25 or 6 to 9 : Chicago
The guitarist and singer from the band Chicago, Terry Kath blew his brains out in January 1978, he was 31. He didn’t do it on purpose and one of the last thing’s he said to a friend who was trying to convince him to be careful with a gun he was playing with is “Do you think I’m going to blow my brains out?”. I was about to turn 26 when this huge loss went down. It is even said that Jimi Hendrix once commented that Terry Kath was a better guitarist than he was.
I bought my first Chicago album around 1970 when I was 18. I had forgotten how much I was influenced by the band in my teens. They were one of the first rock bands to use horns and tight horn arrangements (thanks to trombone player James Pankow) but Terry Kath’s soulful voice and amazingly passionate guitar playing added something that really appealed to my ears. The music took me somewhere, it was like going on a musical journey listening to their music. They had it all back then, great musicians, good songs, passion, jamming but also tight arrangements. There was another band called Blood Sweat and Tears who were similar but early Chicago took the cake. Here’s a 1970 live Chicago concert, it is really worth watching.
I recall a few years ago we were driving in the car and I played 25 or 6 to 4 for my son Finn, he loved it so much we played it about 6 times straight.
I hadn’t realized how much the band and their music influenced me until I heard Rick Beato do a “What Makes This Song Great” podcast on their song “Make me Smile”. Check it out.
