Sense of Direction 1974 Album

Climax Blues Band

In between Rich Man and this studio album was considered CBB’s initial U.S. breakthrough – FM Live, a live record recorded in New York City, meant as a loggerhead to slowly establish the band Stateside. It would seem British bands – more often than not – were interested in going the Humble Pie route to gain fame. Sense of Direction was the studio follow-up – in comparison to Rich Man, a much more adventurous collection for sure – but put next to the albums in the 1969-71 stretch and it is hard not to notice the slick and polished sheen of the material. The garish, Hollywood-derived cover has to mentioned as well. We still have one foot ever so gingerly in blues territory, but those days are quickly coming to an end. Still, the album is pretty interesting from start to finish, mainly because the group is confidentially shifting around through a few different moods and genres like seasoned experts. The “Amerita/Sense of Direction” deal which opens the album sets the tone in more ways than one. “Amerita” weaves Cooper’s sax and Haycock’s guitar together in a blinding tapestry of progressive-ism and fast rhythm, but that quickly gives way to the laid back but wise “Sense of Direction”. The really fast, boogie rave-up “Nogales” – which brings in Latin elements – along with “Right Now”, are probably the closest links to the band’s backstreet blues past, but that is a bit like saying a football team which used to run a smash mouth offense is now running the option. Speaking of “Right Now”, Cooper’s clarinet parts feature heavily here and in the ending “Milwaukee Truck Blues”. Kind of an odd instrument to integrate into a rock band, but CBB does it cleanly and competently. Not much else to go over here, other than we are right in the thick of the next phase of CBB’s career arc – blues rock-pop, and all that is missing is the big hit single, which was soon to come. For now, it’s competence on top of professionalism.