These “yunguns” just got introduced to one of the (if not THE) best rock n roll songs (best guitar solo for sure!) of all time! They will never know how growing up in the 60’s and 70’s was like! But guess what! Those of us who did… will all die every happy campers!!!!
Every element of this is brilliant, the rhythm lead, the horns, the vocals and harmonies, the drums and of course Terry Kath's insane lead guitar. Only one of the best songs ever recorded.
I saw this group live when I was a student at Ohio University in the early 1970's. Terry Kath. was still with the band. What an experience to see them jam on stage. One great memory for me
The drummer hitting that bass drum with those 1/32 notes the whole time, maybe it was over dubbed but in any case what a job he did. I don’t like their later lovey dovey stuff after guitarist Terry Kath accidentally shot himself in the head playing pretend Russian Roulette but early Chicago was fantastic .
I remember seeing this album on my family's kitchen table it was my older brother's he just purchased it so that meant extension cords for the pool area for the turntable so we could listen and swim😁...my parent's thought it was something else because we lived in the suburbs of Chicago possibly jazz music until they heard it😂😂...great band, great song and great memories...love your reactions as always❤
It's just not possible to get any better than this. Terry Kath had the way. An amazing set of vocals, and what can you say about the guitar that hasn't been said a billion times. Just never say he's underrated cuz I'll gouge your eyes out with a rusty wood rasp and send a roving hoarde of giant fire ants to trample you into the ground.
I was in high school marching band for 4 years in a row, and we played this song, over and over and over, at pep rallies, basketball and football games, in parades we were in, and during practice, and it got to the point, where I just came to hate it, lol!! Even to this day, hearing this song, brings back all those painful memories, hehehe, but great reaction anyway, guys!
Nick, I subscribed solely because of the honesty of your reaction. You were floored, and weren't afraid to show it. Throwing your hands up in the air, burying your head in your hands, and the shaking of your head combined to be one of the best reactions I've ever seen anywhere on RU-vid. Now cut yourself some slack! LOL You probably heard the short version, and heard it before it was digitally remastered. I was a freshman in HS when this song was released. It sounds 100X better digitally remastered than it did on my 45 rpm record! Throw in Terry's guitar solo and it's almost a different song. :-)
Would you please react to Chicago , Make Me Smile. It's one of my favorites by this group. You will love it because Terry Kath is the lead vocalist on this song, he has a very blues voice. You won't regret it.
This and other Chicago songs (and Blood, Sweat & Tears) were staples of our jazz band & marching band in the early 70's. Chicago was on the radio all the time back then. Still are too.
I would MUCH rather watch reaction videos ( especially when it's music from my era) than just listen to the music by myself. Great song love Chicago but this will forever remind me of the High School marching band AND the drill team lol Anyway glad you enjoyed it!
It's one of those songs that must be enjoyed with headphones or with a super 'hi fi' stereo system back in the day. This song received a ton of airplay on 'mono' AM stations and listened with most on lousy little radios, either handheld or in the car. Awesome tune indeed!!
Although Robert Lamm wrote this song, that's bassist Peter Cetera singing. Chicago had three primary vocalists. Lamm sang most of the "Chicago Transit Authority" debut album and also the famous "Saturday in the Park". Terry Kath sang "Make Me Smile" and "Wishing You Were Here", among others. Cetera sang this and "Feeling Stronger Every Day" and "Baby What a Big Surprise" and others.
I wish I could remember who authored the statement, Hendrix showed what you could do with a guitar, Terry Kath showed you what you should do with a guitar
Peter Cetera sang this song with his jaw wired shut. Back in the day, the Chicago Cubs were in town to play the Dodgers. Cetera went to the game. Chicago won and I guess that pissed off some marines who were at the game. They took it out on Cetera because he was a long-hair and an obvious Cubs fan. His jaw got broken in the fight. By the time the recording session came around, his jaw was wired shut but they said we gotta do this. He sang that way and it actually made him change the way he sang. He sang with clenched teeth.
It’s such a great song and reaction from my hometown band! I love how you guys review song notes BEFORE listening and recognize the greatness of Danny Seraphine on drums, which tends to get lost in Terry Kath’s smokin’ guitar solo. They had three labels that wanted them to drop the horns (sax, trombone and trumpet). But they stuck to their guns and aren’t we grateful for that! I can’t wait to see your reaction to the studio versions of Make Me Smile and Beginnings! 💜 ☮️
The brass is a trumpet, a saxophone and a trombone. BTW, the guitar solo is about twice as long on the Tanglewood concert video. Terry Kath was really rocking out.
Its always nice to see the live video concerts, but imo the original studio version ia absolutely the one to listen to, especially for this one--------everything is "perfect" and the sound is flawless!!! I think its one of the best combinations of vocals and instrumentation ever recorded------which I know covers an awful lot of ground but thats how I personally feel about this one----Chicago is an amazing band and they're still going strong!!
Terry Kath, the incredible lead and rhythm guitarist for Chicago also has one of the most soulful voices I ever heard. Please react to Ballet to the Girl From Buchannon (Make Me Smile), Color My World, or I Am A Man. He simply had it all.
One of their best! They have a trumpet, trombone, and sax. Can't go wrong with most Chicago songs. Like i saud we take this for granted when we see your reactions!
There is another documentary where Terry Kath's daughter is trying to find out more about him. And is looking for his "special" guitar. It has the Blackhawks logo on it. Both of the documentaries are great!
Chicago live at tanglewood is a must see. Terry's guitar solo in "25 or 6 to 4" and his voice in "make me smile" are priceless moments in time we all need to experience. RIP Terry !! You are the man !! Peace everyone.
LOL! I started applauding and then Nick joined in. And I've heard this song millions of times. It's an indisputable classic!! Terry Kath's guitar literally talks!!
You guys should check out every 25/6/4 performance on Chicago's Carnegie Hall Complete album set. The guitar solos on each of the six performances are unique and outstanding.
Terry Kath on guitar. Peter Cetera on vocals and bass. Danny Seraphine on drums and James Pankow trobone, Lee Loughnane trumpet, Walt Parazaider sax, Robert Lamm keyboards. One of the best tracks ever.
There is another great horn/rock band, underappreciated, off the beaten path: "Sons Of Champlin" - Album: 'Loosen Up Naturally' 1969 - Songs: '1982-A', then 'Get High'; after that pick any song on the album. "The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County in the San Francisco-Bay area, formed in 1965. They are one of the 1960s San Francisco bands, along with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Moby Grape." If you are interested in another case of underappreciated 'san francisco sound' greatness, I think you would appreciate the band/album "It's a Beautiful Day" (1969) and the songs 'Hot Summer Day' (soft), 'Wasted Union Blues' (hard)...(they had a hit with "White Bird" but you can wait on that until or if you decide you want to hear more)
Try Leonid and Friends doing a cover of this song... You wont regret it. Leonid claims that Chicago is the greatest rock band of all time which is why he wanted to do the cover. They sound exactly like Chicago....
Thx so much guys..great as usual !!! Now hear me out... There is the most AMAZING BAND from RUSSIA...name is LEONID AND FRIENDS!!! They are the BEST COVER CHICAGO band in the world...good enuf for Chicago members to mention !! LEONID has to make up ALL the arrangements himself..note for note they are DEAD ON !!! PLEASE watch them...you don't have to react ..just watch in your spare time...WATCHING them is a PLEASURE !! 25 or 6 to 4 is off the charts !!
Terry Kath was such a soulful musician. From his vocals to his solos, just pure soul. loved his playing and his vocals were second to none. I wish he were still around so we'd have more of his soul to listen to.
Undoubtedly, one, of if not the best, guitar soloes in rock music. So well-constructed musically, building upon itself to a blazing climax. My favorite lick is at 8:33 after the the word sleep...so tasty!!
Self-proclaimed "rock band with horns". The brass section consists of: James Pankow (trombone, one of the songwriters) Lee Loughnane (trumpet); Walter Parazaider (woodwinds). These guys write ALL of their own musical arrangements - they know music. Lamm(keyboards/piano, one of the lead vocalists), Pankow(trombone) and Cetera(bass, another lead vocalist) were all inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017. They were the first rock group invited to perform at Carnegie Hall - and sold out every night for a week!! One of the most successful rock groups in RIAA & Billboard history (2nd only to The Beach Boys) having sold over 100 m records, including: 23 gold, 18 platinum and 8 double-platinum albums; 20 Top Ten singles; 10 Grammy nominations and winning for the song "If You Leave Me Now"; in 1974 their 7 albums were all in Billboards Top 200 at the same time; the original group was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. After their performance at Tanglewood, Jimi Hendrix told Parazaider (woodwinds for Chicago) "that the horn section sounds like one set of lungs and the guitar player (Kath) is better than me".
oh yeah, that's brass. you bet! Trombone (James Pankow) and Trumpet (Lee Loughnane) are heavily incorporated into their music, along with sax/flute (Walter Parazaider). Lamm wanted to write a song that a guitar solo could be incorporated which would highlight Terry Kath's talents on guitar. Jimi Hendrix was once asked in an interview what it was like to be regarded as the best guitar player. Hendrix replied, "I don't know, you should be asking that guy in Chicago". Also, Joe Walsh, no slouch when it comes to guitar playing talent, in an interview after the death of Terry Kath, said that he (Kath) could do things with the guitar that I cannot do, I mean, I know what he's doing but I just can't do it. That's why you get different styles and sounds from Kath, especially in this solo, which is not usually included in discussions about great guitar solos - can't understand that. The guitar and drums make this song! And for another nice little ditty solo from Kath, listen to the longer version (not the radio version) of Make Me Smile.
I can relate to this because for years I had heard this song a bunch of times on classic rock radio, at the gym, at the grocery store, etc. and I always dismissed it until one day I bought a best of Chicago CD and had this song blasting through my car speakers as I was driving down the road. It was the first time I had ever really heard the guitar solo and I still think it's one of the best ever recorded.
It’s amazing how I can track the years of my youth (especially the teens and my very early ‘20’s) through the music you guys review and react to. Soooooo much great, classic rock music with so many different styles came out when I was a kid and CHICAGO is no exception, releasing ten of their albums before I shuffled off to Navy boot camp. Nice job, guys. 👍🏻
Dream Theatre will give you every bit of what Chicago gave back then! The instrumental montage will fill your brain! If you like solos George Lynch from Dokken will blow you mind in Tooth And Nail
Cetera on Bass, Kath on that lead guitar (rip), Seraphine on drums. I saw them once before Terry Kath died, and again before Peter Cetera left. They IMO are the best pop/rock group of all time. Their early stuff is legendary.
Guys, your assessment of this song is right on. I was 10, when this song came out. I didn't understand all that was going on, but knew right away, that this song was special. Its in my top ten songs of all time! You guys are great.
I'm a Man is a cover of a Spencer Davis Group song co written by Steve Winwood while not much brass T Kaths vocals and guitar skills paired with a Danny Seraphin drum solo will rock your socks off.
To fully appreciate the genius of Terry Kath you really need to see the live version from Tanglewood. The whole concert rocks!! Check out some of their other songs like I'm a man, Beginnings, Make me smile, Question 67 & 68, Old days and many more!!!! And please try to get to some Molly Hatchet songs like Flirting with disaster, Bounty Hunter, Whiskey Man, Dreams I'll never see, Fall of the Peacemakers, The price you pay and others. Thank you.
Chicago had a couple of stages. I love the 80s ballads, but early Chicago rocks! Great reactions, guys! In the future, try "I'm A Man", "Make Me Smile", "Saturday In The Park", and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" from the early days of Chicago. From a little later - "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", "Baby What A Big Surprise" and "If You Leave Me Now" are good.
There are two distinct versions of Chicago. The first, and in my opinion the best, is the version you are listening to. This version, whose top songs are compiled on Chicago IX, is edgier and driven by a legendary horn and rhythm section. It featured three different singers (Lamm, Cetera, and Kath) and collaborative song writing to produce a unique sound. The other, and lesser from my view, is the iteration dominated by Peter Cetera and the over-engineered pop style of David Foster beginning with "If You Leave Me Now."
I know no other song can top this one ,25 or 6 to 4 live id awesome.. I'd just like you guys to react to an under rated song by them. It was very popular in Latin America. It's called Lowdown.
Requesting, again, that you do "One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse. Details about one of the band's members may be very surprising to you. Plus it's a great song.
Great song by a super talented band who had a ton of catchy, well written songs, although I would stick mostly to their 70's hits because once they hired the famous pop producer David Foster in the 80's (starting with the album Chicago 16), their sound became way more pop than rock and with far less horns. I would highly recommend checking out the RU-vid channel of the Russian band Leonid and Friends, who do mainly covers and a couple originals, but ~90% of the covers are Chicago because the guy who started the band, Leonid, has been a huge Chicago fan since he was a child. He is a producer and musician in Moscow and he originally got some session musicians/singers together a few years ago to record just a couple Chicago songs as a tribute, but the videos went viral, so they kept recording and they've done a couple tours of America, including one currently across America. I'm seeing them in Massachusetts next month. And to clarify any "bad karma" with the Russian association, they are all great people who are the antithesis of D-bag Putin. 😁 (Their lead singer was actually Ukrainian, but he had to leave the band to take care of his family in Kiev) Check out their cover of this song...it absolutely kicks a$$!
Here's the link to the video of Leonid and Friends doing the cover of 25 or 6 to 4 if you're interested... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9_torOTK5qc.html
This song is so good!! One of their all time greatest. You're My Inspiration is a sad excuse in comparison. Now that you've heard this, play their entire catalog pre 1975. Full of fantastic material.
