chicago
 

So, anyone else ever like this band?

I think their most of the early stuff is great..

The pop direction they went in the 80s I can't say I like as much though.

But still, they were my dad's favorite band so I grew up hearing them and for the most part like their music. I've got most of their albums. Uh...looking through them right now the ones that stand out to me are 1, 2, 3, 5, & 7. There's some I probably need to relisten to. But I thought I'd make a thread for this band since I didn't see one already.

Whenever this band comes up most people associate them with 80s pop singles but tracks like this are pretty legit. Plus I think Terry Kath was an underrated guitarist.


Poem 58 - Chicago Transit Authority - YouTube

We use to play the silver album in art class and speaking of class the band was nothing but a class act. If you like Chicago you might also enjoy Canada's own Lighthouse........A great band who had some very good albums!

Indeed..... I have all thier 70s albums.... (Except greatest hits)

I had HOT STREETS (Chicago 12 (1978)) but I didnt like it....... I just got Chicago 13 (1979) and its good also........

I dont like thier 80s records mostly because they are mixed digitally and sound like crap.... (They sound thin and not good)

The only album im missing is Chicago III which is a double record set......

Their sound remains a product of their time so it's not always for me, but I wish another band incorporated horns as much as Chicago did.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeQy-YxGPP4

Saturday In The Park will forever remind me of my Dad. Mostly from a time when we were at a company picnic for his work that took place on a Saturday and it was at a park. I think it was the 4th of July.

I can't tell if you're serious or just ****ing around.

Plankton never jokes. :nono:

A lot from column A and a little from column B. Everything about the story is true. I just thought it'd be funny to tell it like the lyrics.

Chicago had some good tunes, and I've always been a fan of a good horn section. Like the Marcus King Band.

I recently caught this REO/Chicago concert from 2014 and was pleasantly surprised by how tight these guys still are. Sure, they're squeezing every last bit they can out of their success's, but they seem to still enjoy it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN4JgE8eEIY

There's also a condensed version with the two bands playing each others hit's for the encore ensemble:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqOVE4DF-iE

Chicago is definitely a band I'm appreciating more as I let my prejudices towards certain music drift away. I love a tight horn section and there's just not enough in modern music.

It's a shame Kath went and shot himself. He was really one of the more innovative guitarists of the time.

Whoa, holy **** I didn't know that happened. Now I have to spend an hour on Wikipedia.

It puts the direction change of the band in perspective.

Chicago started out as a fantastic band who now get a lot of sh*t for the direction they took later on, which even an unrepentant lover of 80s cheese like myself won't bother defending.

Hard to believe that "You're the Inspiration" is from the same band that included nearly 7 minutes of guitar noise on their first album just for the f*ck of it.

"You're the Inspiration" is really bad, and I don't even like "Colour My World," which last I checked is my old man's favorite Chicago track.

I only know their 80's music so I won't bother :D

Absolutely love this performance and never get tired of it:



This too. Peter Cetera has a great pop voice and I have a fondness for singing bassists. :) Also, whoever tuned and mic'ed those drums deserves a medal. Danny Seraphine is a real quality drummer and I love that "dead fish" drum sound in the studio.



A dashing Terry Kath, bless him. Backed by Cetera and Carl Wilson, Al Jardine and Mike Love of the Beach Boys. Heavenly.

Absolutely!

Kath was a flat out rocker.
Cetera is a pop crooner.

Listen to 'V' some time from start to finish. Perfect album.

HA! This is Snarkey Puppy before most of the current band members were even born!

The debut is probably their best but being a double album and having some really out there material on it (Free Form Guitar is some proto-Glenn Branca sh*t and it's from f*cking CHICAGO) it's not the best place to start for newcomers, Chicago V is a great entry point, sheesh can you believe it took them 4 albums before they finally made a single LP? That puts all the prog rock bands to shame. :laughing:

I'll be listening today. Pretty sure I've never heard the entire thing. Thanks for the rec!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9Zasa2ks60

After a few tunes in, I realize my Dad had this. Great album and thanks for the memory jog. :)

Listen to Kath and Cetera trading vocal lines during the track Dialogue.

Hippy Terry vs Establishment Peter.



sounds about right.......

Oh yes. Very cool. I have parts I and II in my playlists while I disc golf. It's been decades since I've heard the rest of it though, and I keep honing in on Seraphines grooves like I did when I was a kid. I started out as a drummer.

To give Peter Cetera some credit he is a fantastic bass player and he's a decent singer, but he was always the weakest songwriter in the band and the more creative control he was given the worse the band got, then Jason Scheff replaced him and somehow they got even worse.

I actually enjoy a good deal of schmaltzy soft rock but post-Kath Chicago is where I have to draw the line.

I'm sure many of you have seen the wonderful documentary Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience by Terry's daughter Michelle. If you haven't yet seen it, highly recommended.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7egJTtz10E

OooOoh, it's on my Watch Later list. Thanks, Ribbons.

You are very welcome, Big3. :)

I've heard of it, but haven't watched it yet. Probably later today.

I was reading up on Cetera, and apparently one of the main reasons he left Chicago was that he didn't like the horn sections in their music.

Lotsa drama since too. Oy vey.

Everybody keeps picking on the poor horn guys! Terry didn't want them, Peter didn't want them...and yet, the horns are what distinguished the band. Oy vey indeed. :o:

And those horn guys had so many wonderful things to say about Terry in the documentary, even shedding some tears over him. As Jim Guercio says in the doc, Terry was the leader of that band.

Ok, now I'm definitely watching that later.

I think you're going to like it - it's a beautiful tribute to Terry by his daughter and so many touching moments.

I'll have the tissues ready.

You're an ultra-softie (oh wait, so am I :o:). You'll need 3-ply for this film.

https://www.quill.com/is/image/Quill...41_s7?$img400$

Ooo, industrial strength. Nice.

You folks know that Kath was possibly Hendrix's favorite player back then?

Jimi knew Terry was a bad, bad dude on that telecaster!

I did, yes. And now Big3 knows it too bc he spent an hour on his Wiki page. It's in the first paragraph, but I don't think it took him that long to get to that point.

:D

Pffft.....

OG Cavett Show

The question was something like, "What's it like being considered the best guitarist?"

Jimi scoffed and brought up Kath, telling Cavett that HE was the best.

Such a wonderful tribute and a beautiful gift to the world she created. So much nostalgia and memories, both good and not so good, which is really just how life is. The music of Chicago just reminds me of my own Dad so much, and all the times we had together while driving around in his custom van as he blasted Chicago, War, Vangelis, Zeppelin, and a ton of other 8-tracks from that era. I enjoyed this so much, so thank you for posting it here, which gave me the little push I needed to push play.

Think I'll double up on the meds before I watch.

I ****ing blubber these days over commercials showing folks getting their on-line diplomas.

Funny, seems like your dad and I could have attended the same concert at one point or another. Cruising with 8 tracks.....

Unless you were there at the time they came out you just can't grock how HUGE a deal it was for cruising. Modern sci-fi like tech - albums in the car!

A pair of Jenson 6x9 co-axials installed in the rear deck, a big brick of a player bolted underneath the dash (no such thing as retrofit), and the greatest stoner cruising music of all time.

Other than the requisite matchbook wedged under the tape to eliminate double tracking, the only suck was longer tunes getting chopped to fit within the 4 available 'sides'.

"You know you shook me baaaaaaaaaaabe........
You shook me allllllllll niiiiiiiiiight longgg (FAST fade out)

static CLUNK static

(EVEN FASTER fade in) ggggggggggg............ DUM DUM DA DUM."

:rofl:

Ah yes, track spanning. The fly in the 8-track ointment.

So glad you liked the doc, and that it brought back some fond memories of your Dad. Must have been so much fun blasting music together in the van! No surprise you "lost it" during that moment in the film. I "lost it" at many different points while viewing and I've watched the entire thing probably about five times now. And keep crying at the same moments!