a hand in selecting the tracks which is important if you want to know which tracks the band themselves thought that they did their best work on were and believe me that's rare as many times it's the record company execs who do this without involving anyone from the band. Colin is also brutally honest and very frank when he describes each track even admitting that they succombed to commercialism at times and that he even regretted bowing to the pressure of the execs to do so instead of staying true.

Although I bought this in the beginning just for "I Love You,", after seeing just how good a compilation this is and listening to the other tunes, I now like the whole package for the reasons mentioned above. You can also see as each track progresses, how the band improves as musicians as well as songwriters and the cds end very appropriately with a return to their roots, a live version of the great Sonny Boy Williamson track "Don't Start Me Talking."

Great sound, great packaging, great way to do a retrospective with the artists' massive involvement and that's how you make a brilliant anthology of any band. Personally, as I dislike plastic cases, the only thing that they could have done better was to completely cardboard the packaging but that would be nit picking.

Folks the band is more than just Derek Holt and "I Love You" and you may just be pleasantly surprised at the other tracks and grow to love CBB. I know I have.

This is a very thorough sampling of CBB's work. I highly recommend anyone who heard these guys over the last 30 years to purchase this compilation. It will take a while for it to be delivered, but you will not be disappointed. It contains many hard-to-find songs and all your old favorites. The booklet tells you all you need to know about this great, but highly underrated and sometimes forgotten about band. You can't go wrong with this package. So quit reading this review and throw it into your shopping cart! ENJOY!

You can't get enough of this band. They deserve to be in the rock and roll hall of fame in Cleveland ,Ohio!This album has to be the greatest.There's something for everyone here.I can't get over it.This is how music should still sound like.Thank you for this it makes my day!!!!!

Ok, I dont often write a review in fact I dont often write. You can tell from my spelling, so please enjoy..

I have been wanting to get the song I LOVE YOU for my collection for a long time but it never seemed to work out. To day I ordered it and hopefully it's on it's way!

I read one review here where the guy was crapin on people who buy CBB for this song, he needs to take a couple more neuroleptics...

I LOVE YOU is a beautiful song of all time. It brings the love of a woman out in a cold hearted Carpenter/Machinist like me.. )-: Come-On all you pretty ladies lets go!

I was born in 1960 and I was a Long-Haired, Beer-Drunker in the 70's I had girl fiends, I have a large collection of 60,70,80's rock and such and I am a HiFi auditory enthusiast. So I know whats good when it comes to good music and this song is one.

But I found even stronger a reason to buy this CD, while searching for the song I was entrested why this song was so hard to find when it's still very populer.. Well I found this tid-bit;
----------------------------------------------------
(Clipped from Music Facts),
Derek Holt (Bass player) wrote "I Love You"

I Love You by The Climax Blues Band
Album: Flying The Flag
Date: 1980
U.S. Chart: 12

Derek Holt
"That song was written in my house. After a couple of hours just
sitting in my studio I came up with this song I Love You - words,
solo, drums, the whole thing. And I thought, 'Well, it's a lovely
song.' We had a guy come over from L.A., an American producer
called John Ryan, who arrived in Stafford to do some pre-production
on an album that we were going to record in Los Angeles called
Flying The Flag. So he came to England and spent probably 2 weeks
with us going through all the tracks that we'd got. And he said,
'Does anybody have any more songs?' I'd already played my song to
the band and they didn't really like it; it was a little bit too
lovey, so I said to John Ryan, 'I've got this song called 'I Love
You.'' He said, 'Well, play it for me.' So I plugged in my
cassette, played it, then he said, 'That's a hit.' Just like that.
Everybody just sort of looked at each other and said, 'Oh, bloody
hell.' So anyway, we ended up going to Los Angeles, and that song
was recorded with just me and the drummer because the other two
guys weren't really into the song. So it's me, the drummer, and a
fantastic keyboard player named Nicky Hopkins. He's since died,
unfortunately. He was the sort of legendary keyboard player, he
played with The Stones and lots of people like that, and he was
great. So it was me, Nicky Hopkins and the drummer in the studio.
We all sat down together and played the basic backing track. I then
put the bass on it, sang it, did all the harmonies, then I got Pete
- the guitarist - to play the lead solo, which was the solo that I
wanted to be played. So he played the solo, because he was the
guitarist - reluctantly. Then John Ryan said, 'This song needs some
strings.' So he got a string section in at whatever cost it was,
which also pissed the other guys in the band off to think that the
strings were a big part of my song. Then Warner Brothers arrived to
hear all the tracks, and everybody was blown away by 'I Love You,'
this song that I believed in, the producer believed in, but none of
the other guys did, and it became a hit. And it's just unbelievable
that nobody else in the band recognized it other than the producer
and me. So the story's quite phenomenal, really. And it's also
probably one of the reasons why the band split up in the end,
because they weren't into playing it live, and I was. The song was
in the charts, we had the tour booked, and two guys in the band
said, 'We're not going to go to America to promote Derek Holt's
career.' How's that for faith?"

Holt: "The only time I've ever performed that song live in America,
I went to Florida last year (2005) to Clearwater with my family,
and I ended up in a karaoke bar. It's called Big Ben's, it's like
an English pub. My wife and I sat down, the reason we went to the
pub was because we dig liver and onions and a pint of real English
beer. So we went down there and sure enough there's karaoke on, and
the karaoke book gets put onto your table. We were sifting through
it, and I'm looking at Climax Blues Band. Couldn't Get It Right
wasn't even in the book, but Climax Blues Band I Love You was in
the book. So my wife called the guy over. She said, 'This song I
Love You,' this guy here was in The Climax Blues Band and he wrote
it and he sang it.' And the guy said, 'Never.' Anyway, I went up on
the stage, and of course as soon as I opened my mouth and started
singing it, it was obvious it was me. I was him. And the place went
wild. I never bought a drink again the whole night. That's the one
and only time. In fact, I've got a photograph of it with my little
girl. She came up with me and helped me sing it. She's only 10, but
we stood there and everybody got up and danced and as soon as it
finished everyone was like, 'Bloody hell, where's the limo?'"
(thanks to Derek Holt for speaking with us about this song)

The Climax Blues Band continued into the '90s without Holt, but
they never played this song live. Says Holt: "We toured for years
and years, and it just became a bloody nightmare, really. I guess
what I should have done, really, was say to the guys - in hindsight
now - say right, if you don't come to America with me, I'll get
somebody else. That's what I should have done instead of backing
off and bowing out. That's the way it goes, but even now looking
back 20-odd years, it's bloody sad. It's a very sad tale. You can't
even buy any Climax CDs now, you can hardly buy any product.
Neither Pete Haycock or Colin Cooper seemed to want to have
anything to do with me, but I just think it would be nice to have
it re-released and maybe have the albums back in the shops again."
This song is very hard to find, since it does not appear on
compilations, is not available for download and the original album
is out of print. Since the band refused to perform it and distanced
themselves from it, the song suffered from a lack of promotion that
kept it from becoming a much bigger hit and severely restricted its
availability. It is not included on other Climax Blues Band
greatest hits packages.

--------------------------------------------------------
So now I have another reason to buy this CD just to be another person who bought it just for the song the other goofs in the band didn't want me to buy it for!

How many times have good bands ruined there carrer over eggo situations like this. A little lesson in life...I will never learn.

If you like I will write a review for the CD when it comes? Maybe!
JCA

I had been looling for the Climax Blues Band on CD for a long time, having had them in every other format (including 8 track). Finding this compilation showed the evolution from their blues roots to the pop/rock format of the early '80s. I think they were terrfic in everything they did.

This is a pretty dandy overview set if you're new to Climax Blues Band, one of the finer bands of the '70s that vanished into the mist of time. For a grizzled old fan like me who already has everything from Rich Man to Lucky For Some on vinyl, this is a grand way to listen to the highpoints again without having to fish out the musty old 12-inchers and run my dirty fingernail through the grooves. Plus I was introduced to their much-better-than-expected work from their first four albums, which I never got around to checking out. Acoustic, electric, bluesy, jazzy, funky, or just rockin' out, there's no denying the chops and chemistry of the classic Colin Cooper-Pete Haycock-Derek Holt-John Cuffley lineup. Their two big radio hits are here -- a blessing and a curse. "Couldn't Get It Right" is a righteous tune, but in the pursuit of a comprehensive chronicle, you also get "I Love You", which requires insulin with repeated listenings. Right after it comes the execrably cheezy "Gotta Have More Love" of the wheezing synths and wince-inducing Oooh Baby lyrics from the unfortunate album (for die-hard fans) Flying The Flag that marked the band's fatal detour into the sinkhole of glossy pop. Far better to have included the wickedly cooking "Sense of Direction" or the dirty boogie "Shake Your Love" (the version on FM Live, please). Ah, well. It still says something fine about sax-harp-rhythm axe man Colin Cooper and his dusky voice (the one constant through 25 years) that even in the band's death throes after Flag, their last overproduced gasps had good hooks and tasty playing to redeem them. So go fetch your alligator purse, mama, and pony up. Climax Blues Band richly deserves to be remembered and heard, and these two discs be a good way to start if you don't mind a little cheese on the plate.

Here's a group that i really do like it has all of my hits on one cd like couldn't get it right, i love you and Gotta have more love so if you love the Climax Blues Band or not this the cd for you. Enjoy!

Rondall

Like others, wasn't too happy to have to purchase entire CD(s) to get "I Love You" but also like others have said, it is nice to hear more of this band's music. All the songs are pleasant.

This is a great album for those of us who grew up in the 70's - takes you back to a much simpler time.