A Rested Band Experiments With Some New Sounds. An Album Cover Many Wished Was Edible. A Betrayal That Made Them Millions, And The Song That Would Change Everything : June 1976. Chicago band member Walt Parazaider was cleaning his pool. He had a radio on in the background, and heard a song come on. Intrigued with what he heard he would listen more closely. Thinking at first it may be a new song from former Beatle Paul McCartney, he then heard a voice he recognized. It was his fellow band member Peter Ceteras voice. Completely shocked he realized that this was a song the band had recorded during the recording sessions for their new album called If You Leave Me Now. But the band had decided even though they liked the song, it was too much of a departure for the sound they were known for, so they voted to keep it off the new record. Walt obviously was confused. As it would turn out, manager and producer James William Guercio would secretly overrule the band. After listening to the new record as a whole he wasnt hearing a song he considered to be a clear cut single. At the very last minute he decided to add the song that the band had voted against to the final track listing of the new album which would become known as Chicago X. This story that Walt has told many times tells a lot about the state of the band at the time. After working non-stop the past six years, the band had returned to Caribou Ranch in March of 1976 after a much needed and deserved rest to start work on their 8th studio album. The band was eager to try some new sounds. They were obviously very influenced by their label mates Earth Wind & Fire, and decided to pursue a more R&B/Soul/Funk sound. Well almost everyone anyways. Terry Kath was still a Rock And Roll guy at heart. And wasnt really thrilled with this new sound, but decided to go along with it. In fact, the two songs he contributes tell he really wasnt on the same page as the others. The record opens with one of his greatest songs Once Or Twice a track full of excitement and passion, which is probably how he felt once the sessions started. But the record ends with his other contribution Hope For Love, a very melancholy sounding tune, which probably best describes how he was feeling about the direction the group had taken by the end of the sessions. Robert Lamm would also feel conflicted at this time. Of the four songs he contributes to the album you can tell he had lost some of his confidence in his writing. He had released his solo album the previous year, and had not been happy with the reception it received. This would also be the first album we would hear Jimmy Pankow sing a song with You Are On My Mind. Apparently he wasnt happy with how the others were singing it, and finally a frustrated Guercio told him to sing it himself. His second song he would contribute titled Skin Tight (not the same as the Ohio Players song) would be a song none of the lead singers wanted to sing. All three thought it was awful, but in the end Peter was talked into singing it. Lee provides his second lead vocal with Together Again, one of the best songs he had ever written. Then there is Peter Cetera. In great bands when others may not be at the top of their game, others step up. This would be the album where Peter would begin the process of taking the reins. The excellent soulful dance song Mama Mama had all of the elements to be a big hit single, but in the end it would be the ballad known now for good and bad reasons as The Song. With Guercio going behind the bands back to release If You Leave Me Now it would prove he was right, and made the right decision to release it, but the damage was done. Terry and Robert would become livid with this move, and they would all finally realize that their manager and producer just had too much control. In the following months they would hire an attorney to go over the books, and not be happy at all with what they would find out. They would then begin to take the steps to get out of their contract with Guercio. Chicago X would turn out to be a huge commercial success, but would be devastating to the core of the band. They would win Grammys and even be nominated for Album Of The Year but lose to Stevie Wonders Songs In The Key Of Life. Thankfully Terry would still have one more album to give us. On the next record Chicago XI Terry would shine much more than he did in this one. From this point on Robert Lamm would slowly disappear because of drug problems and writers block. Terry would tragically die, and Peter would become the star. I feel personally that Chicago X is the weakest album of the Terry Kath era (I know some will disagree with me). But it still has enough highlights to make it worth owning..
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 07:02:47 +0000
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