Conference mr1pst::music

    
    Chicago is a R & R group with the inclusion of brass as background
    instruments.
    
    I particularly like the voice of lead singer Peter Catera.
    His voice goes very well with the brass sound.
    
    I think they have issued more than 20 records.
    
    I can't recall everyone of them in particular as they generally issued
    albums as Chicago with a number such Chicago 2, Chicago 3 etc. Of 
    course, there are some exceptions to this rule.
    
    I can only recall one with a parcel cover (I believe Chicago 17) and
    one with a Chocolate bar cover that I am fond of very much.
    
    May be someone else can recommend some of their albums ?
    
    sl.
    
    
    

re: .1

Ah, memories!  I was really into these guys in the late 60s/early 70s.
My first bands were horn bands and we did a lot of Chicago.  I was the
guitar player, but I transcribed the horn parts off of the records for
the horn players.
    
>    Chicago is a R & R group with the inclusion of brass as background
>    instruments.
    
Actually, at least in the early days, the horns were more than just 
background instruments.

>    I particularly like the voice of lead singer Peter Catera.
>    His voice goes very well with the brass sound.
    
In the early period, the lead vocals were split between Cetera, 
Terry Kath (the guitar player, now dead), and Robert Lamm (the
keyboard player).  Cetera certainly had the best voice in the
classical sense, but Kath's singing had more guts. Lamm's singing
was pretty forgettable.

>    I think they have issued more than 20 records.
    
Yeah, but personally I think they went downhill after the first 3 or
4.  When they started out, they were an interesting band doing things
that no one else had done (at least in the rock and roll racket).
As they became successfull, they gradually turned into mass producers
of pop pablum.

One more thing: they wrote *terrible* lyrics!  A couple of years ago
I happened upon some of their old albums and read the lyrics off of
the jacket.  Gack!  Pompous, pseudo-intellectual, and trite all at
the same time!

-Hal

re: .2

To give you an idea of how long ago this was, I once saw them live...
the opening act was Bruce Springsteen!

-Hal

    IMHO the best Chicago album was the first,
    Chicago Transit Authority.
    
    blind willis

re            <<< Note 235.2 by TAMRC::LAURENT "Hal Laurent @ COP" >>>

>In the early period, the lead vocals were split between Cetera, 
>Terry Kath (the guitar player, now dead), and Robert Lamm (the

Did Kath sing "Make Me Smile?"

    >>Did Kath sing "Make Me Smile?"
    
    What a great tune from a great band!  Yes Terry Kath sang "Make Me
    Smile".  I played guitar in a group in 1971 and we did alot of Chicago;
    it was a blast with the brass section and the BIG sound.
    
    Pete Cetera left the group for his solo career.  I saw them at King's
    Dominion summer of '92 and they have replaced Pete with a younger
    shorter version of himself.  The guy has long straight blondish hair 
    (ala Mark Farner of GFR), and he sounds EXACTLY like Pete Cetera! I was
    not overly impressed with his bass playing ability but he was good
    enough and he really made some of the oldies sound like CHICAGO!
    
    I did not particularly like Chicago's new guitarist...too much speed and 
    not enough taste, but he was wicked good.....
    
    steve  

    As willie says, their first album was their best.  Their second was
    their second best, and I think they continued that pattern.  %^)
    
    BTW, their best song ever was "Introduction", first song on the first
    album.
    
    Dave

    
    	The 1st album is available on Gold CD, CBS Mastersound series.
    This is from the original master tapes using Sonys 20 bit super
    mapping mastering.
    
    Vinny

    I saw them in concert once and it was one of the most boring concerts I
    ever went to.
    
    Lorna
    

    So Steve, you played Chicago in a band... did you get to play the solo
    on "25or6to4"?  Could you?
    
    Dave

    I have a friend that is now a DJ in Atlanta.  Back in the 70's when I
    was doing some home recordings Red, my friend, did a solo job of 
    "25or6to4" playing all the parts with his mouth. We overdubbed the
    various parts.  Truely hilarious, and well done! This was pre-Bobby 
    McFerrin days.
    
    Boy I wish I still had that recording.
    
    _stew-

The "Live at Carnegie Hall" album is also available on CD. It's mostly
material from the first few albums. I agree that they went downhill 
in the mid-to-late 70's but the early material still sounds as good 
as ever.

I remember seeing them perform in a field house at Marietta College in
Ohio (we drove up from Athens). It must have been around 1968 or 1969. 
They simply blew everyone away. It ranks as one of my favorite concerts
ever.

Barry

    
    I have fond memory of the Chicago IV album, the opening horn playing
    of the track "Just U and me" is a typical Chicago's signature in their
    early days but somehow this distinct sound seems to slowly fade away.
    
    Other classic tracks from other albums that I can recall are 
    "Color my world", "Saturday in the Park", "Old days", and
    "Baby, what a big surprise !"
    
    sl.
    
    

     >>So Steve, you played Chicago in a band... did you get to play the solo
     >>on "25or6to4"?  Could you?
    
    
    We did Make Me Smile, Colour My World, 25or6to4, Liberation, In The
    Country, I'm a man, Question 67 and 68, and a few others.  Our Trombone
    player would learn *all* the horn parts by ear and then put them on sheet
    music for the other two blowers....he was amazing!  As a matter of fact
    I did halway decent covers of Kath's solos, wah-wah and all....at least
    *I* was proud of 'em!
    
    sd

.14>  We did Make Me Smile, Colour My World, 25or6to4, Liberation, In The
.14>  Country, I'm a man, Question 67 and 68, and a few others.  Our Trombone
.14>  player would learn *all* the horn parts by ear and then put them on sheet
.14>  music for the other two blowers....

Deja ju strikes again.  I played trombone in a band in Champaign, Illinois
in the early 70s, and I arranged all the horn parts.  We did the whole
Make Me Smile suite, not just the record version, the 2nd side of Chicago's
2nd album.  Plus Just You and Me, and a couple tunes from the 1st album.

The Chicago horn players had such good ensemble that picking out the inner
voice of the three horns was particularly difficult.  It really stretched my
ear, more than those years of music theory and history classes.  We also did
some Blood, Sweat, and Tears and a lot of R&B tunes (Wilson Picket, Otis
Redding, James Ingram - this is way before Luther Ingram).

We played in frat houses and bars in Champaign, and less often at Southern
Illinois University in Carbondale.  Plus, high school dances and proms all
over central Illinois.

With 7 people in the band, we could never make a decision on anything.  And the
money was divided too quickly.  But we really had a blast for a couple of 
years. 

.14>  I did halway decent covers of Kath's solos, wah-wah and all....at least
.14>  *I* was proud of 'em!

Too bad you weren't in Champaign.  We would have benefited by having a better
guitar player.  We had really superior horn players, though.  Both the
trumpet and sax players are now university music professors, very capable
people.

By the way, our bass player's brother went to high school with Jim Pankow 
(the Chicago trombonist) and a couple of the other original Chicago players. 
Pankow had most of his tunes on the first two albums written when he was in
high school.  My friend's brother had a tape of them playing that music in a
high school garage band, and they were terrible! 

-Steve

    I agree that "Introduction" was one of their best songs, although I
    think "Chicago" (their 2nd album) was their best, rather than their
    first album (CTA).  
    
    I've seen them 4 or 5 times.  They had a concert on PBS recently.  
    Danny Seraphine's gone, and the only original members left are Robert
    Lamm, and the 3 horn players.  
    
    According to a program given out during their concert at Carnegie Hall,
    they were originally called "The Big Thing".  I haven't really liked 
    anything they did after about their 5th album.  I think they're up to
    21 now.
    
    I saw a concert at Berklee College a couple years ago by a band called 
    "The Chicago Band".  They did all Chicago music including "Introduction".

    I enjoy the 4-cassette Chicago Box set(Group Portrait)as well as
    the original members of the band.
    
    I would like to see them tour this summer around the Northeast
    as I was impressed with the PBS special that was presented at
    L.A.'s Greek Theatre in 93.I've seen the band 11 times and en-
    joyed all the shows going back to the early 70's.
    
    I've been trying to find CHICAGO VII and CHICAGO at Carnegie Hall
    on cassette.Also Robert Lamm's solo tape(I think it's called Skinny
    Boy).
    
    It seems to me most of the Brass-orientated bands(Chicago,B.S.& T.
    Electric Flag,Buddy Miles,Sly Stone,Butterfield,Ides of March,ect.)
    hit their peak in the late 60's/early to mid seventies.I guess you have
    to Chicago credit for 26 years together.

    
    	Today's Chicago shares only the name with the original Chicago.
    
    	No other similarities.
    
    							GTI
    

    
    I used to love the band, and really enjoyed the first three albums
    immensely (except for that early 70s prom anthem 'Colour my World').
    The first album is still my favorite. The horns sounded so crisp and
    that slight touch of reverb..mmmm. That *sound*. 
    
    Saw them only once, at the Fillmore East, with the Jerry Hahn
    Brotherhood and Blodwyn Pig, about 1969. Hot show. 
    
    But after 'A Hit by Varese', I kind of just lost interest. Terry Kath's
    passing, other musics, just nudged them out. I have no idea who is in
    the band nowadays. What is the lineup these days, and when did Pankow,
    Loughlane, Parazider, Lamm, and Seraphine leave ?
    
    Peter
    
    
    

    re .1, I think there *is* one other similarity....they're both boring.
    
    Lorna
    
    ps - I saw one version of Chicago in concert once and I almost fell
    asleep.  It was the most boring rock concert I have ever attended!
    

    Early Chicago (real early! The double album "Chicago" seems to mark
    the end) was just great, especially for those with jazz and big band
    leanings. I still like to sit thru the "Ballad For A Girl From Buchanon"
    medley. (When I recorded it to cassette I mercifully left out "Color
    My World". Argh, It's like listening to Duke Ellington with "You Light
    Up my Life" right in the middle.)
    
    Despite their early promise, they waned miserably, and can arguably 
    take full credit for turning the DX-7 electric piano sound into a
    cliche' for the 80's...
    
    Like a handfull of other bands, they started at their peak, declined,
    and forgot to die.
    
    Edd 

re: .4

>    I still like to sit thru the "Ballad For A Girl From Buchanon"
>    medley.

Yeah, my very first band used to do the entire thing.  Didn't go over
very well at dances, though. :-)

-Hal    

    re:623.2
    Loughnane,Parazaider,Pankow and Lamm are still with the band.There are
    4 other members added over the years(not exactly Cetera,Kath and
    Seraphine).
    I don't know what happened to Danny Seraphine,Cetera's solo career has
    kind of floundered as of late and I guess will never know what could
    of been of Terry Kath's potential.I was impressed with his work on
    the Chicago Transit Authority L.P.

    I loved early Chicago but they lost it in the mid-to-late '70's.
    Then they became this bubble-gum pop band (the type of junk that 
    Peter Cetera continues to dregde up). However, a couple of weeks
    ago I heard a recent live version of "25 or 6 to 4" that absolutely
    kicked ass (really funked up version). It showed that these guys
    can still rock (they just need a bit of Geritol afterwards...)
    
    /Billy_K