What’s Chicago's Greatest Song of the '70s? 

FSED was my favorite as well-- among the many ultra-strong contenders. And "Alive Again" (best intro ever, and by far the best post-Kath track!) was a very worthy successor form Cetera and Pankow.

​@@jackwalker4744 Alive Again is amazing!

God Bless you, sir.

Just wanted to say I’m So sorry to read about this the loss of your wife and I hope you have been able to move on. I don’t you obviously but I’m sure your wife would want you to do whatever makes you happy, GOD BLESS YOU!

Peace. 🙏

My dad was my introduction to Chicago... the last concert we went to together before he passed was a Chicago show in '98.

Condolences to you and everyone who knew and loved your Dad. Brings back memories of the "better" old days....buying Chicago albums at a "record" pace!

I own all albums from Transit Authority to 14. After that only cursory because of the shift away from the horns. It was never the same after Terry Kath. Plus Donnie Dacus never had a chance. No guitarist who followed right after Terry would. Terry Kath is so underrated and under appreciated not only as a guitarist but as a composer and a vocalist. You should watch his daughter's documentary about her dad. Truly moving.

Thank you for such a fantastic live stream of my favorite group of all time. Love hearing your comments. (Got such a kick out of hearing your appreciation for Terry Kath in I've Been Searching So Long”!!) Brings back so many wonderful memories…

Epic and glorious memories to have just wonderful 🤧

Especially the Tanglewood version. Someone using the name Mike Patton (could be him) said, "damn, Terry, what did that guitar ever do to you?".

Yes sir!

Maybe for horn infusion into rock/pop and a variety of instruments. "The Butterfield Blues Band/Live" from the same period is dripping with solid Blues and deserves to be on an equal status.....which they never got.

Agreed 100%. It begins with Introduction and ends with Liberation. I'm not crazy about Free Form Guitar, but the rest is great

Agreed 100%. It begins with Introduction and ends with Liberation. I'm not crazy about Free Form Guitar, but the rest is great

The Wall, Exile on Main St., Tommy, White Album, Physicall Grafitty, even Chicago II is a great contender. I do like CTA a lot, but definitely not the best double album IMHO.

I hope you enjoy the full version

@@barkbarkwoof1 Absolutely!

@@barkbarkwoof1 The full long version is incredible. I wish they had put that version on the greatest hits.

My fave. Then my HS marching band played it in early 70's lol

The full version of Make Me Smile is called Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon.

A fellow musician and good friend of mine from high school named his band after that song!!

@@frankgerace5997 extremely cool

That’s always been my favorite with Wishing You Were Here my fave ballad.

Yes, these Chicago songs still give me the goosebumps. Good stuff. Good memories of listening to music on the radio at home when I was a kid.

Absolutely the greatest band of my life!!! And I have been blessed to work 5 of their shows over the last 30 years. Very first concert I ever attended. Sept 20th,1971. Lake Spivey Calloway Gardens Ga. Didn't tell my parents & I was hooked. In highschool I was in advanced band in what they called Jazz lab. I played electric bass. This band is my favorite, hands down. Robert lamm took the time to talk to me after a show in Tunica. He asked me what was the first concert I ever saw them. My answer stunned him. He couldn't believe I remembered the date. Hell I remembered everything!!!! Opening song & even what he wore. There's a band by the name of Leonid and Friends. They do a phenomenal job on all their songs. Thank you for this!!!

Reminds me of playing high school football in the fall of "72" . Then I saw them at Big Surf in Tempe Arizona the next summer. Good old times for sure.

...the build up in "Searching" knocks me out

Well said. Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" (among others), Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life" (My All Time Favorite Album...Period.), The Carpenter's (Pick One), The Jackson 5, The Commodores, Bread...These Great musicians, and some I've failed to mention, were the soundtrack of my childhood, and WHY I call the 1970s, the greatest and the "Last American Decade".

When I hear SITP, I can visualize the Chicago skyline as clear as the day I visited!

One of my favorites as well. The bass lines are of the most complex 70’s ever played.

And wasn't on here, just like Harry Truman and Old Days.

Yes this! Catching the spirit of the times with Terry and Peter's best vocal together

Dialogue was damn good! Great tune! I totally agree!

The lyrics still hold water after all these years too. They say things that we still need to be reminded of.

You saw Chicago in concert? so did I. It was a great one. They were so good.

It’s amazing and sad at the same time because it reflects how far the quality of popular music has fallen. It also serves to highlight how rock music is almost totally dead in the 2020s.

Music was real back then, today it's just quick marketing tools for Making execs rich, nothing surprising, as soon as music began selling albums, the whole industry - funny word for a creative endeavour - began orienting itself toward big bucks.

I am a child of the 70's. My father looooved Chicago. Todays standards for good music are so much lower. We were spoiled and so lucky at the same time. The best music.

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll put in Rutgersson from ABBA in that category.

Paul McCartney?

And let us not underrate him as a singer, Chicago and soloist.

@@davidc5820 -he's up there with him.

100%

I love the end segment where you can hear the background vocalists singing "Jumping jack flash It;s a gas gas gas".

Absolutely agree!!!

It’s Saturday in the park by Chicago

Mine too.

Agreed! I was born in 1984 so they were before my time but they have many timeless songs so people still can get into them. Some songs do sound dated but imo it’s not the actual song it’s how it was recorded like if they were recorded today they could be top 40! And to be honest my comment is really geared towards the listeners I feel that the few songs I’m thinking of are still fresh but ur every day regular person would say they sound old because of the organs and flute playing. I would also say the drums at times sound old not the style but how they were recorded. What’s amazing to me is how the horns don’t sound dated because they were recorded so well sounds hifi and the vocals man they sound like they were recorded yesterday very clean and clear hifi vocals so in key in the days before pitch correction. It sucks that people don’t know how much talent was required to be a musician like these guys back then. Nowadays ur lucky to have one person in a band that has half the talent that these guys did. It’s pretty safe to say that we probably won’t see a band with so many talented members ever again.

He was one of the greatest. Just relatively unknown.

Hendrix so highly respected Kath. Hendrix thought Kath was " the best guitarist in the universr".

I was lucky to see him twice with Chicago.

great guitar sound played on the early Lp´s

Questions 67 and 68 we're great

Right on! Good call!

100%

I heard it said once that when you are going through the absolute best times of your life, at that moment, you don't realize it until much later in life....case in point: around 1974, Providence Civic Center I got front row seats to Chicago, I was 16 years old, I'm a music fanatic and historian, from a pure technical perspective their music stands the test of time, my favorites are, beginnings, make me smile, 25 or 6 to 4, questions 67 & 68, dialogue, I'm a man, feeling stronger, and I've been searching....if you see this and want mind blowing Kath solo performance, RU-vid Chicago live Tanglewood, MA "25 or 6 to 4", Terry shredding like Jimi said he could 🎶🎵💣🔥

Nope! It's flat out impossible. I've tried doing it many times, and always fail. I'm officially resigned to the fact that I can't do it...and that it's a good, no great...thing. 😀

Unless it is just the first album. Not much got better afterwards.

@@robkunkel8833 I'm watching 🏈 football, it's a commercial, after Kath died, I grew to loathe Cetera and his bubblegum garbage, he never could really write 🎵🎶 music

So true.

It’s the reason why I bought the album in 1970!

I saw them twice this year. The beginning of 25 or 6 to 4 blows me away every time.

This is the correct answer.

Best rock guitar solo of all time.

Absolutely. 25 or 6 to 4 is the greatest guitar solo of all-time

Make Me Smile and Just You And Me are my two favorites. I'm A Man too, but that's a cover.

Came here to say the same, best Chicago track imo.

His vocals in Make me Smile have a Ray Charles quality to it. Just awesome!

@@870expressmag spot on!😁

Make Me Smile, and Just You And Me. My favorites. Sometimes I think of them together like a medley.

mine too

I was 15 the first time I heard Saturday in the Park on the radio, in the car with my dad, on our way to the airport to fly to our first trip to Cuba (writing from Canada, obviously) in 1973... Memorable. My favorite.

Love it ❤

I'm with you on that. Easy choice.

plus the strangest harmonies ever played by the horns right at the end

That song's solo is also a masterpiece

I’ve not heard another rock song that really matches the raw unrelenting energy of 25 or 6 to 4. By the end of that solo it sounds like the track is about ready to collapse in on itself.

Make Me Smile and their rendition of Stevie Winwood’s I’m a Man are my favorite ,

I agree! I would add that that Danny Seraphine's drumming was also amazing on the extended version of that song (when it was released as "Make Me Smile/Now More Than Ever.") That is one of the songs I categorize as "perfect" -- absolutely flawless.

Listening to a Quad 8 track tape of that on a regular 8-track was a treat. You hear all of the guitar parts isolated in the right front speaker. The Jumping Jack Flash riff really stood out on it.

​@@jhnstn1 😎

100% agreed! The ending sends chills down my spine.

that´s their main characterístic, the Horn section

Fellow Tuba player also..

Yes, 25 or 6 to 4 has everything, just what a great song needs to have.

That Tanglewood solo is in my top 5 solos of all time. Simply amazing.

Complete authoritative command of the instrument.

Yes! I love how he starts it while they’re trying to fix the drum kit position and extends it till they are done. 😃

I can’t argue with any of these but Introduction put me on the floor… permanently

One of my all time favorite bands, not just in the 1970s

@@johnreynoldsjr4157 Mine also..

Monseur De Oliveira snuck in later. The other 7 were in Walt Parazaider's Mom's basement when they originally agreed to be a family and not break up or fire anyone.

Not to mention bill Champlain and Jason scheff, but they came along in the 80s.

@@Jimmypagesgreat Jason's dad Jerry was Elvis' (Vegas Elvis) bass player - just read his autobiography - Way Down.

I've seen them twice and they were almost just as good live as they are in the videos. Stumbled on them a few years ago by chance and happy I did.

question 67 & 68

HAving said all that, they use more voices and horns in their band to get the effect. Rick is correct

Was Terry better than Clapton? Yes, I know the Hendrix story. Some players didn't like his 'tone' but he always was perfect on the albums. Search for Chicago ISO guitar and the cat blows you away.

Going to go see them in June in Virginia.

Being out at the lake with our girlfriends and backing the car up to the shore and cranking the 8-track of this album! What a memory. Such great songs! I played the hell out of the records and wore thgrooves out of them!

Does anybody really know what time it is? Fav

They're definitely in the discussion, along with The Eagles and maybe a few others.

Agreed, how they all work as a tight unit, doesn't seem like no one tries to outshine or do too much ,just incredible, To get that many guys to agree on ideas and have so many hit songs and they were so young, makes it all just phenomenal .....Just can't say no more , We were blessed with a lot of great bands in that era but Chicago, when you start breaking their songs down in detail , Talk about stars aligning, literally

@@TimTim3000 Rush

I watched a live show where Terry kills that solo. Mind blowing. The studio version is so friggin good but, live?!?!

25 or 6 to 4 is my all-time favorite Chicago song and in my personal Top 10 Classic Rock tracks.

agreed.

@@bryangirod9173 Exactly. That Tanglewood 1970 performance that's on YT is insane. Kath blows the lid off the place.

Mine too. As talented a singer as Michael McDonald is, he never quite did it for me like Peter or Terry. Was chilling this morning surfing Spotify, and while Chicago didn’t make this particular session, it was fun to look at the original release dates. Doobie Brother Toulouse Street 1972 - 50yrs ago😂

this song is FANTASTIC and made possible due to FM Radio at the time. They never thought that music that went past 3.4 minutes would work but it worked on FM Radio and this song was one that broke that paradigm.

Oh, yea, 100% agree!

Love it ! Love It especially the long version with the maracas ending the song.

@@joelliebler5690...yep! 👍

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT -- takes me back to 1970, 71 & my college relationship with my bombshell girlfriend.

Wow Old Days & Alive again are two more of my favorites, play them all the time. Going into the 80’s & Chicago 17, Prima Donna another great musical combination they are made of. Along Comes a Woman also has great horns, drums, base guitar and Peters voice. Luv it!

I'm having a real hard time picking a favorite, but agree, your choice is a good one. "Searching" opens up so dark and foreboding with those weird chords, but midway it's like the sun coming out. Two, two, two songs in one!

So cool

Danny Seraphine is grossly represented, in the rock drummer annals.

Glad to hear he's still killing it. He's one of my five drumming gurus. Brilliant.

What kid rock said about Danny @ the R&R HoF was just spectacular and made everyone laugh in good humor

@@brianvernon249 I am not familiar with that quote. Do you remember the gist?

not fair.....L/F recreates "live", what Chicago did, "studio", which (obviously) needs more personell, to duplicate....

From beginning to end. Indeed!

Terry's Opus. 4 Genres. The king is dead. Long live the king!

And 3 lead vocals.

Absolutely!

💯

He should do a show about the best cover songs of all time...that should definitely make the list

Who wrote the original? Steve Winwood from the Spencer Davis Group?

Agree, its a tremendous piece of song

I think he left it out; just to get comments! Leaving out one of the best songs of all time - is going to get commented on... cheerz!

I believe he said his picks were from Chicago IX from 1975. IYLMN came out in 1976

@@christopherfasone4006 The caption read; Chicago's greatest song FROM THE 70'S...HENCE 1970-1979 So by leaving it out, I for one am outta here. Kinda like if Zeppelin left out Stairway.

I’m not a fan of Chicago, but I’ve always said “If You Leave Me Now” is their one great song. Not making a statement about Chicago - good or bad, and everyone has different taste - but how he left that particular song off the list baffles me

Questions 67 and 68 wasn't on their Chicago IX Greatest Hits album. Plus, it originally came out in '69...

@@MrSilkySweat Ah, the old argumentum ad populum. Just listen to the song and then try to tell me it's not a better crafted song than Saturday in the Park, Colour My World, or many others on the supposed greatest hits. In my opinion, the only song on the greatest hits album that can compete with Questions is Searchin So Long. And Rick opened the 1969 gate by talking about Beginnings.

@@Dr.TJ1 It's a good song, no doubt. Personally, I gravitate more towards the dirtier, harder stuff like Poem 58 or South California Purples.

Gotta put in 2 big thumbs up on this song. Love it, love it. Agree with your comments. Also great guitar fills, great bass lines, and vocals, too. And literally dozens of chords. That does not give points by itself, but it's not usual and you don't even notice that because it's so well written. And not on the same level, but for a short burst of craziness with great horns and vocals, I'm a fan of Free.

@@MrSilkySweat Good points. Questions 67 and 68 and Beginnings were re-released as singles after Chicago II. As brilliant as CTA was, none of the songs were hit at the time. After the band had hits from Chicago II, the record company released those two songs as singles.

yes Leonid and Friends

I like them better than Chicago

Not sure, he certainly should be regarded as on a par with the likes of Baker & MItchell, by my own reckoning.

I was a Carl Palmer fanatic back then he one time was asked who he thought were his favorite drummers in rock were...he said Danny Seraphine.

I remember dancing to that song, and I hated dancing , so the song seemed to last for ever!

@@jeffmckinnon5842 Perhaps it made you feel that way, but it's actually only three minutes long. That would have been a long pop song in the 50s, but in the 70s it was below average length. Now that we're in the streaming era, songs are getting shorter again; streaming services pay by the song, not the minute, so shorter songs mean more streaming revenue.

Agree with you 100%. That was the 1st Chicago album l ever heard...and my favourite.

Chicago did the entire suite during last years tour. It is a horn heavy song and the horns run the band nowadays.

We played Color my world at our wedding ceremony in 1976. It was my first slow dance song with my late husband. It brings back such great memories.

I remember hearing they were having such a hard time trying to find a replacement for Peter Cetera (a bassist who could also sing tenor), they almost had to hire two separate people until Jason Scheff came on their radar.

@@TheJohnnyCotts Very close to what happened. They actually decided to break the job up, and brought Jason in as a singer. He auditioned and they loved him right away, and asked him if he could play any instruments. He had his bass with him because he thought it was an audition for the bass player job, and they said they'd see if he could maybe play a little if he got the job. He practically begged them to let him play one song with them, just because he was a huge fan and always wanted to play with Chicago. They got about halfway through the song with him on bass and they just stopped and realized they had their man.

Cetera really is such an underrated player. Also always loved the tone he got.

@@SLagonia If I remember that story right, the song was "Just You 'n' Me."

The other important change they make at that point in the song is Lou plays the trumpet. At the beginning of the song he plays the flugelhorn, which is softer and slightly mellow. So when he goes to the trumpet it sounds brighter and more aggressive to match the tempo that finishes the song.

The Nashville sessions version is great too... wonderful subtle differences!

Yes! He absolutely kills it on their debut album, and sings pretty good too!

I have been fortunate to experience both bands live in concert.

@@jod4343 As did I, in the same hall about 6 weeks apart.

When I think back on the two bands you mentioned, and all the others (Steely Dan, Little Feat, etc.) we were fortunate indeed to have such rich wonderful and original music. Never before and certainly not since. Blessed I tell you!

Same producer

Stone fact, that. Literally my first albums. Even my stodgy parents appreciated the sophistication!

I love the imagery of SITP. You can see the whole scene in your head, feel the warm sun & cool breeze. I love how old songs are a universe in three minutes.

@@scattysafari7742 I agree - the picture that is painted in my head always leaves me in a great mood

My go to karaoke song 😁

yes! showcased the vocals

Dialogue has it all including some of Peter Cerera’s best bass lines.

I am so with you on that one. Dialogue is a masterpiece. I also saw them in the fall of 1977 at the Forum in Los Angeles. My first concert. You and I saw them on Terry's last tour. So sad.

The whole song is just soooo cool! The musical rifts and the change in beats and the strange words! LOVE IT!!

Having The Beach Boys doing backup vocals on it doesn't hurt neither!👍👍

Exactly. Out of the debate about the changing styles, the new trends, the lost musicality and the lack (or not) of talent in modern music, bands or records, I think that a key part is that THERE ARE NOT DYNAMICS ANYMORE. An acoustic guitar crescendo, a voice shivering first, then building up from the side of the stereo field... Those were the things that made 60s, 70s music the common ground and the solid base on which EVERYTHING STANDS UPON. In my very humble opinion.

@@rohanroll Well said, man!👏👏

Agree. I disagree with Rick a little when it comes to the level of awesomeness of this song.

The current music paradigm is tone deaf

Yes x100

I'm instantly in grade school when I hear that song.

One of mine too!

Masterpiece, for sure.

Rarely played live because Pete hated Howdy Doody

Agreed. I lost interest after Terry’s passing. I wasn’t a fan of their ballads w/o him. Of course-their radio hits were so overplayed I grew tired of those songs. Of course they had 6-7 great writers, so …

Terry was the bands soul, Robert was the choreographer. When Terry passed, Robert went into deep depression. Somehow Peter took over the leadership which led to the bad bubblegum ballads.

@@deantait8326 I had a photo of Kath on my wall and was heartbroken when I heard he was gone. But in fact by 1978 I was losing interest in the group.

Kath is not underrated by players who grew up in the 70's. He's an icon.

@@michellemonet4358 did you win a Gibson Trini Lopez Guitar too ?

Was thinking the same thing. Too many people are obsessed with categorizing and filing since the beginning of time rather than stepping back and looking at the whole picture. Everything has to "best" this or that...like music is a sport competition or something....ridiculous.

@@thomastimlin1724 Agreed. Though Rick is obviously having fun with it, just to highlight how great so many of the songs were. In that sense, I really enjoyed his piece here. Watching Rick talk about this stuff is insanely enjoyable, in my opinion. :) But overall, I completely agree with your point. The talking heads in sports are forever launching into forced conversations about GOATs just to stimulate clicks and conversation. Such a waste of time. Jordan was great, Kareem was great, LeBron is great, etc. That's enough for me.

Frank Sinatra wanted to record Colour My World, but wanted it to have a second verse. James Pankow didn't write a second verse because he couldn't bring himself to mess with the song. Good call.

@davidenorth I discovered them last year through the comments section. They are awesome! Have you seen them play Stormbringer by Deep Purple! If not, check it out!

Go see L&F in concert, it is well worth it!

There great. The drummer is powerful. Still love Danny though.

P.O.S. tribute band ripping off songs performed and written by the real Chicago. Not even worth discussing

#1 hit around the world. 🌎

My wife, who passed, over 20 years ago, said it was her favorite song ever. I would play it on an acoustic guitar for her, and she would cry. Maybe because I played it so badly! It was "our song" She always made me dance to it.

It’s on greatest hits II, but for some reason it’s just part 2

I agree. Everything you said is on point. I still have the 45 in my basement. It’s a magical song! Thank you for the excellent analysis and love for great music.

Totally agree...its their best hands down

In the same vein, I'd also put "Introduction" and "A Song for Richard and his friends". Both were too long for popular airplay, but just cover soooo much musical territory so seamlessly.

Dialogue is a perfect song