In 1970 EMI switched the band to its new, “progressive” Harvest label, and with the popularity of the blues boom receding, Cooper and the band began to emphasise the more rock-based elements of their style on such albums as Tightly Knit (1971) and Rich Man (1972).
They also began to focus on the lucrative US market, touring in support of acts such as Canned Heat and the Steve Miller Band. After defecting from EMI to Polydor, the band had its breakthrough in 1973 via FM/Live, recorded at a New York show that was also broadcast live on radio. The recording lucidly captured their powerful stage show and was their biggest-selling album to date, catapulting them from support act to headliners. Slimmed down to a four-piece, the name was also shortened to the Climax Blues Band.
Their great success came in 1976 when Cooper’s Couldn’t Get It Right made No 3 in the US chart and the UK Top 10. The song was later covered by the Fun Lovin’ Criminals.
Moving to Warner’s, the group continued to record prolifically as an album-orientated act. They reached the US Top 20 for a second time in 1981 with I Love You, written by Holt, who left the following year to form Grand Alliance. By the end of the 1980s their popularity on the US live circuit was waning, and they began to spend more time playing on the European blues scene. The 1994 live album Blues from the Attic was evidence that they remained a potent force.
Colin Cooper: British musician who formed the Climax Blues Band
Colin Cooper was an enduring figure on the blues scene for 40 years as the leader of the Climax Blues Band. A powerful vocalist and talented multi-instrumentalist, he formed the group in 1968 at the height of the British “blues boom” which also produced bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Chicken Shack.
The group went on to enjoy Top 20 hits with Cooper’s composition Couldn’t Get It Right in 1976 and I Love You five years later, both of which were bigger hits in the US than in Britain. Although the band’s line-up altered radically over the years, Cooper remained a constant presence, and the group was still active when he died.
Colin Francis Richard Cooper was born in Stafford in 1939. He began his professional career when he formed the R&B combo Hipster Image in 1964, taking the lead vocals and playing guitar and saxophone. After building a strong local following, the group transferred to London in 1965 taking over the Spencer Davis Group’s residency at the Flamingo club, Soho, a fabled home of British R&B where Zoot Money, Georgie Fame and Graham Bond cut their teeth. They secured a recording deal with Decca in 1966 but their only single, Can’t Let Her Go, failed to chart, despite being produced by Alan Price of the Animals. When the group broke up, Cooper returned to the Potteries where he formed the Gospel Truth. However, inspired by the emergence of a second wave of British blues bands such as Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac, Cooper and the guitarist Peter Haycock soon recast the band as the Climax Chicago Blues Band, recruiting the bass player Richard Jones, the drummer George Newsome, Arthur Wood on keyboards and second guitarist Derek Holt. The group signed to EMI in 1969 and its first two albums, on EMI’s Parlophone subsidiary, were impressive exercises in the hardcore 12-bar blues style forged by the great Chicago bands who backed Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, although Cooper’s use of wind instruments occasionally led them into jazzier territory.
Despite suffering from cancer, Cooper continued to play with the band until weeks before his death. When not playing music, he attempted — and usually completed — The Times crossword every day.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
Colin Cooper, musician, was born on October 7, 1939. He died of cancer on July 3, 2008, aged 68.
They are also called or known as The Climax Blues Band.
Summer Rain
Climax Blues Band Lyrics
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I can't tell you just what went wrong.
I woke up on that rainy mornin'.
And like the sunshine she was gone.
She was golden like the sunshine.
She was soothin' like the summer rain.
I been searchin' this whole world over.
She was golden just like the sunshine.
She was cool like summer rain.
I've got to find that girl and bring her back again.
So if you see her won't you tell her I'm comin'.
I got to find her tell her I'll be there.
Because my feet just won't keep from walkin'.
Till I find her and bring her back again.
She was golden just like the sunshine.
She was cool like summer rain.
I've got to find that girl and bring her back again.
So if you see her won't you tell her I'm comin'.
I got to find her tell her I'll be there.
Because my feet just won't keep from walkin'.
Till I find her and bring her back again.
She was golden just like the sunshine.
She was cool like summer rain.
I've got to find that girl and bring her back again.
The lyrics to Climax Blues Band's song Summer Rain tells a story of a man who had a great love but somehow lost her. He wakes up to a rainy morning and realizes that she's no longer with him. The song describes how the woman was like sunshine and soothing like summer rain, and the singer is searching for her all over the world. He is determined to find her and bring her back to him. The chorus repeats the same lines to emphasize his longing for her and his efforts to find her. He's asking anyone who sees her to tell her that he's coming for her.
The song portrays a strong sense of admiration and love for the woman who left, as well as the pain and emptiness that the singer feels without her. The comparison of the woman to sunshine and summer rain shows how important she was to him- bringing warmth, light, and comfort to his life.
In general, the song is about searching for love, recognizing its value, and fighting to keep it. It also depicts the real struggles of letting someone go and the determination to get them back.
Line by Line Meaning
I had good love but no longer.
I was once in a loving relationship, but it has ended.
I can't tell you just what went wrong.
I am unsure of the exact reason our relationship ended.
I woke up on that rainy mornin'.
The day my relationship ended, it was a rainy morning.
And like the sunshine she was gone.
My partner left me suddenly and it was as if all the light in my life was gone.
She was golden like the sunshine.
My partner was bright and beautiful like the sunshine.
She was soothin' like the summer rain.
My partner had a calming effect on me, like the gentle summer rain.
I been searchin' this whole world over.
I have been looking for my ex-partner everywhere, but cannot find her.
I got to find her and bring her back again.
I am determined to locate my ex-partner and reconcile with her.
So if you see her won't you tell her I'm comin'.
If anyone sees my ex-partner, please let her know I am coming for her.
Because my feet just won't keep from walkin'.
I cannot stop searching for my ex-partner and am compelled to keep moving.
Till I find her and bring her back again.
My ultimate goal is to locate my ex-partner and rekindle our relationship.
Writer(s): Holt Derek John, Haycock Peter John, Cooper Colin F R, Cuffley John William
Contributed by Isaiah T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.