Chicago 13 at 40

This is not Chicago's worst album. It is among the ones I return to often. But it also doesn't make it one of Chicago's best.

The Post Terry Kath Era

Chicago 13 arrived in stores forty years ago this week (Tuesday, 13 August to be exact). The record marked the second and last album to feature Donnie Dacus, the first replacement lead guitarist and singer after Terry Kath's untimely death. Looking back on the time now, I understand why the founding members of the band made the choices they did. Kath, the soul of the band, was gone. So, too, was his deeper voice, and his extraordinarily unique guitar playing. His was a style born out of the 1960s and early 1970s, a musical style that, by 1979, had changed and morphed into something different. You can hear Kath's own style changing, especially in his playing on Chicago XI. A favorite guitar piece, "This Time," Kath was already adjusting and pointing in a different direction. Change was inevitable.

But his absence carved a hole out of the band that, arguably, has never truly been filled. He was one-of-a-kind, the underappreciated rock guitar monster most veteran guitarists acknowledge could play circles around most of them. By 1979, long-haired guitarists fronted album covers--Peter Frampton. A brand-new style was debuted only a year before: Eddie Van Halen. The lead guitarist as leader of the band was nothing new--just watch old Chicago shows from the early days and you can see Kath was the leader. So when it came time for the band to audition a new guitarist, that person was going to be put front and center.

Donnie Dacus was twenty seven when he joined Chicago and recorded Hot Streets in 1978. He brought a youthful energy to playing the old songs and the new ones. He was different than Kath, but his style matched the era, just like Chris Pinnick's did in the early 1980s and how DaWayne Bailey's Van Halen-esque style did in the late 80s and early 90s when I got on board. One of my favorite all-time shows is the Los Angeles concert with the orchestra. Dacus was fantastic in that show, and every show I've seen with him. It would have been interesting to see what the band would have done had Dacus remained for XIV, but then, we'd not get Pinnick's great playing.

Be that as it may, the Dacus Era ended in 1979, but not before 13 August, when Chicago 13 debuted. And it had one of my favorite things the band ever did.

The Cover

Let's get this out of the way early: This is my favorite Chicago album cover. In a gallery of album covers, 13 stands out. It's not the plain wood, leather, or steel of the early album covers. It's not one that obscures the logo like 16 or Twenty-1. It's the signature logo, front and center, in the most interesting presentation among the albums. Come to think of it, in terms of visual appeal, Chicago 25 is up there. I'll have to do a Top 10 list of favorite Chicago album covers someday, but the top spot is already taken.

Side One

Street Player - To start one of the more energic, dancable, and fun tunes off with a rim shot? This is certainly not Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," but I can't think of another Chicago tune that starts solely with percussion. One of the more recognizable horn licks Chicago has ever written. Heck, it's one I can sing to myself while on a walk. The gorgeous disco beat in infectious. And there's cowbell! Peter Cetera's vocals soaring high above the music. He and Dacus make a good, high-tenor pair. True, the band missed the deeper, soulful Kath vocal, but setting that aside, Cetera and Dacus are good together. Speaking of soaring, Maynard Ferguson's trumpet is awesome. I remember hearing 13 for the first time in the mid 1980s and scrambling for the liner notes--I think the cassette version didn't have them so we had to find an album--to confirm what could only be Ferguson. Easily the best song on the album.

Mama Take - With an acoustic guitar and electric guitar intro, this tune is the direct descendant to Hot Streets' "Gone Long Gone." Again, Cetera leads the way, often serving as his own backup vocalist, a trend I never truly enjoyed. The horn break is pretty good. Well, are there any bad Chicago horn breaks? Nothing to write home about, but a serviceable pop tune.

Must Have Been Crazy - Dacus wrote this tune and it served as the lead single to the album. It's a curious song with which to lead. In a precursor to the 1980s Chicago songs, this song downplayed what a Chicago song was supposed to sound like. Sure, you got Cetera in the background, but no discernable influence by Robert Lamm, and no horns. There is a cowbell, and a short guitar by Dacus. I'm all for the Dacus years and giving him a front-and-center look, but unlike Bill Champlin in the 80s, Dacus didn't write a Chicago song. He wrote a Dacus song. The tune certainly fit the times. You easily imagine this song sung by REO Speedwagon or Supertramp, but even then, I'd have much rather had Street Player be the lead single.

Window Dreamin' - Chicago 13, along with Chicago VII, share one particular thing in common: every member of the band contributed a song. This entry is by saxophone player Walter Parazaider and trumpeter Lee Loughnane. You can hear it in the opening seconds when the horns lead off this track. The vocals kick in, and it likely sent listeners in 1979 to the liner notes. Who the heck is "P.C. Mobelee"? It's clearly Cetera, but why the rigmarole of renaming himself. He sang in his lower register more than once before (parts of Hideaway from VIII and State of the Union from V and Song for You from XIV jump instantly to mind), so what's the point? His vocals actually make it more difficult to hear the words. Killer guitar solo, especially the sound of it amid all the horns. That sequence is probably my favorite part of the song. The groove is pretty good, too, but it would have been so much better if Cetera just sung it normally. Or Lamm.

Paradise Alley - Speaking of groove, this tune takes a sound straight from Stevie Wonder. It figures since Lamm wrote the song. Surprisingly, he doesn't sing it. It's Dacus again. Drummer Danny Seraphine shines on this song (as he does over the entire album. If Chicago XI is a Kath album, then 13 is a Seraphine album). I love the bridge (the "It reminds you of who you used to be and who you are" part). The sound and vibe change. It's a fun song and it closes out side one of the album.

Side Two

Aloha Mama - Despite the song title, this song opens with a horn lick straight out of New Orleans. If you had any doubt, when Loughnane comes in with his flutter trumpet, you are in a sweaty bar down in Louisiana. P.C. Moblee makes his second appearance on the album, but Cetera sings much better here. The horns are all over this tune written by Seraphine and Hank Wolinski, the same pair responsible for Street Player (and Take Me Back to Chicago and Little One from XI). They know what components a Chicago song is supposed to contain, and they deliver a highlight of the album. If you also need proof Cetera can sing rough, his closing vocals are the proof.

Reruns - Finally, a Lamm-sung tune. And it's brilliant. Deep, heavy groove. Stellar horns. Lamm's smooth-as-silk vocals. And cowbell! I love this song. And, in a hallmark of most every Lamm song on any album, you can hear the *other* guys in the band singing backup. It's another example of how well blended Cetera and Dacus actually are. You don't get a "wall of Lamms" like Cetera does for his own tunes. Jimmy Pankow's horn arrangement is another one I can find myself singing at random times. I know little of Lamm's personal life, but the lyrics pretty much point to a down time. Sorry for him, but he delivers one of his best-ever songs.

Loser With a Broken Heart - The harbinger of what was to come in the 1980s. Speaking of backing up your own lead vocals, I can't hear anyone besides Cetera here. No horns. No keys other than the organ playing whole notes. It's basically a feature song for Cetera's vocals. Considering he wrote If You Leave Me Now (the band's first #1 song), Baby, What a Big Surprise, and No Teller Lover, this song could have easily been predicted. Tasteful, but short, guitar solo toward the end. And for a guy who played his bass on the earlier Chicago albums in the style of Paul McCartney, Cetera just sticks with eighth notes here. It's an okay song.

Life Is What It Is - Talk about a time capsule song, this song just reeks of the late 70s...but in a gorgeous way. Seraphine's wonderful high-hat cymbal drives this song with nice horns in the background. Cetera is perfect here. And all that Cetera-backing-Cetera stuff? I actually like it here. But you can hear Dacus in the background on verse three, so he should have done it from the get-go. I've always linked this song with Love Was New from Hot Streets. And we finally get a horn solo with Pankow's trombone. This is one of those songs that just makes me smile. I didn't know the song, album, or band in 1979, but with this tune, it's almost like I did. The vibe takes me back forty years.

Run Away - The sole song written by Pankow, the tune begins with a decent groove and first couple of verses. The half-time section is a favorite of mine because it showcases a long-standing hallmark of Chicago songs: multiple voices singing lead. Here Cetera and Dacus shine. But the song is a little light on content and substance, despite Dacus's guitar soloing during the fade out.

Bonus Track

The original album contained only those ten songs. The 2003 reissue included the song Closer to You and an alternate mix of Street Player. I had already purchased the 1991 Group Portrait box set so I've had this song for a long time.

And boy is it great! Dacus sings lead on a tune that has the vibe similar to Life Is What It Is mixed with Take a Chance from Hot Streets (my favorite Dacus/Chicago song). The horns are everywhere on this cut, Seraphine's cymbal work is great, and Lamm's keys give a great undercurrent. Dacus's vocals are fantastic here, giving the tune an urgency. The horn break is excellent, and in a page ripped from Chuck Mangione, Loughnane's fluglehorn soars in a short solo. How in the world did this song not make the original album? Perhaps it was the similarity to Life Is What It Is. Perhaps the original members didn't want to give Dacus a third song (fourth if you include the duet with Cetera on Run Away). Who knows. But Closer to You belongs on the album and I've always included it on the various playlists I've created over the years. It's top 3 for this album.

The Verdict

The Dacus Era was not to last. I don't know all the personal details about 1978-1979, but I appreciate how difficult it must have been for the founding members to move on. I've read Robert Lamm had a bad time which was probably why he has only two writing credits on Chicago 13 with only one vocal. But this era--and this album in particular--saw the rise of Danny Seraphine's songs. The man can write some killer songs, with one long-standing hit so popular, it was sampled twice. If you want the man's insight on this era, check out the Nakedly Examined Music Podcast.

The era also saw the ascendancy of Peter Cetera as a songwriter and leader. Say what you will about his style and the types of songs he writes, but there was a void in the band and he filled it. By doing so, we are able to witness the band's fifty-second year of existence and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Without him, that likely doesn't happen.

And I'm glad it did. Without the Cetera Era, we don't get the great ballads that introduced me to the band. Without Cetera, Chicago doesn't become one of my two all-time favorite bands. I've listened for thirty-four years now and I've come to love the Originals Era best, but that doesn't mean I don't love the Dacus Era. I do. In fact, I have a 1978-1979 playlist on my phone. It's a great vibe that reminds me of that time in my life even though I didn't know the band at the time.

I enjoy Chicago 13 much more than I used to. Heck, I enjoy the Dacus era quite a bit. I enjoy scouring YouTube for live cuts just to hear him play. Earlier this year, I bought the vinyl of 13 and just sat and listened to it. Very enjoyable album.

I place Hot Streets in my Top 10 Chicago albums. I enjoy the songs of Chicago XIV, but I prefer them in my own revised order. Chicago 13 isn't a top 10 album, but if you judge the catalog by how many times I return to 13 and listen to these songs, it's Top 15. Pretty darn good for an album many fans--and likely some band members--rarely discuss. Sure, there might be better albums, but here, on this album's 40th anniversary, I'm glad it was made. It marked a band in transition from one era to the next. It's a fascinating pocket of time in the band's history.

If you haven't spun it in a long time, break it out. Give it another listen. The music will surprise you and remind you what a talented group of muscians can do with changing musical styles.

Chicago XIV: Reconsidered and Remixed

Chicago XIV is widely considered the nadir of the band’s fifty-one-year career. It was the album where Chicago hit a commercial rock bottom, but with a little tweaking, Chicago XIV could have been something else entirely.

After the death of founding member, guitarist Terry Kath, in early 1978, Donnie Dacus joined the band as lead guitarist and vocalist on their twelfth album (Hot Streets) and Chicago 13. Poor sales and changing music trends prompted the band to part ways with Dacus, hire Chris Pinnick on guitar, and record their next album. It tanked on the charts, yielding a couple of singles few people heard, acted as a harbinger of much of the band’s output in the 1980s, and was one of the main reasons Columbia Records severed their relationship with the band.

In the last year, however, I’ve been listening to the record again. Specifically, I’m listening to the 2003 remastered version from Rhino Records where three new songs recorded during the original sessions were added as bonus cuts. “Doin’ Business” was already available as the extra song on the Group Portrait box set (raise your hand if you bought an entire box set for one song) but “Soldier of Fortune” and “Live it Up” gave listeners a new peek into the studio circa 1980. Of all the remastered CDs back in 2003, XIV was arguably the best since you actually got new never-before-heard songs, including one (Live It Up) sung by Peter Cetera. It was definitely a thrill.

Comedian Jimmy Pardo (Never Not Funny) on Craig Smith’s SamePageCast 18 (Chicago for Beginners) examining the Columbia years of Chicago’s catalog basically called XIV a Peter Cetera solo album. He’s not entirely incorrect. On closer listen, however, and with a different track order, XIV could have been an underappreciated gem of an album. Would it have been a hit? Probably not. The songs are the same. The musical trends in 1980 were the same, but I’m considering this an interesting thought experiment by a long-time fan.

The Original Album's Tracklist

Side One
1. Manipulation
2. Upon Arrival
3. Song for You
4. Where Did the Lovin’ Go
5. Birthday Boy

Side Two
6. Hold On
7. Overnight Cafe
8. Thunder and Lightning
9. I’d Rather Be Rich
10. The American Dream

The White Board

The original album contained ten songs. The remastered version has thirteen. I decided to maintain the 10-song run time, five songs per side. I listened to all thirteen songs the other day and wrote the songs down on a white board. I color-coded the titles with red as an up-tempo song and green as a ballad. I added a “(B)” to note if the Chicago brass were prominent and a “(G)” for Pinnick’s guitar work. Chicago XIV is a Peter Cetera-centered album so I marked Robert Lamm’s songs with an “RL”. Lastly, I created two columns, a “Keep” and a “Discard.” The blue numbers are how I’d restructure the album. Here’s the screenshot.




My biggest problem with the original order is much the same issue I have with Chicago 30 (yeah, I’m using the number because I don’t want to have three Xs on my post): too many ballads next to each other. Chicago albums are best when there is a mix of tempos and styles. So even if you kept the original ten songs, they still should have been re-ordered.

So, without further ado, here’s my version of Chicago XIV.

New Side 1

Manipulation – This Lamm-sung tune is likely the closest Chicago would ever get to punk. It’s a strong opener and also serves as an excellent introduction (see what I did there?) to the prowess of Pinnick on guitar. This is a song you play for anyone who still thinks Chicago is only a ballad band. I contend that Pinnick’s solo is arguably the greatest non-Kath solo on any Chicago studio album.

Overnight Café – This mid-tempo cut, sung by Cetera, starts out rather minimally, but soon cuts into some more guitar fretwork by Pinnick. It would have served as a nice introduction of Cetera as the new main force in the band that could still rock (rather than original track 2, the ballad “Upon Arrival”). The opening and closing would have served as a bridge between Manipulation and the first true ballad on the record, Song for You.

Song for You – “If You Leave Me Now” may have been the harbinger of things to come in the 1980s, but Song for You was the prototype for all the Cetera-sung tunes of the decade. It’s a simple song, showcasing both Cetera’s lower and higher range. It’s clearly in the mold of “Colour My World” complete with the acoustic guitar playing a short solo. It’s a pleasant song and I’ve always enjoyed it, but not anywhere as good as what was to come on Chicago 16 and 17.

Thunder and Lightning – The single from XIV is sung by both Cetera and Lamm. It’s likely the most famous tune on the album. It’s a spare song, complete with a great guitar groove, slick horn arrangement, and both singers featured. Plus it’s got a trombone solo by James Pankow to close out the tune. The original side 1 had only one Lamm-only song.

Hold On – Cetera closes out side one with another rocker. It’s got some similar DNA to Chicago VIII’s “Hideaway,” buttressed with yet more horns and another fiery guitar solo by Pinnick. It’s still got a lot of Cetera singing all the parts (rather than having Lamm sing backup), but in a rougher song, it’s a bit more palatable.

New Side 2

Doin’ Business – Side 2 opens with a song that is the sister song to Manipulation. It is an up-tempo Lamm-sung tune talking about all the bad stuff about the music business. The similarities between the two songs might’ve been the reason Doin’ Business was left off the record, but there is lots to love. Lamm is on his game with a powerful vocal. The horns are in your face. Pinnick cuts loose yet again with a great solo, but it’s Cetera’s bass playing that really is the surprise. Well, not for long-time fans who knew what he did on the early albums. By the late 70s, Cetera had gradually softened his bass playing. Not here.

Where Did the Lovin’ Go? – Another Cetera ballad, but only the second one on the album and first of the new side 2. The trend of very soft openings that lead into louder sections continues here, but the brass help this song from being just a copycat of Song for You.

I’d Rather Be Rich – Lamm comes back with a tongue-in-cheek song with a riff and tempo reminiscent of Chicago 13’s “Reruns.” Pinnick’s guitar work, unadorned with distortion, fits right into that 1979-1980 guitar sound. Even the brass get an extended break.

Birthday Boy – This is a song that barely made my version of the album. But if we’re being truthful to the time period, Cetera was ascendant while Lamm and Pankow were not as prominent as they had been. But hey: I kicked off Upon Arrival. The lyrics are not great, the keyboard sound is a carbon copy from Where Did The Lovin’ Go, but the brass and Pinnick’s guitar keep this from being a mailed-in song.

The American Dream – Same closer as the original, this Pankow-written, Cetera-sung tune could be brought out on tour in 2018 and most of the lyrics would still apply. More brass goodness, and saxophonist Walt Parazaider gets to bring out his bari sax which is always a good thing.

B-Side

Soldier of Fortune – Of the two never-before-heard bonus songs, this is the better one. You get Lamm singing over his electric piano, tasteful brass hits, and a particularly fun acoustic guitar solo from Pinnick. In truth, Lamm could have remastered this song for his 2003 solo album Subtlety and Passion and it would have easily fit on that album’s groove. With a 10-song limit, Soldier of Fortune shows up as a b-side of the first single, Thunder and Lightning.

Left Off

Live It Up – As great as it was to hear a ‘brand new’ Cetera/Chicago song in 2003 and despite some smooth brass, it’s more of a fun curiosity than anything else. I could cheat and put it as the B-side of the second single, Song for You, but I’m still gonna leave it off. Again, Cetera’s bass playing is really well done. Why didn’t he do more of this?

Upon Arrival – The original second track, it is about as far away from Manipulation as you can get. Cetera is in full-ballad mode here. That’s not the problem. The lyrics are not great. It’s like Cetera was trying to do a slice-of-life song a la “Saturday in the Park” and it doesn’t work. Again, Lamm comes in for some passages, so it’s good for a two-voice song, but ultimately I would leave it off the album. It came down to this or Birthday Boy getting the boot, and Upon Arrival lost.

So, there’s my remixed version of Chicago XIV. Again, I don’t think this would have changed the trajectory of the band, but perhaps this new arrangement creates a more balanced album.
I’d love to hear y’all’s thoughts or even give your own version of XIV. And if you haven’t heard it in awhile, go take a listen. The songs might surprise you.