Proving that even British bands could get in on the yacht rock act, the Climax Blues Band knocked off a pair of songs that fit well into the canon. There was the sleekly funky “Couldn’t Get It Right” in 1977. Four years later, they delivered the earnest “I Love You.”
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The latter song gave the band a major hit, but it also emphasized fissures among the members. In fact, the lead singer/writer of “I Love You” would be out of the group in a few years after the song’s release, in large part because of the rest of the group’s lack of enthusiasm for this big hit.
“Love” Story
In the beginning, Climax Blues Band, which formed in the British town of Stafford, very much lived up to their name, playing a very blues-heavy version of rock and roll on their first few albums. They would change with the times, getting into progressive rock as the years passed.
“Couldn’t Get It Right,” their out-of-nowhere smash from ’77, came about after they were pressured by management to deliver a song with better commercial prospects than their previous work. That song increased the profile of the band, but they went the rest of the decade without another song that matched its impact.
Each member of the band, which was a quintet at that point, separately prepped material for their 1980 album Flying the Flag. Derek Holt took advantage of a humble home-recording setup to put together a love song that was inspired by his feelings for his wife. He worked mostly on an electric piano, but he had also worked out the guitar solo for “I Love You” on his original demo of the track.
Once the band got together to compare the tracks it had composed for the album, Holt was surprised to find the other members of the band weren’t too keen on “I Love You.” The band’s producer, John Ryan, thought just the opposite, claiming that it had hit potential, even after only hearing the demo.
While recording the track in Los Angeles, the band received a boost when legendary session player Nicky Hopkins came aboard to play the piano part alongside Holt’s Fender Rhodes. Pete Haycock reproduced the weeping guitar solo Holt had concocted on the demo. A hit ballad was born.
But the bulk of the Climax Blues Band still disliked the track, and they wouldn’t tour behind the album in the United States because they felt they had become mere backing players for Holt. That dissension in the ranks helped to stymie the commercial momentum of the group, but it didn’t stop “I Love You” from making audience members swoon.
What is “I Love You” About?
If you’re going to have the guts to title a song “I Love You,” you better be able to deliver the goods in the romance department. Holt managed that, both via the dreamy melody and heartfelt honesty of the lyrics. He spins a tale of how drastically his life changed after meeting his companion, remembering when he was, Fooling around / Hitting the town / Growing my hair.
This woman finds him at a low place and helps him find a way out of it with sage advice: You’re much too young / Your life ain’t begun / Let’s walk for a while. Holt captures that brilliant, Eureka moment when he falls for her: And as my head was spinning ’round / I gazed into your eyes.
Holt keeps building his testimonial, until he reaches the ultimate statement: If ever a man had it all / It would have to be me / And, ooh, I love you. Maybe “I Love You” tore the Climax Blues Band apart at the time. But many bands would trade a little turmoil for the legacy as a slow-dance classic that this song has achieved.
Photo by Impress Own/United Archives via Getty Images
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