Climax was an American band formed in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, most noted for their 1971-1972 hit song "Precious and Few", which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and No. 1 on Cashbox magazine's Top 100 singles chart. This disc sold over one million copies and was certified gold by the RIAA on February 21, 1972.

Career

Climax initially consisted of 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 several songs on the band's lone album and also played other percussion). This quartet were soon augmented by unofficial fifth member (and second keyboardist) Johnny Stevenson, who officially joined the band upon D'Amico's departure in 1971. Executive producer Marc Gordon and record producer Larry Cox also played instrumental roles in recording the band and shaping their sound. The band was together from 1970 to 1976, during which they recorded one album, many singles and unreleased sides. They are generally considered a one-hit wonder because other than "Precious and Few", no other releases gained much widespread success.

Origins

Climax descended from the 1960s hit band The Outsiders. Former Outsiders members Geraci, Nims, and D'Amico, along with new member Guttman recorded and released one single under the Outsiders name ("Changes"/"Lost in My World") and another issued as a solo single by Geraci ("Lovin' You"/"Think I'm Fallin'"), but when Tom King of the original band threatened legal action, the name of the band was changed to Climax for subsequent releases. The group had signed to Marc Gordon's Carousel label (which later changed its name to Rocky Road due to the existence of another label named Carousel), for which initial releases, including the "Changes"/"Lost in My World" single, were issued on Bell with a Carousel imprint. Carousel was then launched as an independent label, distributed by Bell, and its first release was Climax' debut single, "Hard Rock Group," which generated no major interest.

Scoring a hit

"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 reworked by producer Larry Cox, who was assigned by label owner Marc Gordon to retool the band's material. Cox, who later worked with Jefferson Starship and produced many of their soft rock ballads (including "Miracles"), was introduced to Climax by fellow Texan and soon-to-be new Climax 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. Initially, nothing came of the newly recorded single. It was stored in the Bell Records archives for several months, but was dusted off after a Bell executive heard it being played on a Santa Barbara radio station (Climax's home base). Carousel released the record in Hawaii as a test six months prior to its becoming a hit on the mainland. After more market tests in Buffalo and Boston, the record gained momentum quickly. By the week ending February 26, 1972, "Precious and Few" had peaked at the No. 3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 (spending two weeks at that position), and also hit No. 1 on Cashbox magazine's Top 100 chart. "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.

Subsequent career

The follow-up single to "Precious and Few" was "Life and Breath", a song written by George S. Clinton (who contributed to the Austin Powers movie song tracks). "Life and Breath" reached No. 1 status in Hawaii, No. 11 at KHJ in Los Angeles, and topped out on the national charts at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 15 on Billboard ' s Easy Listening chart. They were also 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, the latter of whom had officially 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. Once "Life and Breath" ran out of steam, Climax never recovered. Rocky Road's (formerly Carousel's) owner, Marc Gordon, was also managing The 5th Dimension at the time. 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 these factors hampered the success of "Life and Breath" and future Climax singles releases (including "Rock and Roll Heaven" and its predecessor, "Caroline This Time"). In 1972, the group's album Climax Featuring Sonny Geraci finally appeared. In addition to the core band members (and at-the-time unofficial member Stevenson), musicians who contributed to the album included bassists Joe Osborn, Steve La Fever, Reinie Press, and Joe Bellamy, keyboardist Larry Knechtel, additional drummers John Raines and Earl Palmer, percussionist Alan Estes, and Gordon MacKinnon, who performed double reed and woodwind solos. 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 No. 177. Following "Rock and Roll Heaven," the group's next single, "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" was the first track issued from the session. "It's Gonna Get Better" was also 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 side. 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". During Climax's run with Rocky Road, they charted four top 5 records in Hawaii: "Precious and Few", "Life and Breath", "Caroline This Time" and "Walking in the Georgia Rain." The song “Precious and Few” was featured in season 17 of the hit the CBS television show NCIS. TJL Media Archives in 2023 released the PBS television appearance of Sonny Geraci as a solo artist performing “Precious and Few” which was Sonny’s last national television performance.

Legacy/Aftermath

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 did little to promote the band's only album, Climax featuring Sonny Geraci, 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 Geraci. Nims, the band's principal songwriter and guitarist, died on March 31, 2000, at age 56, after suffering a stroke. Guttman died from a traffic accident on January 7, 2003 at the age of 55/56. Geraci died on February 5, 2017, at the age of 70.

Discography

Albums

Climax's lone album, Climax Featuring Sonny Geraci, was released in 1972 on Rocky Road Records. The album had twelve cuts, and some were used as B-sides for subsequent singles. In 1979, a compilation album titled Picnic in the Rain was released on Koala Records. Only two of the songs had appeared on their 1972 album. Notes: In 1980, Koala released yet another Climax album titled If It Feels Good, but the album was credited in error to Climax Blues Band. Most of the LP was taken from the 1972 LP, but there were three tracks unique to this release. Notes:

LP of Sounds Like the Navy radio show appearance

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 and 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 and Few". Songs performed and only had parts aired were: "If It Feels Good, Do It", "Diving Duck Blues", "The Cage", and "Rainbow Rides Are Free".

Singles

Unreleased songs

(Some of these were recorded for their second album which was never released)

CD issues

There have been three official CDs released. All are on budget labels, and none have been remastered. The first, titled Precious and Few (on KRB Records and later Classic Sound), was released in 1997 and listed ten tracks, but actually included eleven: The second, titled The Best of Climax featuring Sonny Geraci (on Wise Buy Records), was released in 1998, and contained fifteen songs (actually sixteen with another "hidden" song). Many were in the "unreleased" category above: The third compilation was released in 2002, and is available on iTunes: Other bootlegs have been released including a 26 track compilation called The Best of Climax.