Bloggerhythms

The rock band Chicago, currently celebrating their 54th year in the music business, have never been a darling of the critics but there was a time when the Windy City jazz-rock outfit had a lot of street cred with young music fans everywhere. I have always believed (despite their early outspokenness against the Viet Nam War) that magazines such as Rolling Stone always hated them because their public behavior was never anti-establishment enough to suit the rock press who, during that era, often confused boorishness with artistic genius and self-expression. Unlike Jim Morrison, they never dropped their pants on stage. During Chicago’s salad days of the early 70s the critics were the only ones who didn’t like them. Music teachers liked them. Jazz musicians liked them. Doc Severenson, Duke Ellington, and Jimi Hendrix called themselves fans. Hendrix even took them on tour with him. He was also credited with saying to Chicago’s woodwind player, Walt Parazaider, "When I saw you ...

A surprisingly good documentary, The Terry Kath Experience , received rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 and is now available on AXS TV , a cable network that specializes in classic rock programming. Kath was the guitar player for the 70s horn band, Chicago, an outfit that was finally inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. Michelle Kath Sinclair was only two years old when her father died accidentally playing with a gun he didn't know was loaded at age thirty-two. Sinclair never knew Kath because she was so young when he died so, in order to fill a big void in her life, she produced this informative and moving documentary. Before we get deeper into the film some of you fine readers may need to know more about Kath because, except for musicians and many diehard fans, he is not among the more well-remembered classic rockers. Although he unjustly never makes the lists of rock's great guitarists that many music magazines and web...

The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It I...