The Climax Blues Band Plays On 1969 uk outstanding blues rock with experimental mood 2013 remaster and expanded

The Climax Blues Band Plays On 1969 uk outstanding blues rock with experimental mood 2013 remaster and expanded

Britains Climax Blues Band didnt waste any time following up their self-titled debut in 1969 (dropping the moniker The Climax Chicago Blues Band), as they once again entered EMIs Abbey Road studios and put together Plays On, a highly adventurous and varied affair that saw plenty of new elements starting to creep into their once straight Chicago styled blues sound. The band had then slimmed down to a five-piece, consisting of Colin Cooper (vocals, sax, harmonica, bamboo whistle), Peter Haycock (guitars, vocals), Arthur Wood (keyboards), Derek Holt (bass, Mellotron), and George Newsome (drums). It was at this juncture that the band started to experiment with rock and jazz, and mixed with their already formidable blues chops the results on Plays On are quite spectacular. Esoteric Recordings continues on with the CBB reissues, giving this one stellar, crystal clear sound and another info packed booklet.

The album opens up with the lengthy jazz-fusion instrumental "Flight", a scorching piece highlighted by tasty interplay between all the players, especially Coopers collection of reeds and Haycocks guitar. It must have been quite puzzling for fans of their blues soaked debut to pop on Plays On and hear this blast of awesome jazz to kick off the record. "Hey Baby, Everythings Gonna Be Alright, Yeh Yeh Yeh" sees the band returning to gritty blues, complete with scalding guitar solos from Haycock, but they go right back to jazz with a Latin flavor on the engaging "Cubano Chant", featuring some tight grooves, nimble piano, and some wild bamboo whistle lines from Cooper (who needs a flute, right?). On "Little Girl" the band add in some meaty rock riffs & organ to their blues base, another killer instrumental that also sees Cooper deliver some great sax melodies. 

Wood tosses in the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey" using organ, Moog, & Mellotron on the spooky, psychedelic piece ""Mums the Word", a track for all the prog lovers to seek out, before the slide guitars from Haycock lead in the raunchy ragtime blues of "Twenty Past Two/Temptation Rag". Emotional, slow blues with yearning vocals can be heard on "So Many Roads", while the upbeat organ/guitar vehicle "City Ways" has plenty of swing and groove to it. The final tune on the album, "Crazy Bout My Baby" reminds of the material from the debut, and has a certain Peter Green era-Fleetwood Mac feel to it.

Once again, Esoteric has unearthed some scorching bonus tracks here on this reissue; "Like Uncle Charlie" is a bluesy hard rocker complete with red-hot guitar licks from Haycock and an almost proggy middle section filled with sumptuous organ and layers of psychedelic vocals, and "Loving Machine" also sees the band rocking harder, driven by Haycocks stinging lead guitar."Dance of the Mountain Kings Daughter" is another stab at jazz for the band, and has an almost Frank Zappa feel to it, but its a shame the song isnt longer. Theres also another mix of the Allman Brothers Band influenced "Flight" for good measure.

Though the band would go on to even greater heights with albums like Gold Plated, Flying the Flag, Sense of DIrection and others, Plays On is Climax Blues Band at their risk taking best, as they basically said to hell with anything remotely commercial and just went for it here. As such its their most complex offering from a musical perspective, easily appealing to jazz-fusion, rock, prog rock, and blues fans alike. Incredible stuff! 

by Pete Pardo

Tracks
1. Flight - 7:52
2. Hey Baby, Everythings Gonna Be Alright, Yeh Yeh Yeh - 4:24
3. Cubano Chant (Ray Bryant) - 5:35
4. Little Girl (Graham Bond) - 3:00
5. Mums The Word - 3:45
6. Twenty Past Two, Temptation Rag (Cooper, Haycock, Holt, Wood, Newsome, Henry Lodge) - 3:20
7. So Many Roads (Marshall Paul) - 6:34
8. City Ways - 3:21
9. Crazy Bout My Baby (Haycock, Cooper, Holt, Newsome, Wood, Richard Jones) - 6:13
10.Like Uncle Charlie - 4:14
11.Loving Machine - 2:26
12.Dance Of The Mountain Kings Daughter - 2:35
13.Flight (First Mix) - 7:28
All songs by Peter Haycock, Colin Cooper, Derek Holt, George Newsome, Arthur Wood except where stated.

The Climax Blues Band
*Colin Cooper - Vocals, Saxes, Harmonica And Bamboo Whistle
*Peter Haycock - Vocals, Guitars
*Arthur Wood - Keyboards
*Derek Holt - Bass Guitar, Mellotron
*Richard Jones - Bass Guitar
*George Newsome - Drums

The Climax Long Hard Road
1969  The Climax Chicago Blues Band (2013 remaster and expanded)
1970  A Lot Of Bottle (2013 remaster and expanded)
1971  Tightly Knit (2013 remastered with bonus tracks)
1972  Climax Chicago - Rich Man (2013 bonus track remaster) 
1973  Climax Blues Band - FM Live (2013 remaster)
1973-79  Climax Blues Band - Live Rare And Raw (2014 Release)
1974  Climax Blues Band - Sense Of Direction (2013 remaster and expanded)
1976 Gold Plated (2013 bonus tracks remaster) 

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