The keyboardist is Robert Lamm who wrote many of Chicago's greatest hits. James Pankow, the trombonist, also was a prolific writer for the band and did all the horn arrangements. Terry Kath wrote a few songs, himself. Kath, Lamm, and Peter Cetera were all swapping lead vocals through Chicago's first 9 albums. All three of the main songwriters tended to infuse jazz and rock seamlessly, which is just amazing to see and hear.

This song is off their first album CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) which is just an absolutely fantastic album. For this song, I think I prefer the album version which is played slightly faster. Both versions have great energy, however. I highly recommend checking out more from the first few albums when I think they were at their best.

This whole concert is awesome, but I have to keep reiterating that you HAVE TO start with"Introduction " it is the greatest jumping in point for this era of CTA and I'm not sure why people avoid it. But believe me, I enjoyed this too.

This is my favourite Chicago song of all time, hands down. But you really should listen to the studio version. It's absolutely incredible!

If you continue with this concert, or if you go to the studio versions, please, please do "Ballet for a Girl in Buchanan " in its entirety. All the band members get to shine individually and as an ensemble.

@bookhouseboy280

Жыл бұрын

That suite is outstanding, as is the album it's on.

The deep voice is Terry Kath, song "Make Me Smile" are his lead vocals. The first track on their first album self titled "Chicago Transit Authority", song "Introduction", Kath is the only vocalist, no backup and no harmonies, his voice is a lion's roar. From the same album "I'm a Man", Steve Winwood wrote it and Chicago owns it, Kath vocals first verse, and incredible guitar work. Lamm sings Kath's songs, he said it's still very difficult.

@davidt7482

Жыл бұрын

And also, JP, the keyboardist and lead is Robert Lamm. The bassist, Peter Cetera, is the third main voice you hear but he's got the highest pitch of the three. During the jam at the end, Robert and Terry are repeating the chorus "only the beginning" while Peter is that other main singer.

If you like what you’ve heard of Chicago so far, I’d recommend their song Dialogue….Terry Kath steps up!

@bookhouseboy280

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! Seraphine's swinging groove too. Some of his best drumming is on V. "A Hit by Varèse" is particularly progressive.

Exactly what you said as a new listener (jazz, r&b, rock, horns) is what most of us fell in love with back in day. It is also why so many of us were crushed after Terry died & Cetera (bass) became the driving force & the band went more into commercial, soft rock ballads. For me, the Terry Kath Chicago is when they were best...by far.

Great song. Glad to see you enjoying early Chicago, which is the best Chicago. Anything up until 1977.

@TRANZEURO

Жыл бұрын

"Anything up until 1977" YUP, I agree ! After 1977 no more Terry Kath and no more James William Guercio as producer. Chicago XI is their last album that interest me.

The entire Tanglewood concert is so epic.

As great of a live version as that is, I think studio versions are always best for a first listen, so you can hear all the subtleties and original changes. Just IMO. Also, there's a band from Russia called Leonid and Friends that are big fans of Chicago and recorded a cover of "25 or 6 to 4" a few years ago. They got millions of followers and after a few years of trying, finally toured the U.S. to great reviews. They are presently on their 3rd US tour. I HIGHLY recommend giving them a listen, particularly since English isn't their first language and their vocals (and instruments) are amazing!

@summertime_blooz

Жыл бұрын

Yeah the studio version is way better

@TRANZEURO

Жыл бұрын

Yes I definitely agree. I always feel that newcomers to *ANY* artist should always listen to the original and official studio versions of songs before getting into any live reinterpretations.

I got to see Chicago in my hometown on 1/28/72. It was my 4th concert ever. I was 17. It was stunning! I remember being so amazed at all those musicians onstage, because I really didn't know much about the band itself until that concert. Grateful I got to see that! I hope you will listen to the studio version!

Robert Lamm - Keyboards, vocals Terry Kath - Guitar, vocals Peter Cetera - Bass, vocals Danny Seraphin - Drums, bvocals James Pankow - Trombone, horn arrangements, bvocals Walter Parazaider - Woodwinds Lee Loughnane - Trumpet, flugal, vocals In the beginning, Lamm, Pankow, and Kath were their primary song writers. Eventually Cetera moved up from one or two here and there to pretty much taking over. The Cetera Era is a hotly debated issue. Kath accidently killed himself after the 11th album. Cetera and Seraphim were booted after awhile. There has been a range of personnel changes. Now, only three of the originals are still in the band: Lamm, Pankow, and Loughnane. There's a lot of great music in the twentysomething studio albums they've put out over the last 53 years they've been recording. This might be disputed by some, but there are still some shining moments in the newer releases. Chicago V is my favorite album and has, in my opinion, their last great protest song - Dialogue, parts 1 & 2. Kath shreds a couple guitars in the background of part 2. This is a very deep well, Justin. Do not bother to proceed with caution; leap right on in with abandon. But, go to the studio version of Introduction next. That is a great next step on the path...

This is the reason I took up trombone in the fifth grade! There's never been anything like them since. Although I would say Tower of power horns comes very close.

I’ve seen them about 10 times in concert over the years and they consistently give the best live performances I have ever seen. They’ve still got it! ( The first vinyl album I ever bought was their second album and I was hooked.)

Not sure when you saw "25 or 6 to 4" but I love the Live Tanglewood version. If you notice Danny (drummer) is having problems with his drums and after a few moments Terry starts the song and the drummer who is still adjusting his drum set starts with the foot pedals while still working on the drum set. Very infectious.

Please react to "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" live (Tanglewood 1970)! It's 13-plus minutes of 🤯🤯🤯🤯 The "Ballet" takes up three-quarters of side two of "Chicago" (their second studio album). It consists of seven tracks, three of which are instrumentals: "Make Me Smile" (Lead vocals by Terry Kath) "So Much to Say, So Much to Give" (Lead vocals by Robert Lamm) "Anxiety's Moment" (Instrumental) "West Virginia Fantasies" (Instrumental) "Colour My World" (Vocals by Terry Kath) "To Be Free" (Instrumental) "Now More Than Ever" (Lead vocals by Terry Kath)

My 1st concert @ 12 in fall 1971. Fantastic show! The 1st of many, many more! 'Course tickets were $5, $6, or $7. Miss those days.

Okay, Justin, now do a song with Terry on Vocals. I'm A Man, or Make Me Smile.

@stpnwlf9

Жыл бұрын

A fantastic live track from Tanglewood that features Terry on vocals (with Peter) is 'In the Country' which Terry also wrote.

Chicago is worth investigating, particularly their early stuff. The first song on their first album is a called "Introduction", which goes through a series of changes that lays the groundwork for everything that was to follow. I'd really suggest having a listen.

Another Great song from Chicago from their famous show a Tanglewood, MA. !! Two years early for me but my older Brother and friends saw them there about 20 miles away west of Boston.👍🎶🎸🎹🎺🎷🥁🎤🎛✌🎵

"Poem 58" from their debut album Chicago Transit Authority will knock you out with 9 minutes of PURE FUNK! Terry Kath on guitar is PHENOMENAL, backed by Danny Seraphine on drums and Peter Cetera on bass. Terry Kath was a baritone singer, Peter Cetera was a tenor. Keyboard player Robert Lamm was also a baritone, but terry was "rougher" or deeper as a baritone than Lamm.

Hey Justin ~ Imagine being 10 years old, and growing up listening to big band, swing, jazz, American standards, R&B, blues, folk and mid to late '60s rock, and then hearing Chicago's first album. I'd been playing guitar for 2 years at that time, and they blew my mind away! This was the most perfect combination of all of the above genres of music to that date. Incredible. Moving. Brilliant in every aspect. They can go from rocking as hard as they are here and on '25, or 6 to 4' (among many others!) to slow melodies like 'Color My World' that will have you on the floor crying. I recommend all of their music up until Terry died. Your reaction here is spot on. Keep listening to them. There's so much more to explore.

@JustJP

Жыл бұрын

Appreciate that, I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing from them!

Along with the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin were Chicago and BS&T were the first albums that I listened to from my siblings collection and they hold a special place for me all these years later..

I'm going to have to take a second dive with this one Great tune and great reaction. thanks again for all you do

"Questions 67 & 68" is a must listen

Truly wonderful musicians, I saw them live around this time. Their drummer is truly exceptional.

Danny Seraphine. Hands down. The backbone of this band

Listen to their first song off the first album called INTRODUCTION 🔥🔥💯

This is talent. Like RUSH. Just can not be better.

Just a great reaction video. You're still the best out there Justin. I have to second all the people asking for the "Ballet For a Girl in Buchanon." Danny Seraphim might be the most underrated drummer in rock. And after they went through the trauma of losing Terry Kath, he was the glue that kept the band together. Yet when he hit a hard patch later, they threw him to the curb. One of the more shameful stories in rock.

Chicago was essentially two bands. This version with Terry Kath and then the soft-pop version after Terry passed away.

You should react to Make Me Smile from Tanglewood then you will have heard all three singers. This is Robert Lamb on vocals, 25 or 6 to 4 is Peter Cetera (bass), Make Me Smile is Terry Kath (guitar). Such excellent musicianship and vocals are hard to find in one band. These guys were so popular in the 70s

Fantastic live version of a fantastic song.

Notice how back then bands in concert packed pretty close together on stage. At some point they started spacing out fast apart. I funny know if it's the venues that were used or some other reason.

Early Chicago, so good. Try 'Make me Smile' Soul packed...with insanity on drums.

I held off watching this because I thought it was another video I’d seen elsewhere in a couple reaction channels. Sorry for the defection, I grew up on Chicago radio, luckily my country cornfields town could get it great. Of course they played Chicago a lot… I bought the first two albums together, a onslaught of horns. Glad I gave in and watched, enjoyed it immensely.

From that same show 25 Or 6 To 4 and Make Me Smile are MUST SEE!!! These two clips are among the best live clips I've ever seen by anyone. Thanks for reviewing this.

Hey Justin! Happy Saturday! Hope you are enjoying the weekend? I grew up in Chicago, so this is Home Sweet Home for me. This is CHICAGO at their very best! Enjoy!😎

@HippoYnYGlaw

Жыл бұрын

I trust Foghat’s Version ain’t an original?!

I went to see current version of Chicago a couple of years ago and they are very good. I enjoyed it very much.

You MUST listen to Introductions from their first album.

@billhawkins1236

Жыл бұрын

Yes, maybe if we gang up on Justin he'll do it.🤣

My goodness I've been waiting a long long time for you get to get back to this. Thank you so much

Weird bit of trivia, but did you know that Kath’s last words were something like, “Relax, it’s not even loaded…”

Great vocal diversity, but the bassist, Peter Cetera, has the highest tenor (you heard him on "25 or 6 to 4"). If you want the real rough soul, that would be guitarist Terry Kath. Probably the best example of this is his work on "It Better End Soon" on Chicago II (an awesome long-form work). Chicago's early catalog has some amazing cuts and suites that would work great for long-song-Friday: "Poem 58" (8:37) and "Prologue/Liberation" (16:38) off CTA; "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" (12:47) and "It Better End Soon" (10:26) off Chicago; and "Travel Suite" (22:30) and "Elegy" (15:27) off Chicago III.

THANKS FOR DOING YOUR THING HERE-really enjoy it daily.

@JustJP

Жыл бұрын

I appreciate that piles, thank you

The studio version of “Beginnings” is the ONLY version of this song, in my opinion. Nothing even comes close to it.

@gaiaeternal5131

Жыл бұрын

I agree the studio version is better than this live one.

Thanks for going into detail of what was happening with the arrangement and the groups dynamic.

@JustJP

Жыл бұрын

Happily! Thank you for watching Karen!

Evening Justin. Dave from London, reliving the Old Days - Good Times I Remember, including seeing Chicago at the Hammersmith Odeon in the 70s. They were phenomenal in their musicianship and energy, and you're right about all the different types of music they blend. Having said that, I don't think this performance shows them at their best. Didn't Terry start playing the wrong chords, which momentarily threw the rest of the band? Robert Lamm's in great voice, and the trumpet and trombone soloing are fizzing, but on record it then fades into a percussion jam. That's on their debut album Chicago Transit Authority, one of the first albums I bought, back in 1969. P.S. my song ref Old Days is from their eighth album, which also contains Terry's homage to Jimi Hendrix, Oh Thank You Great Spirit.

I much prefer the studio versions of their music where the singer sings into the mic, the balance and arrangements are perfected with clarity. They had a great many hits back in the '70s with that great horn section setting them apart from most bands. This particular song was a them for Bill Clinton's re-election campaign.

The three horn players were all music majors at DePaul University, steeped in music theory. Every member of the band was a virtuoso in their own right. You mentioned what a great concert this would have been. Catch Leonid and Friends if they come to your area - they do spot on covers of all of Chicago's biggest tunes. I would second the motion that you need to listen to the studio version. I like the energy and the spontaneity of the live version, but the studio version is much better from a mix and production standpoint and doesn't drag as a lot of studio versions do.

The bass player, Peter Cetera, actually sings in the high register. For better or worse, he eventually became the group’s most recognisable voice when Chicago took a turn in the 80s during the David Foster years.

@-davidolivares

Жыл бұрын

If you leave me now…

@hklinker

Жыл бұрын

Cetera sang before that.

Back in the day at our college radio stationwe used to segue the percussion end on the long version with the Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy For the Devil'. If you did it right the syncopation was perfect and we could let them both play together until Mick started singing. You couldn't tell where Beginnings ended and Sympathy started. It was fun!

@MissAstorDancer

Жыл бұрын

That was a forgotten skill that DJ's back in the day had! The segues connecting one song to another were always FUN, to me!! And, just the way they would choose the order of the songs, even if they didn't "blend" together, even if their was a full stop ending between songs....the way they chose which songs to play one after another, was also cool! But those creative segues were great! I can remember me and my friends, and even my DAD, would comment on those segues, like......"oh, that was cool!" I don't think I had started using the word "segue" back then, but, yeah! Cool post, Joan!

@joanbounacos8958

Жыл бұрын

@@MissAstorDancer Thanks so much!! It was a long time ago, but coming up with them was so much fun! Another one was Spirit's Nature's Way hitting the tympani into the tympani at the beginning of Epitaph by King Crimson. Segues were hard to do with the Moody Blues because they already had done their own, so you had to use a slip cue. Done well, it was great, done poorly you were jarred out of your seat. Good times!!

Awesome would give this 1,000 likes if I could, Terry Kath is a musicians guitarist R.I.P. 😢

Hoping others have done so, but if not, allow me to suggest you add Chicago's debut, Chicago Transit Authority to your full album listens. It's one that you can do track by track, although "Ballet for a Girl from Buchanan" must be played in its entirety, even though several sections did get broken apart for radio play. CTA will take awhile, as Chicago was so confident they not only released a double album for their debut, but their sophomore and third albums were also double albums, followed by a four vinyl live album, I believe. Very much worth the journey.

JP gets it. I purchased the massive Live vinyl lp edition of this Concert Tour. I was very young, 15. This Song made a huge impression on me as a young musician. I'm old now; there are still Beginnings. Subscribers will give excellent song recommendations. 🎵

they came up with the fancy ending because it's impossible to fade out on stage

@jeffp3415

Жыл бұрын

They also figured out not the average fan didn't like the 3 minute percussion jam at the end of the studio version.

This is a lot like the studio version except the studio version ends with an extended percussion jam that is absolutely killer.

Chicago had more "Radio Play" Hits in the 1970s than any other Rock band !!! 👍🎶🎼📻

When reacting Chicago(CTA) you should start with "Introduction". I puts on display all of the groups talents.

I grew up playing the Trumpet. Started taking Cornet lessons when I was 5, and got a Trumpet a few years later. I tried to play that awesome Trumpet solo that's on the album... but I just couldn't hit that high D... dammit... Oh... it seemed like he didn't hit it here either... Ok, I feel a 'little bit better' about myself now... : )

Chicago were never better.

Totally on point

Great reaction, like always.

@JustJP

Жыл бұрын

Appreciated bud! Ty

Awesome as always. You really need to jump into a group called Chase. Start with Open Up Wide and Handbags and Gladrags. Enjoy

Love it.

After Kath died, the band started to go MOTR, which is Okay if you like that style, but gone were the rock and jazzyness after their 5th or 6th album.

@gaiaeternal5131

Жыл бұрын

I agree up to a point, Paul. But the band discovered MOTR was the way to a hit single while Kath was around (If You Leave Me Now; Baby, What A Big Surprise etc.). Second, they had to move with the times in the late 70s and 80s. There are still plenty of rock/jazz gems to be found, e.g. Manipulation (from Chicago 14); their songs with Toto members (Chicago 16), all of the Night And Day album with their updated versions of big bands classics; and more recently the Now album is not half bad, especially the title track. Of course, those early albums are still my favourites.

@paulhansberry8168

Жыл бұрын

@@gaiaeternal5131 To me they just sounded so good early on, really I'm just whining more or less, comes with old age [;>)

One of the few successful songs involving horripilation! Chicago has many avenues.

@MissAstorDancer

Жыл бұрын

ooooo! Yer givin' me goosebumps with those big words!

@MisterWondrous

Жыл бұрын

@@MissAstorDancer :)

I am sure I am repeating myself. Hard to go wrong with Chicago. Thx Justin.

Here's the other best one from the Tanglewood gig - their cover of the '60s classic "I'm A Man" by the Spencer Davis Group - with Lamm, Cetera, and Kath all getting a vocal shot...major kickass track: kzread.info/dash/bejne/doSOt8mff9SnlMo.html

Dialogue 1 and 2 needs to be reacted to! It's a whole conversation between a hippie and a conservative.

One of my favorites is I’m a man !

Older Chicago is the best Chicago. Once the 80s hit and they went all-ballad, they went downhill quickly.

The studio version keeps going....

How many rock bands have a trombone?

Stay on the first album until you've done every song.

@gaiaeternal5131

Жыл бұрын

Even Free Form Guitar? I love every other track but tend to skip this one.

@fordp69

Жыл бұрын

@@gaiaeternal5131 I think JP should listen to it, but he can decide if he wants to publish it as a reaction. It may get less attention than the others, but he can decide if he wants to.

Chicago is one of my favorite progressive bands…….

Their best album imho! CTA

You do have the best audio on YT! Great song!

@JustJP

11 ай бұрын

Thats very kind of you Chiariqueen, thanks for listening :)

@Chiari_Queen_T

11 ай бұрын

You're so welcome, I just subscribed! May I request my favorite Chicago song "Make Me Smile"? 🤞🏻 🎶🎸🎧🎹🎻🥁🎵