Climax (band)

Climax consisted of executive producer Marc Gordon, record producer Larry Cox, lead singer Sonny Geraci, composer and guitarist Walter D. Nims, composer, singer and keyboardist Nick D'Amico (Nicola Marcello D'Amico) and drummer Jon Jon Guttman (who wrote songs on the album and also played other percussion). Other musicians who played on the band's lone album included Gordon MacKinnon (double reed and woodwind solos); bassists Joe Osborn, Steve La Fever, Reinie Press, and Joe Bellamy; keyboardist Larry Knechtel; additional drummers John Raines and Earl Palmer; and percussionist Alan Estes.[3][4] The band was together from 1970 to 1976.

Climax came out of the ashes of the 1960s hit band The Outsiders. A few singles were released under the Outsiders name, but when Tom King of the original band threatened legal action, the name of the band was changed to Climax (singles released under The Outsiders name included "Lovin' You"/"Think I'm Fallin'" and "Changes"/"Lost in My World"). Following the name change, the album Climax Featuring Sonny Geraci was released. The band is often considered a one-hit wonder because other than "Precious and Few", no other releases gained much widespread success. In spite of the success of "Precious and Few", the album barely made it into the top 200 portion of the Billboard 200 sales chart, peaking at #177.

"Precious and Few", the band's biggest hit, was actually first recorded in 1970 with producer Ron Kramer and arranged by Nick D'Amico. It was later re-worked by producer Larry Cox, who was assigned by label owner Marc Gordon to re-tool the band's material. Cox, who later would work with Jefferson Starship and produce many of their soft rock ballads (including "Miracles"), was introduced to Climax by fellow Texan and band keyboardist Johnny Stevenson. Cox urged the band to re-record "Precious and Few" and encouraged lead singer Sonny Geraci to capitalize on his ability to perform high-powered ballads.

The story of "Precious and Few" has many twists. It was stored in the Bell Records archives for a couple of years, but was dusted off after a Bell executive heard it being played on a Santa Barbara radio station (Climax's home base). Bell Records subsidiary, Carousel, released the record in Hawaii as a test six months prior to being a hit on the mainland. After more market tests in Buffalo and Boston in early 1972, the record gained momentum quickly. On the week ending February 26, 1972, "Precious and Few" peaked at the #3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (spending two weeks at that position), and also hit #1 on Cashbox magazine's Top 100 chart.

The follow-up single to "Precious and Few" was "Life and Breath", a song written by George S. Clinton (who later would contribute to the Austin Powers movie song tracks). "Life and Breath" reached #1 status in Hawaii, #11 at KHJ in Los Angeles, and topped out on the national charts at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #15 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Once "Life and Breath" ran out of steam, Climax never recovered. They were the first band to record "Rock and Roll Heaven", a song written for Sonny Geraci by Alan O'Day and Climax keyboard player Johnny Stevenson, who replaced Nick D'Amico after he left the band in 1971. "Rock and Roll Heaven" was later recorded by The Righteous Brothers (with some lyric changes), and became the duo's comeback hit in the summer of 1974.

Climax's record label, Carousel, was owned by Marc Gordon, who was also managing The 5th Dimension at the time. The existence of another Carousel label caused Gordon to change the label's name to Rocky Road. In retrospect, Gordon's plate was full managing a supergroup, and signing and managing other artists, including Al Wilson ("The Snake" and "Show and Tell"). All of this hampered Climax's follow-up single ("Life and Breath") and future singles releases (including "Rock and Roll Heaven"). During Climax's run with Rocky Road, they charted four top 5 records in Hawaii: "Precious and Few", "Life and Breath", "Walking in the Georgia Rain" and "Caroline This Time".

"Walking in the Georgia Rain" was issued with the artist name displayed as "Sonny Geraci and Climax." A short time later, an article appeared in Billboard stating that the group had recorded four new tracks with producer Steve Cropper, and "It's Gonna Get Better" would be the first track issued from the session. "It's Gonna Get Better" was issued as being performed by Sonny Geraci and Climax. The rare stock copy has another of the Cropper-produced tracks, "Let This Song Through" (written by Stevenson), on the flip. The other new tracks recorded with Cropper were left in the can, as "It's Gonna Get Better" proved to be the final Climax release.

Keyboard player Johnny Stevenson also scored a solo release issued as Rocky Road 30065, pairing "The Great Campaign" (an instrumental written by Stevenson) with an instrumental version of "If It Feels Good - Do It."

Some industry insiders felt Climax should have been far more successful than they actually were. The lack of a solid, powerful marketing and managing organization hurt the band when their follow-up "Life and Breath" was not given enough attention and funding to break through. After "Life and Breath" fizzled, the label was not ready to release the band's only album, Climax featuring Sonny Geraci during "Precious and Few"'s climb up the charts, which eroded the band's popularity and market edge. Yet, in spite of that, "Precious and Few" was a popular selection for proms and weddings, according to a 2011 interview with Sonny Geraci

They recorded one album, many singles and unreleased sides. Nims was their principal songwriter and guitarist. "Precious and Few" was vocal arranger Tom Bahler's first opportunity to demonstrate his talents. Hired by producer Larry Cox, Bahler, along with his brother John, later created a significant impact in the music industry as arrangers and session singers in the late 1960s and 1970s performing on hundreds of singles, most notably the recordings by The Partridge Family.

Nims (born on September 11, 1943) died on March 31, 2000 at age 56 after suffering a stroke.[5] Geraci died on February 5, 2017, at the age of 70.

In 1972, the group appeared "live in the studio" for the promotional "Sounds Like the Navy" radio show, issued on two LPs only to radio stations. Performing without any orchestral backing, the group faithfully reproduced many of their released songs and also performed several songs, including originals written by Nims, that were never issued in any other format.

The show was split into four 15-minute mini episodes and the songs that were performed in full were:

I've Got Everything, I Can't Quit Her, Life & Breath, The Lady Is A Nasty Dancer, Picnic In The Rain, Going Through The Motions, Droopy Shoulders, Wait For You, Child Of December, Hand Me Down My Rock N Roll Shoes, Face The Music & Precious & Few

Songs performed and only had parts aired were: If It Feels Good-Do It, Diving Duck Blues, The Cage (Elton John song) & Rainbow Rides Are Free

• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

• Climax at AllMusic