• AllMyVinyl #111
• Band: Chicago
• Album Title: Chicago IX: Greatest Hits
• Release Date: 10 Nov 1975
• Date purchased: 19 Jan 2025
• Location purchased: Josey Records
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

After the behemoth that was the last entry in this series (was 5,507 words) I was glad that next up was something shorter.  This is Chicago IX – their first compilation album – originally released nearly 50 years ago on 10 Nov 1975.  It’s one of those mega Greatest Hits albums that remains in print 50 years later and still sells a ton – for good reason, there’s some epic shit on here.

One thing I always love about Chicago was that horn sound, but one thing that never gets talked about these days is the glory of Terry Kath.  He was an amazing guitarist, and someone I obviously never saw live – but man I wish I could.  Wish he was still around.  He died basically because he was a dumbass – accidentally shooting himself in the head with a gun.  While his guitar prowess was legendary, the way his life ended was just so avoidable.  I wonder how different Chicago would have been if Kath survived and was still around.  A few of the OG Chicago members are still active and touring with them, I would like to think Kath would be as well.

What I didn’t know until today is that there was a documentary produced called “Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience“, which was a project led by his daughter, who was just two years old when her father died.  This film deals with her “discovering” parts of her father.  The film is available (legally) for free on Youtube – I’ve linked it below on my blog page for this album.

Chicago was always a band I liked songs from – I only owned a handful of actual Chicago albums.  The first one I ever remember buying was Chicago 17, then 18, 19, & 21 as well as well as Stone of Sisyphus (which has it’s own convoluted story and was never released on vinyl).  But none of those on vinyl – just CD.  I did also have a 2CD compilation from the mid 2010’s somewhere on CD, but never vinyl.  Jump forward all the way to YESTERDAY, and I discovered a new record store opened in my own – about 5 miles from my house.  So yesterday I had a little time to kill in-between things I had scheduled, so I went over there and bought a few things.  Picked up a Deep Purple album (which I’ll get to shortly – The House of Blue Light), but I also picked up this one – Chicago IX.  I always adored that about Chicago that their mainline albums were always numbered – sometimes they’d have a subtitle.  This one’s official title is “Chicago IX: Greatest Hits” – so I’m slotting it in right NOW as I had just completed my run of 6 albums in a row titled “Greatest Hits” – so what’s one more? ha.   A bonus – this is definitely a used copy – picked it up for just $8, and I have to say the vinyl is in immaculate shape.  I’m not 100% sure if this vinyl I bought is a 1975 original or a later pressing, but either way – it looks brand new.  Got a deal on this purchase.

Anyway…. to the songs…

25 or 6 to 4 – This thing starts off with my single favorite Chicago song of all of them – and it’s not even close.  Everything about this song is perfection.  On a scale of 1 – 5, this song gets a 6, or in the words of Nigel Tufnel, “this one goes to 11”.  This song has such a great pace, a great beat.  No fucking idea what the lyrics are about, but I never cared.  This one is all about the sound the band makes – what it’s about – I almost don’t care.  Every time I listen to this song, I can see Kath playing it in my head – this song’s master stroke is Kath’s guitar solo – I mean FUCK – to this day every time I hear it I regret not being able see him live.  A lifelong musical regret.

The band re-recorded this song themselves on the Chicago 18 album – that version is enjoyable, but the glory that was Kath’s solo was GONE.  I never understood why they did that.  I’ve included that version below too, but man it’s different.

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – This one has a different sound.  It’s a slower paced – but not slow song.  While Chicago always has had horns in their sound, this one is more about the horns.  I always liked the slower paced beat of this song. It’s from the first Chicago album and is pretty much a Robert Lamm Jam (ha) because he wrote it and sings it.  It’s an easy song to sing along to.  I also got a really quirky sound to close out the song.  Really liked the way this sounded.

Colour My World – First off, props to Chicago for spelling “colour” the British way. It will annoy my daughter, so there’s that. haha.  The song is basically a straight up ballad.  It’s super slow with just piano and some horns.  The rest of the band is mixed in there, but very restrained.  Chicago was known for their ballads as much as their rockers.  Unlike some bands where the ballads/slow ones were outliers, I always felt Chicago’s overall catalog had a good mix of slow stuff and fast stuff mixed together.  Normally this slow of a song would be below my threshold – but I always loved the production of this song.  Terry Kath sings lead vocals on this one.  It’s got a flute solo – I mean Chicago was always known for stuff like that.  As ballads go, it’s a banger, no doubt.  Feels a bit odd calling a ballad a banger, but here we are.  Chicago does that kind of thing to ya.

Just You And Me – This is one of those songs I remember well from my radio days – it got played a lot.  While it came out in 1973, it continued to be played as 73 was a tad early for me and radio play all the time.  Lead vocals this time are by Peter Cetera, which I always felt to the general feel of Chicago’s catalog – they generally didn’t have one single lead singer – they shared it around a couple of guys, so different songs had different vibes – and this is an example of that.  Had Kath or Lamm sung this instead, it likely would have a completely different vibe.  It’s perhaps not one of my favorites, but it has enough going for it where it’s a pleasant listen for me – but I’m flooded with memories being in my bedroom as kid with the old transistor radio going when I hear this one.

Saturday in the Park – While I never thought this song was written about baseball that’s what it’s about for me.  The song as written was about Central Park in New York.  But I’m a Texas Rangers season ticket holder and have been since the mid 90’s somewhere.  When you go to as many games as I have, there’s certain “things” they do which is part of the experience.  One of these things was to always play “Saturday in the Park” in the stadium before the game starts.  So much so, that when I hear this song, I’m transplanted back to some game I attended.  In fact when it comes on in the park, I really get into it – probably more than most people sitting there.  So thanks to Chuck Morgan of the Texas Rangers for completely taking over the original meaning of this song for me.  haha.

Feelin Stronger Every Day – The underlying bass “riff” that runs through it has a VERY 70’s sound to it that a lot of songs from that era did, but this sounds distinctly Chicago.  In some ways it sounds in places like a slower verison of 25 or 6 to 4.  But I do love it has a great slow burn – by the time the song is over, it is a faster vibe than it started with.  “Growing stronger” plays out that way musically I think. Love the way it finishes.

Make Me Smile – This song has a weird life, not all versions are the same.  The version on this compilation was the 2:58 single version – the album version is 4:43 and IMO a better version of the song.  There’s more on the different versions on the Wikipedia article for the song.  it’s got a nice chorus, but not my favorite track.  Not bad at all, but not one that grabs me and doesn’t let go.   Honestly the confusion over versions plays into this a little for me.  Wonder why they kept tinkering with it.

Wishing You Were Here – Another one with lead vocals by Terry Kath – this was solely written by Peter Cetera who plays guitar on the track.  Kath plays bass on this one.  A few of the Beach Boys do background vocals, which lends this a different vocal style than the usual Chicago song.  The vocal duties trade off a bit between Kath and Cetera – much in the same way that Coverdale and Hughes do on the Deep Purple song “Burn”.  Even the traditional Chicago horn sound is a bit restrained on this one.  It seems more geared towards the vocals and making use of the Beach Boys contribution than the usual blast of horn sound in the face a good Chicago song is.

Call on Me – I have to confess the opening of this song sounds like something you’d hear from TV in the late 70’s or so – like it was part of the opening theme for something like Welcome Back Kotter or something along those lines.  That’s probably my weird brain having some crossed circuits trying to access old memories or something.  This song doesn’t do a ton for me – but not for the reason I just stated.  There’s no musical hook in this one that grabs me.  Again – not a BAD song, just kind of “there” for me.

(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long –  Another pretty slow song – one that doesn’t work for me.  Some of their slow songs work great.  This one, not so much for me.  It’s not all meh, there’s some nice orchestration towards the end of the song with a different guitar sound that’s nice, but the path to get there isn’t as interesting to me.

Beginnings – The album closes with the masterpiece that is “Beginnings”,  From their first album this song goes all over the place, and is one of their best songs.  Many different musical styles mix their way in and out of this song, but it does have a slightly angrier sound than some of their songs – probably cuz it’s you know “Album 1” and they have more to prove then.  Oddly, this LP version of this song is shorter.  From what I can gather the version on CD is the longest, coming in at 7:51, and the version on LP and cassette is just 6:28.  On the album here, the song had gone into repeat mode at the end, so they probably lopped off a minute and a half of them saying “only the beginning” some more.  But still, what we have here is one of their best songs, and I’m glad it’s here to finish out the album on a high point.

Whenever I listen to Chicago and especially the early stuff, I’m always amazed by what Terry Kath does with a guitar.  I always wonder what we would have gotten if Kath had lived.  A guy who never gets the credit for what he did on the fretboard.  If you have Chicago II or perhaps this compilation, or any other one that the original 25 or 6 to 4 is on (just not the later version), go grab it.  In the words of Nigel Tufnel – take it to eleven and bask in the joy that is the glory of Terry Kath’s guitar work.

I’ll be sitting cross legged on the floor.