Chicago, The #13 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

 Chicago released the album Chicago VIII in 1975.  This song by Pankow remembers his childhood.  "Old Days" rose to #3 on the Adult chart and #5 Popular.  Pankow's talent for arranging is evident as he shifts from a major to minor key on "Of a world gone away" and also adds strings about halfway through, both to emphasize that we are all now adults.

 

By this time, Chicago was turning towards emphasizing love songs and Lamm, who had written many of the group's early hits, wrote one of his few in that category.  "Never Been In Love Before" stands as one of the best Chicago songs never released as a single.

The group released Chicago IX:  Chicago's Greatest Hits in 1975, which gave the group five consecutive #1 albums.  They hosted the television special Chicago's New Year's Rockin" Eve 1975 on ABC.

 

Chicago X in 1976 featured one of the group's biggest career hits, Cetera's two million-selling "If You Leave Me Now", which was the first Chicago song to feature an acoustic guitar, which was played by producer Guercio.  "If You Leave Me Now" topped charts in every major country, #1 in the U.S. for two weeks and #1 in the U.K. for three weeks.

Unbelievably, Chicago earned their only Grammy Award for the song with Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, though they were nominated for Album of the Year.  Chicago X has now sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone.  To celebrate Chicago's Platinum album achievement, Columbia gave the group a 25-pound bar of pure platinum made by Cartier.  

Chicago also won Favorite Popular Rock Band, Duo, or Group at the American Music Awards.

Chicago was always a band at their best when they mixed ballads with political messages with rock & roll with horn-dominated jazz rock.  The success of "If You Leave Me Now" was both a blessing and a curse.  After it hit #1, the group got away from many of the things that made them great and concentrated mostly on ballads.  The ballads were still good, but fans in coming years would miss the other elements.

In 1977, the group returned with Chicago XI, highlighted by Cetera's ballad "Baby, What A Big Surprise", a #4 smash in the U.S.  Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys returned for backing vocals along with Tim Cetera, Peter's brother.  Parazaider played flute with Louchnane playing the piccolo trumpet on the track.

 

The album reached #6 and sold over one million copies in its first year.  "Policeman" is Lamm's sensitive look at a middle-aged beat cop, with arrangement by Pankow.  According to liner notes, Lamm's inspiration is from the writings of former Los Angeles police officer Joseph Wambaugh, who co-created the television series Police Story and also wrote several police-related novels.

 

Here we have the story of a man who yearns for simple freedoms before life became difficult to understand.  But it has a much deeper meaning than that.

Seraphine wrote the song with Hawk Wolinski of Rufus about a friend of Seraphine's, Fred Pappalardo.

Pappalardo was a drummer with the band Illinois Speed Press, also managed by Guercio and signed to Columbia.  Fred became gravely ill.  "This was after we had made it; we were selling out arenas," Seraphine told Something Else!  "A dear friend of mine called me and said, 'Danny, Fred is pretty sick.  He'd like to see you.', Danny continued.

        "I was just about to go on a tour; we were leaving

         in two days.  I said, ‘I’ll come by after I get back.’ 

        He said: ‘Danny, he might not be here when you 

         get back.’ I said: ‘OK, I’ll be right over.’ He was

         in a ward, and we talked. It was tearful, very 

         tearful. I knew I was saying goodbye to him,

         basically. I thanked him for being such a friend.”

That moment gave Seraphine inspiration to write "Take Me Back To Chicago", a hidden gem on the album that includes Chaka Khan on backing vocals.  “A nurse came in and said she was going to put him on a bed pan, and he asked me to leave because he didn’t want me to remember him like that,” Seraphine said. “That’s where the line ‘remember me at my best’ comes from. That really stuck with me; it really haunted me."  

In 1977, Madison Square Garden (capacity of 20,000) announced  its Gold Ticket Award, which would be given to those acts who had brought in 100,000 total fans.  At the time, Chicago was one of eleven artists who had achieved the feat and when the band performed on October 28, they received the award for drawing 180,000 people in nine sold-out shows.

1978 was a tumultuous year for the group.  Guercio's purchase of Caribou Ranch caused consternation on how he could have enough money to purchase the property and led to suspicions among group members that he was taking advantage of them and then firing of Guercio as manager.

Then, disaster struck.  On January 23, Kath was at a party and pointed a gun he thought was unloaded at his head and pulled the trigger.  The  gun indeed was loaded and Kath died instantly.  The surviving members gave serious thought to splitting up but finally decided to soldier on without one of their founding members.  The group considered 30 guitarists who auditioned before deciding on Donnie Dacus.

In 1978, Chicago released the album Hot Streets, produced by Phil Ramone, who rose to fame as Billy Joel's producer.  The single "Alive Again" reflected the band's renewed optimism and Pankow revealed he "originally wrote it as a love song but ultimately as recognition of Kath's guiding spirit shining down from above".  

Mike Stahl, who was the group's audio engineer at the time, said in an interview with ProSound Web that the rhythm section of Lamm, Dacus, Cetera and Seraphine came into the studio and began jamming one day.  Ramone recorded the jam, and despite recording the rhythm track 10 more times, it was that jam that made it to the album.

 Absent of the jazz-rock style that Kath advocated, Hot Streets was the first Chicago album since their debut to not reach the Top 10.  "No Tell Lover", co-written by Cetera, Loughnane and Seraphine, reached #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart but only #13 overall.  The Bee Gees, who were recording the landmark album Spirits Having Flown next door, were asked to help on this album, with keyboardist Blue Weaver playing synchronized strings on this song.

 Chicago recorded the album at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida.  The third single from the album was "Gone Long Gone".

 

The band released the album Chicago 13, again produced by Ramone, in 1979.  Dacus left the group following the concert tour that supported the album.  Seraphine wrote this song with David Wolinski, who was a keyboardist with Rufus at the time.  The song tells the story of Danny's childhood in a tough neighborhood in Chicago and his escape from that life by joining the group.  Maynard Ferguson plays an awesome trumpet solo on "Street Player".

Chicago XIV in 1980 represented another shift in musical direction, as the trademark horns were not as prevalent as on previous albums.  Chris Pinnick became the group's new guitarist and stayed through 1985.  The album stalled at #71 and did not attain Gold status.  One exception to the otherwise ordinary group of tracks is "Manipulation".

The group was in a bit of a slump, but they would rebound in a big way!

Chicago, The #13 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 

The unconventional rock and roll band with horns released another double album in 1971, Chicago III, which reached #2.  "Free", written by Lamm, is part of the "Travel Suite" on the album and peaked at #20.

 "Lowdown" is the third of six episodes of the "Travel Suite" and another contribution from Cetera.  Kath used a fuzzbox and wah-wah pedal for the track.

The album Chicago at Carnegie Hall featured live performances of music in their catalog during a record-setting week-long run at Carnegie Hall.  The band included political messaging about how young can change "The System" as well as posters and voter registration information.

In 1972, Cetera, Kath, Loughnane, and Parazaider appeared in the movie Electra Glide, which Guercio produced and directed.  Several of Chicago's songs are featured on the soundtrack.  

 Chicago won a Trendsetter Award from Billboard magazine.  The band released the album Chicago V, their first #1 album.  "Saturday In The Park", written by Lamm, was a huge hit, hitting #3 amongst good competition.  Lamm wrote it after experiencing a 4th of July celebration in New York City's Central Park.  The classic also hit #2 in Canada and sold over one million copies.

"Dialogue (Part I & II)" represented a "musical debate" between an activist (Kath's part) and an apathetic college student (represented by Cetera).  The song ends with the group singing the optimistic a cappella "We can make it happen."

 Chicago appeared in the television special Duke Ellington...We Love You Madly on CBS, in which they performed Duke's "Jump For Joy".  The group hired Brazilian jazz percussionist Laudir de Oliveira to spice up their sound.  Cetera by this time was the group's lead singer, and the group released the album Chicago VI in 1973.  The ever-building "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" hit #10 for the band.  Cetera said in a 1991 interview that while the song is about "both healing and moving on after the end of a relationship," it could just as well apply to how the group was continuing to make inroads with two straight #1 albums.

Pankow wrote this song after a fight with future wife Karen.  As he recalled in a 2019 interview with Billboard:

              We had had a huge fight, it was a nasty 

              lovers' quarrel, if you will. She locked 

              herself in the bathroom and wouldn't come 

              out...'Just You 'n' Me' poured out of me in its

              entirety. Usually when I write songs I come

              up with an idea for a chorus or a hook and

              fill in the blanks in stages. This was a 

              moment of clarity I've never experienced

              before or after. It remains a special event in

              my songwriting experience.

One of the group's signature songs, "Just You 'N' Me" was released as the follow-up, another million-seller that shot up to #3 in Canada and #4 in the U.S.

 

The band starred in the Dick Clark-produced television special Chicago in the Rockies on ABC, filmed at Guercio's Caribou Ranch in Colorado.  "What's This World Comin' To" features all three main lead vocalists (Lamm, Cetera and Kath), the first time Chicago had done that since "I'm A Man".  

 "Beyond All Our Sorrows" is a heartbreaking honest assessment of Kath of his demons, particularly gut-wrenching because of the tragedy that would soon befall him.  The track is a solo demo from Kath that did not appear on the album until the 2002 re-release.

The album, recorded at Guercio's newly-finished Caribou Studios in Nederland, Colorado, has now been certified Double Platinum.  Up to this point, Chicago had recorded most of the material on their albums in New York City, but Caribou would be their home recording base for the next four years.  "Something In This City Changes People" is a standout track on the album.

 Chicago returned to a double album for the 1974 release Chicago VII, which was a return to more of the Jazz influences that had been largely absent on their previous two releases.   "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" led the way, a #5 smash.  Pankow's great song here begins with Lamm's electric keyboard over the top of strings and continued to build to the climax when Kath's rocking solo kicks in. 

The group starred in another ABC television special, Chicago...Meanwhile Back at the Ranch.

 

With the release of the album, all previous albums also re-entered the Albums chart, making Chicago only the seventh artist to achieve that feat.  Loughnane's first songwriting effort, "Call On Me", was a #1 Adult song that reached #6 overall.

 

The next single presented two of the greatest American (and all-time!) groups of all-time on one song--Chicago with the Beach Boys.  With a peak of #11, it is easily one of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  Cetera wrote it, although Kath sang most of the lead vocals.

Seeing the possibilities that existed when they enjoyed a hit in 1974 with the Beach Boys, the two acts went on tour together, with each act performing separately and then coming together for the finale.  Guercio played bass for the Beach Boys, with all 17 musicians coming on stage to perform "Wishing You Were Here".  

Guercio wanted more Rock numbers and ballads that the group had become famous for, while several members of the group wanted strictly jazz songs.  The result was a compromise and the group's first double album since Chicago III.  One album features Jazz-infused songs with the other more to Guercio's liking.  "Aire" features complex rhythms and the pounding of congas and other percussion, much courtesy of future group percussionist Laudir deOlivera.

 

Chicago won the People's Choice Award in 1975 for Favorite Group.  Cetera was the member who made the most strides in his songwriting on this album--he wrote "Wishing You Were Here" as well as "Happy Man".

Chicago was firmly entrenched as a supergroup by this time.  But they hadn't reached the stratosphere necessary for a ranking as The #13 Artist of the Rock Era*.  Join us for the music that earned them the points necessary in Parts Three and Four!

Chicago, The #13 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

"Turn it up loud and enjoy it forever ..

"Chicago never disappoints."

"Just a legendary band with incredible talent throughout the lineup."

"They had it all. Chemistry, talent, magic."

"Chicago was the best of the best and they had such a unique sound."

"Chicago is soo amazing their music just touches my heart."

"Chicago has one of the best if not the best horn section."

"One of the greatest bands of all-time."

"Never-ending talent."

"They were master musicians who put out a legendary catalog of incredible tunes."

"Chicago rocks my soul!"

"Just an incredible band."

"Its amazing how good these guys were. The immense quality of their musicianship, all of them, is sometimes forgotten I think because their songwriting and styling's were impeccable...what a catalog they put together. A true supergroup."

"They were awesome!"

"Chicago one of the very best full bands (rhythm and brass) ever, along with EWF."

"What a great horn section!"

"Legendary...what a group!"

"One of the best groups ever."

"These guys were musical geniuses."

"Chicago is AWESOME!"

"Saying Chicago was brilliant is kind of like saying Albert Einstein was kind of smart."

"Brass can be magic on the senses, and combine it with melody, great vocals and ripping drums, and you have heaven on a stick.

"What an amazing band!"

"Music like this only happens once in a lifetime, I'm so glad I was and able to say I grew up enjoying this great music in a great era for great music."

"Awesomeness!!!"

"I am so grateful to my Maker that I grew up with music like this."

"It boggles my mind the amount of talent and musical genius they had as young musicians creating a whole new genre of music...a fusion of big band brass jazz and rock."

"They were just a great band who made amazing music that has stood the test of time."

"Geez. Just incredible musicians."

"Timeless music."

"Chicago was loaded with talent. Every one of them was exceptional."

This talented, innovative, enduring, and versatile group began on February 15, 1967 when saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpetist Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm met to plot a path forward.  Pankow, Parazaider, and Loughnane were students at DePaul University, while Lamm was previously with Bobby Charles and the Wanderers.  Kath, Parazaider, and Seraphine had previously played together in both Jimmy Ford and the Executives and the Missing Links.

Originally, they were known as the Big Thing, and began playing in nightclubs in Chicago.  They soon realized that they not only needed a tenor vocalist but a bassist, and Peter Cetera, who also had a good deal of experience, fit both needs.  Cetera was hired later in the year.  

They were doing well performing covers, but the only way to grow was to come up with original material.  Manager James William Guercio suggested two things:  relocate to Los Angeles, where the music business was, and change their name to Chicago Transit Authority (after a local transportation agency).  The group did both.

In L.A., Guercio landed them gigs at the famous Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, where they opened for acts such as Jim Hendrix and Janis Joplin.  On a night Chicago opened for Albert King, Hendrix was in the audience and sought them out afterward.  "You have a guitar player better than me," Hendrix said.  "And your brass section sounds like one set of lungs."  Jimi invited Chicago to open for him on tour, and it is the songs the band played on that tour that were honed and polished into their first album.

In 1969, the band released the double album Chicago Transit Authority.  At first, Columbia execs balked at the thought of a new act releasing a double album for their debut, but they relented.  Good thing they did!

 

That debut reached #9 in the U.K., #10 in Canada, and #17 in the United States and sold over two million copies.  "Questions 67 And 68" was the lead single.  It peaked originally at #71, and even a re-release in 1971 only got it to #24.  We know now that it is one of The Top Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*. 

Another great track on the album is "I'm A Man".  Shortly after the album's release, the group shortened their name to Chicago to avoid a legal challenge by the mass transit company.  Chicago  was nominated for Best New Artist of the Year at the Grammy Awards, but indicative of the lack of ability of that organization to judge excellence, The #13 Artist of the Rock Era* did not win.  The Grammy instead went to Jose Feliciano.

Lamm paints a documentary of the band's early days playing in clubs in Chicago on this track.  "Listen" includes many guitar overdubs from Kath, who delivers a scorching guitar solo.  As with the rest of the album, the song features the raw sound of their phenomenal horn section.

Tracks like "Liberation" are exactly why the band wanted a double album; it gave them the liberty to produce a 15-minute long jam rewarding listeners with a gem like this without the album only including four or five songs.  "Liberation" immediately showed the world what this band was about, that Kath was an incredible guitar player, that their horn section was second to none, and that Chicago was unlike anyone before or since. And Cetera provides an amazing bass line as well.

Chicago was slated to perform at Woodstock in 1969, which would have greatly enhanced their reputation.  Instead, promoter Bill Graham sent Santana, and it was that group that would give a groundbreaking performance.  The following year, Graham booked Chicago to play at Tanglewood, and the group took full advantage with an amazing performance.  More on that later!

 

Their first album was a promising debut, but the group exploded onto the scene with Chicago II, which reached #4 on the Album chart and was certified Platinum.  Pankow wrote "Ballad For A Girl In Buchannon" or "Ballad", or the "Make Me Smile Medley", as it is often called, for a girl at West Virginia Wesleyan College.  Pankow and the girl were engaged, but she, wary of the strain that the demands of a Rock musician put on a relationship, broke it off. This long tribute to the young woman didn't win her back, however.  "She ended up marrying a career Air Force guy," Pankow told the Charleston Gazette-Mail in 2018.  "She had a bunch of kids and was very happy."  "Make Me Smile" was a #9 hit for the group.

On July 21, 1970, Chicago gave a pivotal performance at Tanglewood, a classical music venue in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts.  Promoter Bill Graham presented an amazing array of talent at Tanglewood that year that included the Who, Santana, Miles Davis and Jethro Tull.  He originally signed Joe Cocker for July 21, but when that fell through, Graham had his sights set on Jimi Hendrix.  Hendrix was going through managerial problems and sadly, was also recording what would be his final album.

When Hendrix said "No", Graham had to sign a major act to fill that spot.  Graham had booked Chicago for Fillmore East the previous month and Bill felt Chicago was the perfect group for Tanglewood.  Some say that Hendrix suggested Chicago to Graham, having already displayed an affinity for the group.  

In any case, Chicago became the last-minute headliner on that date, even though they were not touring at the time.  As many well-known journalists and members of the media attended the Tanglewood shows, the group which had just a few hits so far would be under closer scrutiny than usual.  As Paste magazine pointed out in their 2013 article about the show, "When Chicago hit the stage at Tanglewood, the pressure was on and they had everything to prove."

From the moment they hit the stage, Chicago proved they were for real, exceeding all expectations.  The group delivered a stellar performance in a show recently released on CD that shows the group at their best.

Chicago II was another double album, released the following year.  

Chicago was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.  "25 Or 6 To 4", a #2 smash in Canada, #4 in the U.K., and #7 in the U.S.  Inquiring minds have always wanted to know what the title is about, so we will tell you.  Lamm wrote the song about the process of writing a song, which refers to the time of day:  either 3:34 a.m. (26 minutes to 4) or 3:35 a.m. (25 minutes to 4).  Lamm explained on The Chris Isaak Hour:

          I was living up above Sunset Strip.  One of the

          advantages of this particular house was that it 

          was in the Hollywood Hills and I could look out

          over the city late at night. I wanted to try to 

          describe the process of writing the song that I 

          was writing. So, 'waiting for the break of day,

          searching for something to say, flashing lights 

          against the sky' - there was a neon sign across

          the city. That song came from the fact that it was

          25 or 6 to 4 a.m. in the morning when I looked at 

          my watch - I was looking for a line to finish the 

          chorus.

 

Now that they were on their way, Chicago released another single from their debut album, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" is a song about not rushing through life and appreciating life as it happens.  It became another #2 hit in Canada that reached #5 on the Easy Listening chart and #7 Popular in the U.S.  

 

In 1971, Chicago re-released a great song from their debut album with one of their gems from their second album to produce one of The Top Double-Sided Hits of the Rock Era*.  It did not chart originally, but once the group had a couple hits to their credit, the public clamored for more.  This is "Beginnings", featuring one of the group's finest moments--the splendid trumpet/trombone dual between Lee Loughnane and horn-section leader James Pankow. Then, as the rest of the group fades into the background, Seraphine, accompanied by several percussion players, brings the song home! !

...and the flip was "Colour My World" (heard earlier as part of "Ballad For A Girl In Buchannon".  Billboard in those days didn't apply separate chart methodology to both sides of a two-sided hit, so both songs peaked at #7.

 

The individual tracks on the album may sound as if they have sudden ends, but when listened to on the album as the artist intended, they are easily seen as segways to the next track.  "Movin' In", which naturally flows into "Poem For The People" on the album, is an example.  Like Kath's "Introduction" on the first album, Pankow's "Movin' In" is another autobiographical account of the group in its early days.

"Poem For The People" shows Chicago can do anything and do it superbly.

The debut introduced us to the powerful Chicago horn section of Lochnane and Pankow; by their second album, the pair were much tighter and the way their horns meander around the vocals give us the feeling of a leisurely walk "In The Country",  Guercio expertly began to bring out the sound of Cetera's bass, and Peter and Terry played off each other well, both vocally and rhythmically.

Lamm was prolific in the early days, writing this song, which includes his vocals in the lower register and brings in Cetera for the higher notes.  Pankows brilliant trombone solo is a thing of beauty on "Wake Up Sunshine".

"Fancy Colours" shows not only the talent of Chicago but the fact that a Rock song can be much more than just three chords and a strong backbeat.  In their prime, the group were innovators, producing a sound that no one else had achieved.  On "Fancy Colours", we have four distinct themes and melodies being performed at the same time, but woven together into a cohesive sound.  Listen for the sophisticated sound of the horns, Parazaider on flute, Kath using the wah-wah pedal, and Cetera on vocals all recording different melodies but meshing as a unit at the same time.

Chicago believed their music could change the world, and we want to feature another of their politically conscious songs, written about the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.  Cetera's funky bass line which precedes the first verse is some of his best playing for the group.  Listen for the four distinct movements of "It Better End Soon".

"Where Do We Go From Here?" is the B-side to "25 Or 6 To 4" and is the first song written by Cetera to appear on a Chicago album.  It points out that we all need to care about each other all the time, not just in moments of crisis, and Cetera is speaking more about the country than about a personal relationship, given the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the upheavals of U.S. society at the time.

There is much more to come from this incredible group--stay tuned!