Climax Blues Band - The Harvest Years 69-72 (1991)

Prior to their brief days as an American FM corpo-rock darling, the then Climax (Chicago) Blues Band were much like their U.K. predecessors Graham Bond, Rory Gallagher, Savoy Brown, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, the Groundhogs, and Eric Clapton. They played and wrote original blues and blues-rock tunes based on their love of the electric Chicago sound of their heroes. These tracks from their days on the Harvest label remain pleasant reminders of how very good they were. Not that this is essential or unavailable elsewhere -- in fact, this is a quite recycled compilation, reissued in other forms and with similar cover graphics. It is a compact overview of how focused and tight they were, with the slide guitar an integral part of their sound during tracks like "Shake Your Love," "Please Don't Help Me," "You Make Me Sick," and covers of "Take Out Some Insurance," "Wee Baby Blues," and "Cut You Loose." This music was a perfect prelude to their radio hits. ~ Michael G. Nastos