Couldn’t Get It Right – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

I remember this song from when I was growing up. The Climax Blues Band had been playing since the late 60s, more of a blues-rock outfit at first (the name sort of gives that away). But by 1976, when they cut Gold Plated, the band shifted gears. Paul Carrack-style keyboards, funky guitars, and a dance-floor beat crept in. The result was this song, and it was a perfect slice of transatlantic pop.

This wasn’t supposed to be the single. The label wanted a hit, the band knocked this one together, and boom: lightning in a bottle. Climax Blues Band never really matched the success of Couldn’t Get It Right again, but that hardly matters. One song like this that still plays on classic rock radio and quietly fills dance floors decades later.

They scored with this song in 1976, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #10 in the UK. Their other big hit was “I Love You,” released in 1979. A version of this band is still playing today.

From Songfacts.

This song is a great example of the dual vocal technique The Climax Blues Band was known for. Holt explains: “Colin Cooper used to sing the lead – the low vocal, and I used to sing an octave higher. And then, because 4 of us sang in the band, we used to harmonize. The fact that we had the dual singing the same line but with an octave split made the sound very unique, and it’s still very unique today. Whenever people use it I think it’s great. That was one of our trademarks, we just used to sing together in unison.”

Couldn’t Get It Right

Time was drifting
This rocker got to roll
So I hit the road and made my getaway
Restless feeling, really got a hold
I started searching for a better way

But I kept on looking for a sign
In the middle of the night
But I couldn’t see the light
No, I couldn’t see the light
I kept on looking for a way
To take me through the night
I couldn’t get it right
I couldn’t get it right

LA fever made me feel alright
But I must admit it got the best of me
Getting down, so deep I could have drowned
Now, I can’t get back the way I used to be

New York City took me with the tide
And I nearly died from hospitality
Left me stranded, took away my pride
Just another no account fatality

I kept on looking for a sign
In the middle of the night
But I couldn’t see the light
No, I couldn’t see the light
I kept on looking for a way
To take me through the night
I couldn’t get it right
I couldn’t get it right

Tag: Couldn’t Get It Right

Climax Blues Band – Couldn’t Get It Right