Chicago (band)

Chicago Transit Authority and early success

The original band membership consisted of saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm. Parazaider, Kath, Seraphine, Pankow and Loughnane met in 1967 while students at DePaul University. Lamm was recruited from Roosevelt University. The group of six called themselves "The Big Thing", and continued playing top 40 hits. Realizing the need for both a tenor to complement baritones Lamm and Kath, and a bass player because Lamm's use of organ bass pedals did not provide "adequate bass sound," they added local tenor and bassist Peter Cetera.

While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs. In June 1968, at manager James William Guercio's request, The Big Thing moved to Los Angeles, California, and signed with Columbia Records. The band changed its name to "Chicago Transit Authority". It was while performing on a regular basis at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood that the band got exposure to more famous musical artists of the time. Subsequently, they were the opening act for Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. As related to William James Ruhlmann by Walt Parazaider, Jimi Hendrix once told Parazaider, " ' "Jeez, your horn players are like one set of lungs and your guitar player is better than me." ' "

Their first record (April 1969), the eponymous Chicago Transit Authority, is a double album, which is rare for a band's first release. It sold over one million copies by 1970, and was awarded a platinum disc. The album included a number of pop-rock songs – "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "Questions 67 and 68", and "I'm a Man" – which were later released as singles.

After the release of their first album, the band's name was shortened to Chicago.

The 1970s: Chicago

The band released a second album, titled Chicago (retroactively known as Chicago II), which is another double-LP. The album's centerpiece track is a seven-part, 13-minute suite composed by Pankow called "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". The suite yielded two top ten hits: "Make Me Smile" (No. 9 U.S.) and "Colour My World", both sung by Kath. Among the other tracks on the album: Lamm's dynamic but cryptic "25 or 6 to 4" (Chicago's first Top 5 hit), which is a reference to a songwriter trying to write at 25 or 26 minutes before 4 o'clock in the morning, and was sung by Cetera with Terry Kath on guitar, the lengthy war-protest song "It Better End Soon"; and, at the end, Cetera's 1969 moon landing-inspired "Where Do We Go from Here?". The double-LP album's inner cover includes the playlist, the entire lyrics to "It Better End Soon", and two declarations: "This endeavor should be experienced sequentially", and, "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms."

Chicago III would contain two hit singles. "Free" from Lamm's "Travel Suite" would become the album's biggest hit. The band would release LPs at a rate of at least one album per year from their third album in 1971 on through the 1970s. During this period, the group's album titles invariably consisted of the band's name followed by a Roman numeral, indicating the album's sequence in their canon. The exceptions to this scheme were the band's fourth album, a live boxed set entitled Chicago at Carnegie Hall, their twelfth album Hot Streets, and the Arabic-numbered Chicago 13. While the live album itself did not bear a number, each of the four discs within the set was numbered Volumes I through IV.

In 1971, the band released Chicago at Carnegie Hall Volumes I, II, III, and IV, consisting of live performances, mostly of music from their first three albums, from a week-long run at the famous venue. The packaging of the album also contained some rather strident political messaging about how "We [youth] can change The System", including massive wall posters and voter registration information. Nevertheless, Chicago at Carnegie Hall went on to become the best-selling box set by a rock act, and held that record for 15 years. The fact that none of the first four titles were issued on single LPs was due to the productive creativity of this period and the length of the jazz-rock pieces.

In 1972 the band released its first single-disc release, Chicago V, which reached number one on both the Billboard pop and jazz album charts. It features "Saturday in the Park", which mixes everyday life and political yearning in a more subtle way. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1972. Another Lamm-composed hit song therein was "Dialogue (Part I & II)", which featured a musical "debate" between a political activist (sung by Kath) and a blasé college student (sung by Cetera).

In 1973, Guercio produced and directed Electra Glide in Blue, a film about an Arizona motorcycle policeman. The film stars Robert Blake and features Cetera, Kath, Loughnane, and Parazaider in supporting roles. The group also appears prominently on the film's soundtrack.

Other albums and singles followed in each of the succeeding years. 1973's Chicago VI was the first of several albums to include Brazilian jazz percussionist Laudir de Oliveira and saw Cetera emerge as the main lead singer. Chicago VII was the band's double-disc 1974 release. Their 1975 release, Chicago VIII, featured the political allegory "Harry Truman" (#13, Billboard Top 100 chart) and the nostalgic Pankow-composed "Old Days" (#5, Billboard Top 100 chart). That summer also saw a joint tour across America with the Beach Boys, with both acts performing separately, then coming together for a finale.

1976's Chicago X features Cetera's ballad "If You Leave Me Now", which held the top spot in the U.S. charts for two weeks and the UK charts for three weeks. It was the group's first number one single, and won Chicago their only Grammy Award to date, the 1976 Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, at the 19th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 19, 1977. The tune almost did not make the cut for the album. "If You Leave Me Now" was recorded at the very last minute. The success of the song, according to William James Ruhlmann, foreshadowed a later reliance on ballads.

The group's 1977 release, Chicago XI, includes Cetera's ballad "Baby, What a Big Surprise", a No. 4 U.S. hit which became the group's last top 10 hit of the decade.

Death of Terry Kath and transition

The year 1978 began with a split with Guercio. Then on January 23 of that same year, Kath died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound from a gun he thought was unloaded.

After auditioning over 30 potential replacements for Kath, Chicago decided upon guitarist/singer-songwriter Donnie Dacus. While filming for the musical Hair, he joined the band in April 1978 just in time for the Hot Streets album. Its energetic lead-off single, "Alive Again", brought Chicago back to the Top 15; Pankow wrote it "originally as a love song but ultimately as recognition of Kath's guiding spirit shining down from above."

The 1978 album Hot Streets had producer Phil Ramone at the helm. It was Chicago's first album with a title rather than a number; and was the band's first LP to have a picture of the band (shot by photographer Norman Seeff) featured prominently on the cover (with the ubiquitous logo downsized). These two moves were seen by many as indications that the band had changed following Kath's death. To a degree, the band returned to the old naming scheme on its subsequent releases, although most titles would now bear Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals. Hot Streets, the band's 12th album, peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard charts; it was Chicago's first release since their debut to fail to make the Top 10. The release also marked a move somewhat away from the jazz-rock direction favored by Kath and towards more pop songs and ballads. Dacus stayed with the band through the 1979 album Chicago 13, and is also featured in a promotional video on the DVD included in the Rhino Records Chicago box set from 2003. Again produced by Ramone, it was the group's first studio album not to contain a Top 40 hit. Dacus departed from the band shortly after the album's release.

The 1980s: changing sound

Chicago XIV (1980), produced by Tom Dowd, relegated the horn section to the background on a number of tracks, and the album's two singles failed to make the Top 40. Chris Pinnick joined the band to handle the guitar duties and would remain through 1985, and the band were also augmented by saxophone player Marty Grebb on the subsequent tour. Believing the band to no longer be commercially viable, Columbia Records dropped them from its roster in 1981 and released a second "Greatest Hits" volume (also known as Chicago XV) later that year to fulfill its contractual obligation.

In late 1981, the band had a new producer (David Foster), a new label (Warner Bros. Records), and the addition of keyboardist, guitarist, and singer Bill Champlin (Sons of Champlin). Percussionist Laudir de Oliveira and Marty Grebb departed from the band. During Foster's stewardship, less of an emphasis was placed on the band's horn-based sound, being replaced by lush power ballads, which became Chicago's style during the 1980s. The new sound brought more singles success to the band.

For the 1982 album Chicago 16, Foster brought in studio musicians for some tracks (including the core members of Toto), and used new technology (such as synthesizers) to "update" and streamline the sound, further pushing back the horn section, and in some cases not even using them at all. The band did return to the charts with the Cetera-sung ballad "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away", which is featured in the soundtrack of the Daryl Hannah film Summer Lovers.

1984's Chicago 17 became the biggest selling album of the band's history, producing two more Top Ten (both No. 3) singles, "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break". The album included two other singles: "Stay the Night" (No. 16) and "Along Comes a Woman" (No. 14). Peter's brother, Kenny Cetera, was brought into the group for the 17 tour to add percussion and high harmony vocals.

By 1985, the band was embracing the newest medium, the music video channel MTV, by releasing music videos for four songs. They featured a track titled "Good for Nothing" on the 1985 global activist album, We Are the World.

The departure of Cetera

Concurrently with Chicago's existing career, lead vocalist Peter Cetera had begun a solo career. He proposed an arrangement with the band where they would take hiatuses after tours to let him focus on solo work, but the band declined. Cetera ultimately left Chicago in the summer of 1985. He soon topped the charts with "Glory of Love" (the theme song of the film The Karate Kid Part II), and with "The Next Time I Fall" (a duet with Amy Grant). Two more songs reached the Top Ten: a 1988 solo hit called "One Good Woman" (No. 4 U.S.), and a 1989 duet with Cher called "After All" (No. 6 U.S.). In 1992, Cetera released his fourth studio album, World Falling Down, which earned him three hits on the Adult Contemporary charts, including the single "Restless Heart". Cetera's former position was filled in September 1985 by bassist/singer-songwriter Jason Scheff, son of Elvis Presley's bassist Jerry Scheff. Long-time unofficial lead guitarist Chris Pinnick also left the group prior to the recording of the band's next album.

For the final Foster-produced album, Chicago 18, the band filled Pinnick's spot with several session guitarists, none of whom became band members. The album included the No. 3 single "Will You Still Love Me?", and Top 20 Pop song "If She Would Have Been Faithful...", in addition to an updated version of "25 or 6 to 4" with a video that got airplay on MTV. Soon after the album was recorded, the band hired guitarist Dawayne Bailey, formerly of Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Bailey and Scheff had previously played in bands together, so Scheff introduced Bailey to the band in time for the Chicago 18 tour.

With the 1988 release Chicago 19, the band had replaced producer Foster with co-producers Ron Nevison and Chas Sanford, and they topped the charts again with the Diane Warren-composed single "Look Away". The song ultimately was named as the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Song of the Year for 1989. The album also yielded two more Top 10 hits ("I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" and "You're Not Alone"), both with Champlin singing solo lead for the first time, and the Scheff-sung #55 hit, "We Can Last Forever," in addition to including the original version of a Top 5 single titled "What Kind Of Man Would I Be?". The latter, sung by Scheff, was remixed for inclusion on the band's forthcoming greatest hits record (and twentieth album), Greatest Hits 1982–1989, and it was this version that became a hit.

The 1990s: more changes and Stone of Sisyphus

The beginning of the 1990s brought yet another personnel change; founding member Danny Seraphine was sacked, and succeeded in May 1990 by Tris Imboden, a longtime drummer with Kenny Loggins and former session drummer with Peter Cetera. Imboden made his first appearance on the 1991 album Twenty 1, which yielded an eleven-week stretch on Billboard, a peak at No. 66, and the song "Chasin' the Wind" which peaked at No. 39. Twenty 1 would be their last released album of original music for fifteen years.

The band was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 23, 1992.

In 1993, Chicago wrote and recorded their 22nd album Stone of Sisyphus. This album was to have marked their return to their traditional composition of the 1970s, emphasizing major horn accompaniment and a proclaimed edgier sound. However, following a reorganization of the record company, the new executives at Reprise Records (now part of the newly formed Warner Music Group) rejected the completed album. It remained unpublished for fifteen years, aside from bootleg tapes and Internet files. This contributed to the parting of the band from the record label. Fans were left in the dark by the failure of the label and of the band to issue any official press releases regarding the album's shelving and regarding the subsequent departure of guitarist Dawayne Bailey in late 1994, leading to many years of debates and conjecture about the events surrounding the recordings. It was also suggested some years later that the band's management was negotiating with the label regarding a licensing of the extensive Chicago back catalog, and when those talks stalled, the label apparently retaliated by scrapping the project. The album eventually saw an expanded release on Rhino Records in June 2008 to favorable reviews from both fans and critics and made it to No. 122 on the album charts.

After finishing their 1994 tour, and after signing with the Warner Bros. Records' imprint label Giant Records, they released their 1995 album Night & Day: Big Band, consisting of covers of songs originally recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington. Session guitarist Bruce Gaitsch handled the guitar work and the album featured guest appearances by Paul Shaffer of David Letterman fame, and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. In early 1995 Keith Howland was recruited as Chicago's new permanent guitarist.

In 1998, Chicago released Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album and a live album in 1999, Chicago XXVI.

The 2000s

In 2000, the band licensed their entire recorded output to Rhino Records, after having recorded it at Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records. In 2002, Rhino released a two-disc compilation, The Very Best of Chicago: Only The Beginning, which spanned the band's career. The compilation made the Top 40 and sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. Rhino also began releasing remastered versions of all of the band's Columbia-era albums.

On March 21, 2006, their first all-new studio album since Twenty 1 arrived with Chicago XXX. It also marked the first time the band's music was available as a digital download. The album peaked at No. 41 in the U.S., spawning two minor adult contemporary hits: "Feel" and "Love Will Come Back". Two songs from this album, "Feel" and "Caroline", were performed live during Chicago's fall 2005 tour.

Chicago made multi-week appearances at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in March and May 2006. In July 2006, the band made a series of U.S. appearances with Huey Lewis and the News.

On October 2, 2007, Rhino Records released the two-disc The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition (Chicago XXXI), a new greatest hits compilation spanning their entire forty years, similar to The Very Best of: Only the Beginning, released four years earlier.

In 2008, Stone of Sisyphus – once known as the aborted Chicago XXII, now listed officially as Chicago XXXII – was released with an expanded format.

In 2009, Chicago again toured with Earth, Wind & Fire.

Drew Hester joined the band in January 2009 to temporarily fill in for an ill Imboden, and continued with the band as a percussionist upon Imboden's return later in the year. In August 2009, Champlin was fired from the band. His new lineup counterpart became keyboardist Lou Pardini.

2010 to present

In 2010 Chicago toured with the Doobie Brothers. A performance in Chicago became a video for the HDNet cable channel that featured the Doobie Brothers joining Chicago for two encore tunes. The band also appeared on the season nine finale of American Idol. On July 24, 2011, the band performed at Red Rocks in Colorado, accompanied by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

With Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three, the band re-teamed with producer Ramone (he had previously released the new tracks for the expanded Christmas re-release What's It Gonna Be, Santa?) to record a new Christmas album. It was released in October 2011. In the meantime, Rhino released Chicago XXXIV: Live in '75, a two-disc set containing two hours of previously unreleased performances recorded June 24–26, 1975 at the Capital Centre in Largo, Maryland, featuring the original members of Chicago performing some of their greatest hits up to that point. In 2012, Chicago and the Doobie Brothers held another joint tour. That same year, Hester left the group to be succeeded, first by percussionist Daniel de los Reyes, then by Daniel's brother and former long-term Santana member, Walfredo Reyes Jr.

In 2013 Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, and Walter Parazaider appeared in the HBO movie Clear History as the band Chicago. In late 2013, the band began releasing singles for a new album, starting with "Somethin' Comin', I Know" in August, "America" in September, "Crazy Happy" in December 2013, and "Naked in the Garden of Allah" in January 2014. The album, titled Chicago XXXVI: Now, was released on July 4, 2014.

In 2015, Chicago was listed among the nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The original lineup was inducted at the 31st annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 8, 2016 along with N.W.A., Deep Purple, Steve Miller, and Cheap Trick. In February 2016, it was announced that original drummer Danny Seraphine would join the current lineup of Chicago for the first time in over 25 years for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Peter Cetera chose not to attend. Terry Kath's daughter Michelle accepted her father's award. In July 2016, Chicago performed on ABC's Greatest Hits.

After taking a temporary leave in May 2016, citing "family health reasons", it was announced on October 25, 2016 that Jason Scheff had permanently left Chicago. Jeff Coffey, who had been filling in for Scheff during his absence, was promoted to a full-time member.

In January 2017, CNN Films aired a 2-hour biographical documentary film on the group titled "Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago," directed and produced by Peter Pardini. The film was the highest rated program in its premiere in the 25-54 demographic and has an 8.4 rating on IMDB. The film also won the Sedona International Film Festival and Fort Myers Beach Film Festival in 2016.

On February 22, 2017 it was announced that Peter Cetera, Robert Lamm, and James Pankow are among the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees for their songwriting efforts as members of the music group, Chicago. The induction event will be held Thursday, June 15 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Graphics

Upon being renamed from Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago, the band sported a new logo. Its inspiration was found in the design of the Coca-Cola logo, in the attitude of the city of Chicago itself, and in the desire to visually transcend the individual identities of the band's members. It was designed by the Art Director of Columbia/CBS Records, John Berg, with each album's graphic art work being done by Nick Fasciano. Berg said, "The Chicago logo...was fashioned for me by Nick Fasciano from my sketch."

The logo would serve as the band's chief visual icon from Chicago II, onward. In various artistic forms and visual similes, it has been the subject of every subsequent album cover, except the fifteenth album, Greatest Hits, Volume II. For example, it appeared as an American flag on III, a piece of wood on V, a U.S. dollar bill on VI, an embroidered patch on VIII, a chocolate bar on X, a fingerprint on XIV, a computer silicon chip on 16, a parcel on 17, and a mosaic on 18. Chicago IX's incarnation was a caricature of the band itself, in the shape of the logo.

The album cover series has endured as a cataloged work of art in its own right, described by Paul Nini of the American Institute of Graphic Arts as a "real landmark in record cover design". In 2013, the iconic status of Chicago's album art was featured in a New York art museum exhibit, which centered upon ninety-five album covers completely selected from John Berg's career portfolio of hundreds. Having overseen the design of approximately fourteen Chicago album covers across more than twenty years, Berg stated that this artistic success resulted from the combination of Chicago's "unique situation" and his position in "the best possible job at the best possible time to have that job, at the center of the graphic universe". Berg won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Album Package for Chicago X, one four Grammy Awards he won in his lifetime.

The book titled Type and Image: The Language of Graphic Design described the logo as "a warm vernacular form, executed in thick script letters with Victorian swashes in the tradition of sports teams and orange crate labels." The book mentions the cultural and material background of the city of Chicago as inspiration for the logo; for example, describing the leather embossing of Chicago VII as representative of the great fire and the stockades. The author connects the album art to the atmosphere of the band's namesake city, quoting the band's original manager, James William Guercio: "The printed word can never aspire to document a truly musical experience, so if you must call them something, speak of the city where all save one were born; where all of them were schooled and bred, and where all of this incredible music went down barely noticed; call them CHICAGO."

Personnel

The four original remaining members of Chicago are Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walter Parazaider.

Live albums

Awards and honors

Other honors