Climax Chicago Blues Band

Gospel Truth, Hipster Image, The Velvet Chords were all band names emblazoned across posters in the mid 60s.
Hipster Image were impressing a lot of people in the Stafford, England area in the early 60s under the leadership of Colin Cooper on guitar, sax and vocals.

Decca were impressed by Hipster Image and a single was released, produced by Alan Price. It did very poorly, and in fact marked the end of the road. Returning to Stafford, Colin formed Gospel Truth with a very young Peter Haycock, still at school but already proving to be a sensational guitarist, and John Cuffley on drums who had already featured on a hit 45 with Emile Ford’s Checkmates. Gospel Truth picked up where Hipster Image left off, and in the late 60s, Cooper and Haycock pointed the band in that direction and the Climax Chicago Blues Band was formed with guitarists Peter Haycock and Derek Holt; keyboardist Arthur Wood; bassist Richard Jones; drummer George Newsome; and vocalist and harmonica player, Colin Cooper.

Prior to the release of 1969's Plays On, Jones left the group, prompting Holt to move to bass. In 1970 they moved to the Harvest label, at the same time shifting towards a more rock oriented sound on A Lot of Bottle. Around the release of 1971's Tightly Knit, Newsome was replaced by John Cuffley; upon Wood's exit in the wake of 1972's Rich Man, they continued on as a quartet, also dropping the "Chicago" portion of their name to avoid confusion with the American band of a similar name.

In 1974 the Climax Blues Band issued FM Live, a document of a New York radio concert. 1975's Stamp was their commercial breakthrough, and 1976's Gold Plated fared even better, spurred on by the success of the hit "Couldn't Get It Right". By the mid 1970s they were drawing crowds of up to 20,000 at U.S. concerts. However, the rise of punk rock effectively stopped the group in their tracks. By 1981 the band had left their blues roots behind and attempted to become a mainstream pop-rock band.

The 1981 album ‘Lucky For Some’ was the last to feature the Cooper / Haycock / Holt / Cuffley line up which had been together nine years. Following the success of Derek’s song from the previous album, this one featured three of his tracks, ‘Darlin’ being released as a single. The albums two stand out tracks were ‘Cuttin’ Up Rough’, a strident story song with a great feel, and ‘Last Chance Saloon’, a magnificent song in a gospel vein with an organ backing that makes it almost hymnal, superb guitar and sax solos make this a landmark song in the band’s history. Derek Holt was soon to leave the band and then John Cuffley also moved on.

In 1984 the album ‘Sample And Hold’ was released on Virgin, the nucleus of the band being Colin Cooper, Pete Haycock and George Glover with session players on drums and bass. Two singles were released from this album, ‘Listen To The Night’ and ‘Friends In High Places’. Other highlights were Haycock’s rock blast of ‘Heaven And Hell’, and Cooper’s smooth sophisticated ‘The Movie Queen’. On tour the rhythm section comprised of Jeff Rich and John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, who eventually went on to feature in Status Quo for many years. This line up toured the world in 1984 and the overall feel of the band at this time was more powerhouse blues rock which was a popular progression to audiences but maybe not quite the ideal move for the hardcore Climax fans. Ian Gillan of Deep Purple travelled the world with the band while taking time off to ‘rest his voice’, appearing for the encores each night.

After parting company with the Climax Blues Band in 1984, Haycock recorded the instrumental Guitar & Son album for ex-Climax Blues manager Miles Copeland's record label, No Speak. He was later recruited as a member of Electric Light Orchestra Part II when they recorded and toured from 1990 onwards. He also started his film score career at this time by playing the lead on Hans Zimmer's score to Thelma and Louise, as well as performing on the Night Of The Guitars tours which also featured Derek Holt on bass, keys and occasional vocals. After several years of additional film score contributions, Haycock released a soundtrack CD to the Hollister Rally DVD in 2005. The CD entitled Bikers' Dozen featured John Fiddler (of Medicine Head fame). Following that, Haydock's new band, 'Pete Haycock's True Blues (featuring Glen Turner)' enjoyed touring and recording success with their latest live album, released in 2008.

After a short period of inactivity, Climax Blues Band minus Haycock but featuring guitarist Lester

Hunt recorded the album Drastic Steps and went back to touring extensively around UK, Europe and America. Derek Holt and John Cuffley eventually left this line up which soon became established with Colin Cooper, George Glover, Lester Hunt, Neil Simpson and Roy Adams in the early 1990s, releasing the live album Blues from the Attic in 1993 and Big Blues in 2004.

Cooper died of cancer, aged 69, in July 2008.[5] He is survived by his wife and two children.[10] However, the band continue to the present day.
Current Lineup
Jonny Pugh, Saxophone, harmonica and vocals - Johnny Pugh is regarded as one of the UK’s finest Blues vocalists, saxophonists & harmonica players. Born in 1952, Johnny started his musical career in Southend, Essex, England (home of UK’s R’n’B). He was a member of the Mickey Jupp band and played with numerous local bands before leaving Southend in the mid 70’s to further his musical career. Over the years, Johnny has travelled the globe playing with world famous artists such as Martha Reaves, Mary Wells, Mary Wilson, Ben-E-King, Rose Royce, Shalamar, George McCrea, and Edwin Star, as well as being a member of the The Real Thing for 9 years.

Lester Hunt, Guitar, bass-guitar, keyboards and vocals. "The Legendary Lester" started playing guitar at the age of eight. He played his first gig at the ripe old age of twelve and turned professional three years later. He spent the next few years touring the UK supporting bands like Taste, Argent and The Average White Band.
He joined Climax Blues Band in 1985, after playing on and co-producing "Drastic Steps". For 23 years, Lester enjoyed a close friendship with Colin and the band playing many memorable concerts all around the world. Although Colin will be greatly missed, “we are committed to maintaining the longstanding quality and musical integrity of Climax Blues Band”.

George Glover, Keyboards and backing vocals. In 1960, George started his musical career as a guitarist, but switched to keyboards around 1965. Two years later he turned professional and lived in Hamburg during the late 60's and early 70's, playing in the Starclub and the Top Ten Club among many others.
George joined Climax Blues Band in 1980 and toured promoting the “Flying The Flag” and “Lucky For Some” albums. He then became part of the nucleus of the band with Colin Cooper and Pete Haycock for the “Sample and Hold” album in 1983, with the touring Climax being completed by John ‘Rhino’ Edwards and Jeff Rich as rhythm section. After a short break, Colin Cooper and George re-invented Climax Blues Band with Lester Hunt on guitar.

Neil Simpson, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12 string: Piccolo, Electric Upright, Acoustic fretted and fretless basses. First played with Climax Blues Band in September 1991.
Following the band's German Tour with John Mayall in 1999, Neil became a Bluesbreaker the following year, performing John's British tour with Peter Green. He has also been a member of Roy Wood's Rock and Roll Band since 1999.

Roy Adams, Drums and backing vocals. Roy began playing drums at the age of sixteen, and rapidly became one of the Midlands most in-demand drummers, playing and recording with the likes of Steve Gibbons, Roy Wood and Ruby Turner. He joined Climax Blues Band in 1985.