Climax Blues Band “I Love You” charted

 

I Love You Climax Blues Band

Writer(s): Derek Holt (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 14, 1981 Peak: 12 US, 9 CB, 10 HR, 7 RR, 20 AC, 21 CL, 14 CN, 59 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 14.47 video, 12.06 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Climax Blues Band formed in 1967 in Stafford, England. They found their first chart success in 1976 with “Couldn’t Get It Right,” a top-10 hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their only other top-40 hit was “I Love You,” which didn’t chart in the UK but reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. On a personal note, the song was at #2 on my first personal chart. As a response to a local radio station’s countdown of the best songs of all time, I compiled my own list. I intended to make it a one-time list of favorites, but it turned into a weekly personal chart which I maintained for a little more than a decade. The song is “a pure love song about a woman who enters a man’s life and changes his world for the better. The message of love and friendship, along with the line, ‘You got what it takes so I made you my wife,’ made the song very popular at weddings.” SF The band’s guitarist, Derek Holt, wrote the song and said, “You could say it’s for one person, but it’s quite generic….Usually songs appear from nowhere, and that one appeared in a couple of hours.” SF He explained, “It was about meeting my first wife, meeting the lady that’s going to encourage me to do what I did best, and that was be a musician, with no qualms about it. I used to go away from home, used to leave her behind, and used to come back. I was a hippie, a drinking hippie with really long hair. We had a great time – I’m meeting my wife, since then I’ve never looked back. You know, pretty much out living a dream..” SF The band didn’t respond to the song initially, saying it “was a little bit too lovey.” SF However, while working with producer John Ryan for the eventual Flying the Flag album, he was going through the group’s tracks and asked if they had any more. Holt played “I Love You” and Ryan said, “That’s a hit.” SF Holt said, “Everybody just sort of looked at each other and said, “Oh, bloody hell.” SF The song was recorded with legendary keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, who worked with the Rolling Stones. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Climax Blues Band SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 9/7/2022.