Lockdown Licks no. 249. “Couldn’t Get It Right” by Climax Blues Band. Signature rhythm riffs and melody opening notes. Played on a butterscotch Telecaster into a NUX M8 amp set to ‘clean’. Sometimes ‘less is more’ on guitar. It’s not all about fancy lead play. I did set the guitar volume down to 8 ish, treble on amp down to half, with tone on guitar back to about 3.. No reverb.
I bought the Gold Plated album for Β£1 on vinyl from a ‘bargain bin’ in Andy’s Records in Bedford UK in 1983, I still play it to this day on my 80s pioneer turntable/JVC stereo amp and Akai speakers. It still ‘kicks butt’ hearing the vinyl! I thought on first hearing they must be an American band from the laid back rock style and vocals. To my amazement I later found out they are ‘brummies’, from Birmingham, England!
A question for you American rockers? Was this song a hit in the US?
Couldn’t Get It Right” is a 1976 song by the Climax Blues Band. The song was written after the band’s label told them that their 1976 album Gold Plated lacked a standout track and asked them to “try and write a hit”.They then wrote it, in the words of its bassist Derek Holt, “from absolutely nowhere”, and it hit #10 on the UK Singles Chart.