THROUGH THE WIRE peter ceteras signature vocal style did not come to him easily or painlessly. while fronting chicago (he was also the bass player) and as a solo artist, cetera successfully utilized his unique, high-tenor voice which featured an almost computerized yet, somehow, buttery quality. many of his biggest hits (if you leave me now, your the inspiration, glory of love) were slow-dance specials for loving couples at proms and weddings but there was nothing tender or romantic about how cetera arrived at his sound. in april of 1969, chicago (then called chicago transit authority) were opening for jimi hendrix at the forum in los angeles. a few days later, peter cetera joined bandmates walter parazaider, terry kath and danny seraphine for an early-season baseball match-up between the l.a. dodgers and the visiting chicago cubs, the groups beloved hometown team. cetera and the boys found themselves in high-spirits as their normally hapless cubs boat-raced the dodgers to a 7-0 victory behind solid pitching from ken holtzman and a mammoth homerun by mr. cub ernie banks. after the last out was recorded, the elated, long-haired musicians from chicago transit authority made their way to the stadium exits but, somewhere along the way, they were confronted by a unit of less jubilant, short-haired servicemen from the united states marines who apparently did not like cubs fans or hippies; and not necessarily in that order. after words and shoves were exchanged, one of the troops landed a vicious blow to peter ceteras face that broke his jaw in three places and put him in intensive care for a week. cetera was eventually released from the hospital but, in kanye-esque fashion, his jaw was wired shut for 2 long months, providing him with ample time to practice his bass playing while enjoying meals through a straw. after doctors cut the wire out, cetera began to sing again but lived in constant dread of opening his mouth too wide, anxious his jaw might lock, very painfully, in the open position. to combat this fear, he started vocalizing with his mouth nearly closed which compressed his powerful tone and limited his normally wide vibrato, but the new, unorthodox technique also gave his singing a strange yet beautiful allure that would go on to captivate millions of yuppie lovers. as for the 1969 chicago cubs, they dominated the national league east division until the final month of the baseball season when, unsurprisingly, catastrophe struck. on september 9th, the cubbies were visiting new york for a crucial, 3-game set with the second place mets when, out of nowhere, an ominous black cat ran onto the shea stadium field and circled cubs star ron santo while he was warming up in the batters box. from that point forward, the cubs lost 17 out of their final 25 games and were overtaken by the mets who eventually won the 1969 world series. the cubs have not won a championship since 1908, before radio, television or peter ceteras parents were born. so, ironically, peter ceteras jaw being broken might have been the only really good thing that ever happened to a cubs fan at a cubs game.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:00:01 +0000
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