Chicago - Beginnings - 7/21/1970 - Tanglewood (Official) 

The Chicago Transit Authority

Always

Lamm's voice is perfection. People forget that Peter Cetera was there from the "beginning." Feelin' Stronger Every Day is one of my favorites (Cetera leads).

hell yeah

I always thought this was Terry’s voice wow. Beautiful voice.

I prefer the songs that they sang even more than Peter Cetera 🎶🎶

They were great for so many years but they're at their best with Terry

In the 60 's.

I am!

We had a wide variety of music!

Mike Bills Amen brother!

Mike Bills me too sooooo glad

Love the Beatles, for sure. These guys are in TOP 5

@@heathercollins4432 pure musician's writers and producers!

Ditto

Pure feeling!

He had some awful issues. It happens with geniuses. I believe they're trying to switch off or down the never ending dialogue in their brain. He died tragically. You can see how messed up he was in this video.

It was a great decade!

Jackson 5, Fifth Dimension, Linda Ronstadt, Motown, Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, etc...

@@edadan All great artist!!

I agree Ron. Saw Chicago summer 2018 and they were great.

Hell Yeah we did!!!

incredible band - so powerful in those days

And will always be!

q lot of early stuff was hard rock and never made the top 40

a lot was lost when they cancelled music class in schools, that's how most learned to play it's a crying shame

@@hsad1234 At that time those were usually the best songs!

Here from Taxachusetts.. Playing along on my drum set from '64... beats watching TV. Saw them live about 5 or 6 years ago south of Boston. Fantastic!!

6/1/24 Still here! I graduated HS in 1975- loved this band then and still do now! We enjoyed the best music!

From South Bend, Indiana, graduated from high school in 1971. The music from the 60's and 70's was classic. Hundreds of those songs are still being played today. Are there any songs today that will be played 60 years from now?

♥️ ♥️

Hey, Chicago Band is never a R&B band.

Robert Lamm and the late, great Harry Chapin were in the same boys’ choir at their local church in Brooklyn Heights.

@@kensellers4082 I had no idea!

@@Noelle0026 I think Robert Lamm is the only original member of Chicago who was not from the greater Chicago area.

@@normallen3457 WAYYYYYYY overdue! Period!

I so agree and I miss those days terribly in the 70s. Those were the best years of my life. I hope you’re still alive. God bless you and me and everybody else to go up at the 70s and were in high school and made it through it

@@pjjj8117 Right on!

You bet!

Totally agree! If this song was released today, it would be #1 and people would know what they are missing in their lives!

I agree totally with you. For me it was southerrn california in those days.

Yes i do 😎👌

I've thought this since about 1998 lol

@@michaelthorpe1869 Yea I guess I am a little late on that. Time presents truth.

They are.

I totally agree Bob!

@scratchdogg WOW! What a memory! I have a wonderful memory, too! Jimi Hendrix in Seattle 1970 rented the house next door to us. I remember hearing guitar rifts loud! I went next door. Front door open I peeked in Jimi saw me and said in his smooth voice " c'mon innnn" with a smile on his face. He and his whole band!!! Yes, I knew who he was! They were rehearsing to play at Sick Stadium. 3 months later, he died in London. Rest In Power Jimi🕊🕊🕊💜

@@FleuerDiLis Wow...both of you super lucky...Chicago and Jimi are you serious?

Stay young 😮

Same 👍😊💕

Saw them 6/71 near Cleveland Ohio. Weekend after I graduated high school.❤

1969! I was living in Chicago! This song hit the R&B chart! I've been a fan for life! Saw them 3 years ago live. Still the same energy!

I am also 71 years old. Never gets old. Hearkens back to a simpler time when music was music.

Saw them twice, in the 60's as CTA and in the late 90's (not sure of the date) with out Terry Kath.. he was a genius talent. Danny Seraphine was and still is one of my favorite drummers. Beginnings and 25 or 6 to 4 are my favorites..

Awesome!

I agree

Great point about EGO. No wonder they were not a one hit wonder.

​@@martintadeo9725 zzzzzzxfq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zq4zzzq4zqzzqzxqqzqqzqzqzq4zqzqzqzqzqzqzqzqzxzzzzzqzzqzqzqqxqqqxqqqqxxqqqqxqqqqqqqqqqqxqqqqqqqxqqqqqqqxqffx4f😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂5

Still! They have it! steve

I think those first years were their best..this being my favorite Chicago song

It is very emotional to me when I think about the 1970s

Ok who chuckled at 8 track? 😃

great observation...I remember once blasting this song in my car while at a gas station & a fella approached me to ask, “what song is that? It’s great!!” African America fella, I’m sure he heard the amazing soul in this track!!

@@nathalieconnor5803 that phrase immediately stopped my tears. I began chuckling too at how old fashioned 8 track sounds.

I wasnt around then...born in 79 but im 44 and im here to say i TOTALLY agree w u. U can see the passion oozing off them all!!!❤

Even tho when they lost Terry their style moved in a different direction they still made PHENOMENAL music then and going forward

You're absolutely right, when lyrics had true meaning

Russ Berg Good for you!!

You will not be Married, much longer, if she finds out you did not Capitalize "Wife." Mum, is the word.

True that!

Russ: Same here. We danced to this song on our first date in 1975. Still together 45 years later. It really was "only just the beginning".

@@tommcallister7647 I wish I could share a happy story like yours. I can however share that this is a great song and gets better each time I listen!!!!

I was at this concert, along with many other great ones. It's local. I'm 70 now.

And guitarist, which I just discovered.

This is live Wow,this awesome! ❤

And gorgeous! 😍

I really love some of the faces he makes! Rock on Chicago Transit Authority if you please!

Amazing voice

Beautiful witness...Pankow's blow is supreme...like a clarion call....

Its so obvious what he's talking about.....nothing but love, friendship, outstanding music oozing off that stage....wishing I was there...thank God for RU-vid!!!

The original and best line up 👍

I grew up in the 70's and of course was aware of "Chicago." I remember asking this girl, what do you like better " Saturday in the Park, " or "Saturday is all Right for Fighting?" I knew little about the dynamics of the band besides there were a bunch of them, they had a born section, and had a guitarist with a really deep voice who accidentally? shot himself himself. Now I realize that this band was unique in that everybody pulled their weight musically. Cause during their heyday I never saw them or even knew what they looked like. So watching them on big-time is a revelation. They all wrote, and if they wrote less then they made up for it with musicianship and energy. What great writers the horn players and keyboardist were. What great singers Lamn, Cetera and Kath were. What a virtuoso the drummer and guitarist were. Seven guys, all of them indespensible. Amazing! Unfortunately, horns in a rock band became passe by the mid-seventies. The great experiment starting with Blood Sweat & Years ended with Chicago, Too bad, but what are you gonna do?

I agree, Danny Crockett. They were in sync, in the pocket & in the zone at Tanglewood; from beginning to end, I would arguably say this was their best live performance EVER!

So true!!!

You and me both!!

RIP. So sad

The music plays him

Right on!

Jonathan Abbott--I am very happy to hear this.

Underrated?

@@jefflewis6925 Agree. Internet people use the word "underrated" too freely to the point of being meaningless now. In my youth reading about Chicago I never not once read/heard rock journalists underrating any one of Chicago's personnel. I did however read same journalists overrating Peter Cetera esp. around the 1984 period when Chicago got too much AOR-oriented.

And that horn section!

dreamt of my soul mate last night 🥰

Transit Authority

Chicago Transit Authority first album

A touch of soft Jazz on RocknRoll given by that splendid horn section.

Thankyou for this.

Yup. CTA

So many memories 😊 played that Chicago album so many times in the 70's 🎶

Wow 50 years, and I'm 67 going on 68 this year, I must of been 13 when I heard this 1969 or 1970'

Which one sings Beginnings?

@@michaellalli7693 Robert Lamm sings Beginnings, Peter Cetera sings 25 or 6 to 4 & Terry Kath sings Make Me Smile

An Chicago's albums and hits and jams were all selling as well as the Stones and Beatles in that era Elton John also

This is pure talent playing live.. And no Auto Tune.. Pure golden talent.. no mas Omg😎

Chicago mil veces mejor 😎👌,que los Beatles 💩👌en lo personal aclarando no me gusta el grupo Beatles la vdd. Mis respetos para el grupo Chicago

😅❤

Hi Rosemarie Kellog yes the list to choose from is so widespread so varied and all chart toppers in their own right but to me? IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW, GOES STRAIGHT TO MY HEART AND YET THERE IS ANOTHER THAT BRIGHTENS AND AWAKENS ME AND THAT SONG IS SATURDAY IN THE PARK¡ I JUST FLOAT WEN I HEAR THIS SONG MORESO THE HORNS INTERMINGLING ! JIMMY PANKOW YOU ARE SHEER GENUIS

Not only my favorite Chicago song from their best album, but one of favorite songs. Bought CTA in 1968 when I was 15.

I'm with you, Rosemarie! This song is, in a word, Perfect.

Agree...Chicago's best song

Definitely my ALL TIME favorite song, a love song without the word love. It goes well beyond that!!!!

They were so tight, in the pocket. Pros.

fantastic arrangement

everyone's listening out for each other bro but 'specially coming in with Danny Seraphine he absolutely owns this half way in 😀

Terry such a pro note how he backs off when it’s not his featured part of the song.

You're a genius.....

His daughter said that Jimi Hendrix idolize him and really wanted to play with him. Can you imagine? Also, when they recorded "Make Me Smile" he was very drunk and did it in one take.

After Chicago 5 the band did started getting soft

@@gregboardman915 Yes, they went in their Air Supply phase. Nothing good.

That was the point.

Plus the way they rock their solos...and when Jimmy and Lee go for it on this song --I just lose it!!

Good point!

They wrote a lot of their songs. Mr. Pankow.

Like Blood, Sweat, & Tears

4 out 5 doctors surveyed recommend sugarless gum for thier patients who chew gum....i always go onthe recommendations of 4 out of 5 doctors NOT 2 out of 3 or 5 out of 6 it has to 4 out of five doctors.....what happens to that 5th doctor...he has to live in a tent in 50 below zero weather and do logging 14 hours a day 100 miles north of the arctic circle living on just a corn muffin a day

True that! Had the privilege of seeing them two years running ‘73 and ‘74 at Pine Knob outside of Detroit. An amazingly tight band that exceeded expectations.

@@kimnelson9910that edible kickin in all at once, huh buddy?! 😮

It was!

Only if you weren't bullied at school.

So beautiful and simple that the guitarist killed himself...

@@coycreek1 accidental

LIFE WAS NEVER "SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL" - IT'S A DISTORTED MEMORY.

To that point--when I saw Hendrix in Oakland (April 1969), The Chicago Transit Authority were second on the bill.

Never were underrated!

... there is always a fool who says this underrated nonsense.. Chicago was considered a top band from the beginning.

@@greggrimm5056 It's well documented that Jimi said. Terry Kath is a better guitar player than him

Truth! It was meant to be ❤️

@@dmg1837 ponojnongnnngponnookonnonojnoghpononbogkpongookpnoopoojnngojnojohonojohnonnonponpgjnonongonojjnnnpnojnogojnojonghonnpognoknooognojnopnhonojjnohkoohnogononjnojnojnopnnnpknjojonnononnnonjnnpgnnognnnppjhnpnjonopnnpjnononnojnpkjjnononojojnojnojnojnojnojnonojnojnojnonpjnojnojnohjnojnojnonojnojnojnojnojnojnonjnonjnojojnojnonojnognjbhy9moop

The Holy Spirit

It seriously confirms my feelings about a “gods-like intervention”. This kinda shit doesn’t “just happen”.

OMG You must have had goosebumps on top of your goosebumps I frickin just about welled up reading your story (ok I did) sorry for the loss of your ex! There is this beautiful angel that I am totally smitten with & This number just fits the situation with how I feel about her "I wish I could put it to words" anyway thanks for sharing your story it really did move me! Peace my friend!

Thank you.

TheSpock23 Amazing story!

TheSpock23 you made me cry. that is so special. "God is so good" sorry for your loss. 😥😥great story.

Hell of a story ... I do believe it means something... no doubt brother!

Agreed. No passengers.

The 70's version of Chicago was the best period!

That's true. They were great!

This song reminds me of my 1st girlfriend

Danny probably was the weakest because his meter wasnt great, BUT, neither was Keith Moon's and hell even Bonham fluctuated 5-10 bpm. I am a drummer and I think Danny was incredible.

True, show me someone better, at this point in his life, NO ONE COULD TOUCH HIS PLAYING🤩

Jimi Hendrix said Kath was the best. That’s it. The best calling someone the best?

in my Opinion the best shredder ever

Jimmy Hendrix said Terry was better then he was.

@@terrysowards3379 Terry could shred

Im sorry

🙏

💔💔💔💔

@Don Juan Matus So sorry 💔🕇

Michael keep on dancing brother, that's what your beautiful wife would have wanted

Agreed

I saw Chicago in 1970 at the "Music Circus in Lambertville, NJ (near New Hope PA) "Country Joe and the Fish" opened up the show with "Give me an 'F', give me a 'U', etc. What's that spell. Insane outdoor concert. i was 21-years old. Thats 'tame', by today's standards. I'd love to go back in time!

100% Agree!!!!

One of my late father Al Guilford's favorite, one of his live son Adam's too... love CTA

I went through highschool listening to Chicago, they could me psyched up for my track meets like nothing else could. We had some good runners ... two held the USAEUR records for the 800 meter and 1600 meter events ... Augsburg Germany ... 1976 uber alles.

RIGHT?!? That's what I was thinking too! I usually don't like live versions of songs because they stray far form the studio recordings... but not this. Just jaw dropping amazing. What spectacular musicians.

Yeah !! They Were Too

Better live too me.

Friend: I saw them live in Carbondale: SIU. The best performance ever: I was on the top stage on the group. Why are they not in the Hall of Fame of the Best Band Orchestras of all times?

Simply put, one of the greatest bands of all time.

@@jairourdaneta1 They are. Inducted in 2016. A bit of an affront, IMO, when you see the list of people that were inducted before them. They should have been inducted many years ago.

@@jairourdaneta1 siu!!! I graduated in '83!

I saw them in 69, great performance!

I was At this Concert I was 16 Years old Sold a LB. of Pot Made 2 Grand I loved This Concert !!!!

Amen!

Oh, yes.

me too

Tower of Power, Cold Blood, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chase - holy chaos so many great jazz/rock songs from 1968 - 1974. I was blessed to be a teenager and all this crazy good music tumbling out of the airwaves.

Trumpet player myself in school. One day I'll learn and play that track!!

Truth there... and that karma synergy.....Chicago Transit Authority.....

Unreal so masterful

Kath's voice was outstanding, as well.

@@schtuke Truth...

This song is so EPIC! Robert Lamm's voice is amazing & his adlib of KC & the Sunshine's Band's "Yes I'm Ready" after the first stanza. I love the arrangement of the song and the "pregnant pauses." Kath's genius on the guitar, the drummer tinkering & pounding, the talented brass section, and the subtleness of the bass guitar - just perfect. From every nuance and crescendo, this song is perfection!!

Amen

@@nelsonpotter3808 Nicest thing ever written on the net to date! 😁

With the Beatles disbanding at the time of 69' and 70'. Three bands thrived. The Guess Who / Chicago / Three Dog Night.

I saw Terry Kath play his face as a precussion instrument during the instrumental break in their cover of "I'm A Man" at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1969.. the whole band's musicianship and songwriting blew me away then and still does.

Tanglewood is still a great venue!

Might as well camp out there for good, check out the Santana and Jethro Tull complete shows from Tanglewood.

Good one

I’ll go with you

The bartender says, "I'm sorry, we don't serve time travelers here." (After a long pause.....) A time traveler walks into a bar. ;)

...word.

It's hard not to...

I listened to the oldies station Kool 95.7 in New Orleans in the late 80s and early 90s with my mom running errands. I listened to all kinds of songs on the radio with her and this is one of many I remember and will love forever!

Don’t leave out auto tune!

A fuckin men, they think they're musicians if they waggle a record back n forth, what no talent shits, fuck rap, disco, bullshit tecnopop, fuck it all

Yes, just absolute talent.

Dunno, according to some he was close to splitting from the band in 1978. Too MOR for him.

@@boke75 MOR?

Truth...and Pankow just nails his solo..

Never forget that day he died!! So many great musicians died way before we could hear everything they had to offer!!!

Sad he was great

Absolutely

One of a kind!

Masterpiece, indeed! Lamm is on lead vocals here. This is my top Chicago song.

You'll enjoy Leonid & friends, as they bring Chicago's music into the 21st century. They tour regularly, and are very good, live.

Just saw Leonid and Friends in concert this summer. Calling them a "cover" band is a bit of an in😢sult! Like Chicago, everyone in that band is a first rate talent! Saw Chicago numerous times back in their early years. Remember it fifty years later. I'm 80 and still get a thrill watching these videos!

I mind crawling through the basement of DePaul to sneak in and see Chicago. I think at the time (70?) the tickets were 50 cents, but 50 cents was the cost of two packs of cigarettes, so the smokes won out.

EWF……Earth Wind & Fire, Sting & Stevie Wonder in various pieces. God sends talents thru each era. A lot of it stayed betw the 60s & 80s 😂

Lamm they say is the author. If he is: All the group is good

I was just thinking that to myself when I came across your post.

all in the same group unreal :)

If Lamm is the author , all of the group is good. Ummm , ok. They all be good at what they do.

@@drdvs69 perfect.

Yes, but does anybody really know what time it is?

Tell me about it.

Dave L time passes much quickly!

and there songs still sound as good today as they did almost 50 years ago. do you think Tupac crap will be around 50 yrs from now?

Do tell.

And it still holds up!

Hopefully your English will have improved by then as well.

Dude, shut up, somethings in my eyes, now I gotta wipe them. 😢

msstevie1951. Well put, dear.

And so...how did it all work out?

Why do we love this song? HA! The promise of Love and a bright future, CAPTURED in song! Anita Baker's material gets you the same way! So sad for today's youth... no awareness of the idealization of women, or the sanctity of real Love. Neither of these institutions exist anymore like 50 years ago. Women are disloyal and dangerous, if a person allows themselves to fall in love today, they can count on being cuckolded! Goebbels, Lenin or Saul Alinsky must have dream this up... divides the couple, and the family.

@@douglassharpe55 right on. Doug!!Sweet love. Phyllis o .

I know..Led Zepplin was right..The soul of a woman was created below

Unlike music today

The greatest band of all time

yep, I love chicago

If I am not mistaken, the originals are still together.

you are mistaken

I agree, Sharon... however.... "Time passes much too quickly"! Can't hold on to any of it!

Perfectly said.

We may be in our sixties but our music is ageless (to us anyway)

Very well said Sharon🙏✌❤🌞

hey Sharon hear ya babe

Crap.

I don't know much about James Pankow, but he seems to be as equal a driving musical force as Terry and Lamb, just not as a front man.

Jimmy Pankow, a force of nature!!!!

The time of his life fa real

He can "blow" !! Wow !

@@rudolphguarnacci197 He wrote Color My World and Make Me Smile, and Feeling Stronger Every Day with Cetera I believe.

This could be the most emotional poignant ode to love ever. Performed truly flawlessly with Kath's lead work standing out, as was Bobby Lamm's vocals, & unfuckingbelievable horns. I was 17 when I first heard this & it brought tears to my eyes, then & now.

@@Mister8224 where's TK's lead work in this song?

Me To Todd, Me To, They Were The Band!

Fifth years later now. If the is a better song of performance, I don't know if it!

50

50 years ago.

try 50 years.

Let’s not knock other tastes..music for all..

Joseph Osteen Amen 🙏🏻 he was one of the greats.

Jimi Hendrix once said that Terry was a better guitar player than he was. Think about that!!!

When a band member is gone that band loses something. What a great lose for music and for us who love music. Terry Kath I say no more

Watching and hearing Terry play on this song blows me away. He just plays rhythm on this song and he looks like he is playing so fast, and yet it sounds so perfect. He never missed a beat.

99

John Sheperd the Bone Solo kicked ass

Yeah, they're all in the zone and they *know it*, and they're enjoying the hell out of it. This is how a band is supposed to be -- when everything clicks -- whether it's a string quartet, or an orchestra, or a rock band, when the Muses smile on you and this happens, it's pure magic. It's a blast and it's terrific to watch these guys do their stuff.

I agree 100%, absolutely the best, fan since they started in 1968, master musicians

😢

My favorite spin from my favorite group!!

+Kedbuka beyond epicness...ya dig?

They were damn good 2 years ago too!

Sort of like Led Zeppelin at Royal Albert Hall 1970.

Steven Froehlich they lost me after they threw out Danny Seraphine, who *founded. The. Band.* He's an extremely nice guy, and an exceptionally competent drummer, so that's just complete assh*le-ness.

Michelle M I agree Danny gave up too fast.

Elsa Blair-Salerno it is for me!! Love it live! And Feeling stronger everyday. The studio sessions. Check it out

Peter is blitzed!

All timer!

Yes! Takes me bk to 6th gr/1st crush. An art teacher (male) played the album alot thru class!

@@swimlaps1 cool...

I think you mean "soul" Bobby, Pete & Jimmy were the engine, tranny & wheels!

Sam Nitkoffsky try being a great instrumentalist next to a bad drummer, though. It's all about the rhythm section, and that includes Danny Seraphine..You can't do anything with an idiot behind the kit. I don't care what the guitar player and lead singer think. And I'm a singer.

Michelle M u don't no what the fuck ur talking about

Russell Bradford yes I agree great guitarist. but my favorite was Lil peter cetera. ☺

Agree...Terry drove this band. never the same after he passed on.

What a great memory!

@@Lessontobe Yeah the Tanglewood concerts I will remember forever - for two reasons: The actual concerts (Chicago, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone) but also the friends I enjoyed the music with - some of whom have gone on to that big concert venue in the sky. RIP …

And I saw them in concert in pittsburgh in nineteen seventy / nineteen seventy one

@@cindylewis2821 A great concert.