Celebrating Chicago

[mojobone]

CNN has produced a documentary on the band every local band in the midwest measured themselves against, back in the seventies. http://www.cnn.com/shows/history-of-chicago

I was in the [middle and high school] stage band back then, so I was big on bands with horns, and it seemed to me, Rolling Stone never gave them the credit they deserved. I guess I should note that I come from an era when every band for hire had to know "Colour My World", 25 Motown Favorites and some Credence. The weird thing is, I can't count on all my fingers and toes how many times I've been in an actual park on a Saturday, and heard "Saturday In The Park". Plus, I can jam on "25 Or 6 To Four" for literally hours...

[ernstinen]

I watched the documentary last night. They were one of my favorite bands when I first started gigging, and I played in many horn bands that emulated Chicago! Terry Kath was, along with James Pankow, the heart and soul of the band. When he passed away, that was a real tragedy. I had so many thoughts watching the film, and one was how creative they were. The best musicians in the city of Chicago, assembled by Guercio (who turned out to totally screw them by taking all their publishing). But, man, what a band! And they WERE a band, in the best sense of the word. All for one, one for all --- until Kath left us. Then Cetera kind of took over, and it wasn't the same after that, IMHO... And how they hooked up with David Foster, who has to be the biggest egomaniac in showbiz, is mystifying. All of the band's focus and rock & roll energy went down the tubes... It's really worth watching, but the last 1/3 is pretty sad to me, knowing what they WERE and how it turned out.

Ern

[Len911]

It was probably the mid seventies I bought an LP it was their greatest hits from the early era, and now I have a cd 1967-1997, of their hits. It's almost like two different bands, but if I had to choose my favorite era, it would be the one with Cetera and Foster.