the inception of the band was an assembly of the best musicians i could find in the city of chicago. we actually discussed about making the best band we could possibly make, that the band would be a musical democracy. i said when you give me your hand, that'll be the contract. the only way you get out of it is to ask out or you die. >> i've always thought of chicago in terms of a family rather than eras. you know, in the span of 40 or 50 years, there are going to be changes. i don't care if it is a family or a band. there are going to be changes. the realization becomes, man, we're all replaceable. we're all replaceable. ♪ >> our first pictures were in a foundation of a building. and we had suits. you know, we picked up shovels. we were leaning on shovels and stuff. >> i enjoyed playing music. i enjoyed playing in all the groups that i had played in up till then, which were three to four different combinations. but i really enjoyed playing with these guys. you know, it was a whole other animal. >> robert has always been a song writer, ever since i met him. when he joined the band, he had a book of 50 songs. >> i remember meeting him at depaul and he had a notebook this thick full of lyrics. i remember, he said, i have a few songs here. i just said, well, you know, they might come in handy one day. >> in those days, there weren't bands that -- you know, there were individual singers and the bands backed up the singers. >> while we were playing in the clubs, we were doing what other bands do. we were playing covers. ♪ >> the club owners wanted us to play stuff that people could dance to and then drink. they would make money and, you know, hopefully fill the club. >> we started playing one song called "clouds" and we got fired because we did an original song. he wanted to hear top 40. >> it was exciting. really, we'd gotten the chance to hear what the band sounded like. ♪ i love you so ♪ >> we wore the suits and did the steps. ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the club. we're going to warm it up. >> it was an entirely different attitude toward playing music. >> then eventually, we began to arrange those songs for the inspiration of chicago. that's when we got into some dispute. >> we'd get a call on a saturday night at 9:00 saying, this band, chicago transit authority, won't play the top 40 stuff. the kids hate it. we're getting rid of them at the next break. can you guys come down and finish the night? ♪ if you break my heart, i'll go ♪ >> there would be the boys, packing up their stuff. they're pissed. we're thinking to ourselves, why don't they lighten up? why don't just play the, you know -- give them a little rolling stones. give them a little, you know, temptations if they want it. whatever. we're thinking, you know, they got to go their own way. >> terry came on stage at barnabys on state street in chicago. i think it was during the first tune. he just ripped the shirt, the coat, right off his back. and that was it. we went straight to hippie dom. >> we started doing original material, and there was a small group of people that dug it. ♪ come on, everybody ♪ >> kind of the legend around illinois. the chicago transit authority had been formed out of these local supergroups. >> we watched them play. we were all like, wow, these guys could really read music. these guys really know what they're doing. ♪ >> while all the while we were in contact with jim guercio. >> i first became involved in chicago in college. >> saw there was no way for this to be successful without total commitment. >> he had the idea of building a management company, and he called it his creative community. i think his business tactics definitely had a hand in our creation and our success. >> he envisioned everything sort of being under one roof >> and when the time was right, we brought them to los angeles. ♪ the stars were aligned. we were supposed to do this. we were just meant to be. >> we all lived in a little house under the hollywood freeway. our bedrooms were various rooms, my bedroom was the dining room. each guy had a shelf in the medicine cabinet. each guy had a shelf in the refrigerator. god forbid you took somebody's food. >> the there were a lot of referees. >> whoever took the last shower got the cold shower. you drew straws every day you went to work. the home front. >> we went from clubs until we moved to l.a. and more and more people, you know, starting to become aware of the band and realizing that we were starting to become successful. >> we were straight out of playing, you know, bars in chicago, and we moved out to southern california, and here we ran into janice joplin. at the phil rm west. ♪ come on, come on, didn't i make you feel ♪ ♪ oh, like you were the only man i ever wanted and i ever needed ♪ >> she came in with this big entourage and she dropped her brush right at my feet, and she went hey, pick up the effing brush, and i said pick up your own brush, and when you get done with that, after you pick it up, apologize to me that you talked to me that way. well, she picked up the brush, and she said i'm sorry. ♪ take another little piece of my heart now baby ♪ >> and that was the start of a thing where she hung with us, and she showed us what she did at the command on the stage. ♪ you know you got it if it makes you feel good ♪ >> how she could really handle people. we went on the tour, the last big tour on the west coast that was that the last tour that the big brother and the holding company with janis joplin. we saw their last show. >> we played every peace rally that ever happened in california, i think, and we didn't have any money, so they started writing like crazy. and we started doing anything we could to pay the rent. >> we just happened to play the whiskey go go, and jimmy had a camera and took some pictures of the chicago transit at the cta on t marquee at the whiskey. and when i go by there, i think of jimmy and i standing there. in the middle of sunset boulevard. >> we were opening for bb king or something like that. albert king. walter turned around to walk out, he probably -- he might have told you this story. >> i got a tap on my shoulder, and i turned around, i was putting one of my saxophones away. it was jimi hendrix. he called me by name, and he said, well, the horns are like one set of lungs. your guitar player is better than me. >> the horn section, it sounds like one set of lungs, and a guitar player that's better than me. >> he said that terry plays better than him. [ laughter ] >> first you have to realize, we were already listening intensely to his music. you know, we looked up to him. >> terry was already playing stuff that hendrix had on his records. ♪ >> terry could play a rhythm guitar part. a lead guitar part and a lead vocal simultaneously. i never heard anybody that could do that. >> i got to tell you i think in a couple of weeks we are on the road with hendrix. >> we got to see stuff that was driving them. jimi is not happy with the licks he was playing. >> do you have to practice every day like a violinist? if you're not working say you're off in england and, do you keep in shape every day? >> i like to play to myself before we go on stage or if i feel down and depressed, you know. >> you know, it was stuff that happens to every musician, and you know, especially guys who are in the limelight and are put on pedestals, you know, and they have that pressure of having to do something new all the time. >> we were on a plane, and i said, why are you so unhappy about what you're doing? and he said, well, you're going to know this one day, and you're going to probably know it more than me. you're going to be real successful. you're going to have to spit up hits, you're going to have to work real hard, you know, that's really not what i'm into. i says, i'd love to have your problems, you know. and he said, well, you will have them. ♪ new true match tinted serum from l'oreal paris. we're worth it! for people who could use a lift new neutrogena® rapid firming. a triple-lift serum with pure collagen. 92% saw visibly firmer skin in just 4 weeks. neutrogena® for people with skin. ♪ smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover ♪ ♪ gon' pop like trouble ♪ ♪ breaking into your heart like that ♪ ♪ do the boogie, like ♪ ♪ side step, right-left, to my beat ♪ ♪ high like the moon, rock with me, baby ♪ ♪ know that i got that heat ♪ ♪ let me show you 'cause talk is cheap ♪ ♪ side step, right ♪ ♪ get it, let it roll ♪ (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car. it's time for sleep number's january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? 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how do you tune it with the strings? i said there aren't strings on a saxophone. there are reeds. they didn't really know about horns. it was the inception of horn bands. >> walt was the eternal optimist. we were on our way to a gig, i don't know, somehow i associate it, hey, walt, do you think i'll ever have a cashmere suit, you know? cashmere suit. i still don't have a cashmere suit. i don't know what i associated gnat with but -- and walt is like, are you kidding? you'll have 200 of them. this was a concept that he totally believed in and had no doubt that it was going to, you know -- it was going to develop into something significant. >> i will say one thing that i got that i remember, and i remember jimmy told me and i forgot this. we were in indianapolis with hendrix, 20,000 people there, and they're yelling bring on hendrix, bring on hendrix. i got so fed up, i got on the mic and said shut the bleep up and listen. ♪ ♪ listen ♪ >> a.m. radio was still a baby, you know. it was top 40, but it was bubble gum stuff. they weren't ready for what we were doing. fm radio was commercial free in those days and played whole albums. >> and a.m. radio still hadn't played one of our songs. we released "beginnings." we released "does anybody know what time it is" they wouldn't play it because we haven't had a hit. catch 22. how the hell you going to have a hit if you don't play something? >> there was a certain amount of frustration because the singles that hadn't been released and weren't successful. besides the fact we were doing a fair amount of drugs and partying and being young musicians on the road, and young musicians will burn the candle. ♪ >> the zeitgeist of that era was that people our age were noticing that we felt different about things and we sort of felt like we ought to try to do something about it. ♪ ♪ how can it be right ♪ >> we're watching the war in vietnam on television. we're watching the marches in the south for voter registration. we're watching all this stuff, and we're reading about it, and we feel like, you know, we need to have our voices heard. ♪ >> so it gave our music a political flavor, and college students grabbed this because, man, these guys are spreading the word, you know. these guys are hip. they're with us, you know? and we became kind of the required listening, you know, on college campuses. if you were hip, you had to listen to chicago transit authority because these guys know the score, and next thing we know, let's stand up, you know, to the powers that be you know, let's ride in the streets, let's tear the system down, but we didn't want to go that route. we're not politicians. we're musicians. ♪ breathe right strips open your nose for relief you can feel right away, helping you take in air more easily, day or night. one of the worst things about a cold sore is how it can make you feel. but, when used at the first sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. from maybelline new york new tattoo studio brow lift stick a lifted, tinted brow look just lift tint and sculpt. brows stay lifted all day! new tattoo studio brow lift stick only from maybelline new york ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this is your home. this is your family room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ ♪ we know it's hard for you to see ♪ ♪ that this is all we want to be ♪ >> there wasn't time to think about too much. we were on the road 250 days, i think. we had all we could do just to keep our sanity. >> we would come home for a day and leave for three months, and be out there working every night. >> we were working so intensely we were traveling so intensely, we were learning and rehearsing the songs of the second album while we were on tour promoting the first album. >> when the second album came out, jimmy had written ballet for a girl in canon. and am radio said they were interested in "make me smile". >> and i'm in the car and i hear this. ♪ >> i go hey, that's the ballet, and i was going, i'm in the car going, hey, hey, this is me on the radio, you know. i mean, i -- you know, i'm embarrassed to say it, but when the disc jockey came on and said here's a new song by an up and coming group called chicago. it's destined for number one or something like that. ♪ ♪ children in the park, they don't know ♪ i'm alone in the dark even though ♪ ♪ time and time again, i see your face smiling inside ♪ ♪ i'm so happy, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ that you love me ♪ >> wow, this is cool, you know. they're going to play the ballet on the radio. how can they play something that long? >> at that time am radio, the jungle warfare of music. >> am radio, you know. >> i think if you had a cut longer than three and a half minutes you were not really getting on top 40 radio. >> and they took the end of the ballet, which was the reprise of "make me smile" and spliced it onto the first movement which was the beginning of "make me smile" and made it a whole song by itself. >> fortunately the issue was resolved because the album would have the longer original version on there ♪ ♪ >> i would be reconstructing actual history if i tried to ascertain whether or not the group was reluctant to be in the spotlight. they were performing artists from the very get-go. their material was very strong. ♪ >> other than experiencing the joy of playing music, i didn't really think of anything in terms of success or longevity or -- that was way, way down the road. ♪ so hard to be ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ staring at me, try to take you away ♪ ♪ there's no time to delay ♪ ♪ we've got to live for today ♪ >> the ballet was not an easy piece to perform live. ♪ so much to say ♪ >> because there are time changes. there are key changes. a lot of different intricacies that had to be fit together like a puzzle. this guy's singing that. this guy's singing this. >> we were playing with these world class singers, players writers, and lee, same thing, lee was a very serious musician. >> but also he had a real identity problem in those days. it was really tough. >> i never had confidence in myself. i was always like i'm not good enough. i don't know. you know, i don't belong here. ♪ >> i was just afraid of people, afraid of success, i guess. >> i wasn't writing a pop song. these movements in the ballet were titled in the latin for tempo or mood. it was just a series of classical moments sewn together and "color my world" was kind of a break. andante. ♪ i've waited to share ♪ >> one thing that differs with my song, when i wrote a song, it was a sing off. ♪ of our moments together ♪ >> i didn't have to have a sing off. that was ray charles. that was terry gatt. ♪ color my world with hopes of loving you ♪ >> i got a phone call and it was jimmy. he said, i got an idea for a movement of the ballet. >> let's slow it down and get a little -- let's get pretty. ♪ simple, brief, a little romantic interlude between "make me smile." and agitato. da, da, da, da, da, da. which was another, you know -- ♪ quizzically, he looked at me out of the corner of his eye i said, what do you think? >> i looked at him and honestly, i said, it'll make me famous. >> what a player and arranger. it was really great to have a guy that great in your band. i had that gift, but you have to learn that instrument well enough to reproduce that tape that's going on in your head. >> beside the brass arrangements, his sense of melody, his expression in playing his horn, it's just uncanny. ♪ >> "make me smile" was actually titled -- vivace. first movement and then reprises at the end. ♪ now that i need you ♪ >> lennon, how would you like to be remembered? i remember john lennon said, just as a good little rock and roll band. you know, we wanted to just a good little rock and roll band with horns. ♪ tell me you were there. ♪ make me smile ♪ >> thank you! thank you! feels like second skin, naturally radiant! new true match tinted serum from l'oreal paris. we're worth it! ♪ ♪ at lowe's, you never have to be finished with your finishing touches. with aisles of ways to refresh and restyle. for whatever style you're feeling. at prices you're really feelin. shop the lowe's bath style & save event now in-store and online. oh, marco's pepperoni magnifico. classic and old world pepperoni® on one pizza—and a large is just $9.99 when ordered online?! the phrase “slice of heaven” comes to mind... marco's. pizza lovers get it. 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(robert) thank you. subaru. more than a car company. community i always envisioned a recording studio as a place of destination where you could go and set your stuff up, get sounds, start recording and do it whenever you wanted. >> at that time columbia was forced to use their studios, and they were all union. i wanted to be free creatively from any technical constraints. >> tim visioned having a place somewhere where he could not be bothered by the outside world. it was a great concept actually. >> i think that was the devil's playground myself. ♪ >> our original producer built a ranch with the money that we made him. >> we got new success with chicago. i built the studio. it's the process i wanted, it's how i wanted people to conform to my environment and not theirs ♪ i do believe in you and i know you believe in me ♪ ♪ oyeah oh yeah ♪ ♪ >> i think that he was hoping in creating a place where we could go and create that it would become sort of a cottage industry. >> there was a lot of resistance, i mean, even a lot of the guys, what are you nuts? >> that was literally away from everything. that was like a town within itself. >> i remember leaving the ranch because i needed to get some carbon monoxide, and you know, it was very cloistered in a way, and i just would go to boulder and then come back. >> i think that when you put young guys with too much money together in an isolated venue like caribou ranch, it's a recipe for disaster, and it was. ♪ >> there are no police, number one. >> we were growing beards. i remember trying to be older and tougher looking. we were carrying around these winchesters, you know, feeling like we were in the old west or something. ♪ saturday in the park, think it was the fourth of july ♪ ♪ saturday in the park, i think it was the fourth of july ♪ ♪ people talking people smiling man selling ice cream ♪ ♪ ♪ singing italian songs ♪ >> caribou ranch happened to be very close to a college town. there's a ton of drugs. there were really good drugs. ♪ i've been waiting such a long time ♪ >> the bank is there to be able to afford whatever you want delivered to your cabin in the mountains. >> and i was flying women up, playboy bunnies. had which been straight it would have been a lot of better. there was a lot of drugs, a lot. >> whether it was pot or speed or coke or acid or whatever, it was all available, and it was all going to be delivered, and you could use it whenever and wherever you wanted to. ♪ >> could never happen. i mean, there'd been some tmz guy in your tree taking a shot, taking a movie. look what they're doing now these guys. ♪ talking about saturday, saturday ♪ >> it was sort of like, you know, a binge. it was a ready made binge. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i think we've accomplished more here in the past couple months than we've accomplished in the big cities in the last couple of years because we don't have the problems and the hassles and the headaches of getting into studio in the middle of rush hour traffic. nature is totally conducive to being creative. ♪ >> go into the mountains in colorado, and you immerse yourself in this creative process. and the real world kind of fades away. my fiance and i, we had a problem. i can't even remember what it was about. she wound up locking herself in a bathroom, and i was on the other side of the door, trying to, "come out of the room." >> go away, i don't want to see you anymore. she was not cooperating. finally, i went enough of this. i went through the door, and it freaked her out to the point where it freaked me out when i saw her. and i stopped in my tracks. i asked myself, what the hell are you doing, man? i stepped back and looked down the hallway and saw my piano. something moved me to go to the piano. i had a tape recorder sitting on the piano. i pressed record, sat down. and this song came out. ♪ "just you and me" began to come out of my fingers pretty much in its entirety. i don't know what power came over me. it's never happened before or since where i sat at a piano and a complete song happened. i turned the machine off, and i sat there in amazement wondering what had just happened. and i took this tape recorder to the bathroom where she was still sitting on the edge of the tub, upset, and i played this song. ♪ it erased all the acrimony. the song just bathed it away. and everything was fine. ♪ you are my love and my life ♪ ♪ and you are my inspiration ♪ >> i took this tape up to caribou ranch to see if the guys are into it. and i asked them if it was any good. and robert looked at me and said, any good? jimmy, that's a hit song. ♪ baby you're everything ♪ ♪ i've ever dreamed of ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah ♪ >> we basically recorded albums every year. so at some point during the touring year we would take our breaks and go to caribou and supposedly do work. there was a lot of [ bleep ] around. ♪ ♪ we are the epitome of a band. i mean, it has always been a team effort. when it starts getting weird or -- somebody always steps up to take whatever slack is going on in the career. they step up and add a little more to it, and we survive it somehow. >> cetera kind of felt less than because he wasn't a songwriter and he wasn't really an instrumentalist. he played bass and he was a great singer. but he felt really insecure about presenting his songs. >> here are three members from chicago. it's terry and there's peter and there's danny. welcome to the uk. can i start off with you, terry? where did you get the song from? >> well, you ought to start with him since he wrote this song. >> well, i wanted you to say that so i could get to you. peter. >> well, actually you should -- no, i did write the song. just from experience. >> somebody wanted out of your life? >> many times. i don't know. i just wrote it. i have no idea. >> so when peter presented the ballad it was like of course, you know, we're -- one of the things that chicago was about was let's record and write whatever we want, including songs that maybe not everybody in the band loves but hey, if you write a song we're going to do it. we're going to do it the best we possibly can do it because that's who we are. and because we know that that's not who we are and we know that as nice a song as it is it's just not -- you know, nobody's going to like it. ♪ ♪ if you leave me now ♪ ♪ you'll take away the biggest part of me ♪ ♪ ooh, ooh, ooh no, baby please don't go ♪ >> perception from radio or the public or critics is that we think a certain way. we think -- they read something into what we're doing that may not exist. >> okay. this band is this and it's -- this band is an r&b band. oh, chicago, now we see what they are. they're a ballad band. ♪ a love like ours is love that's hard to find ♪ ♪ how could we let it slip away ♪ ♪ >> this is what you dream about. it doesn't always come in the form you wanted to. we've already had tons of success with different styles of music. we were able to do whenwhat we wanted. >> the process was bifurcated. we used the band. if you listen to "if you leave me now," it's bobby on the drums and everything else peter and i did. >> those of us who were kind of being in a rock band were looking at each other sideways saying what is this? why are we doing this? >> those songs were not chicago songs. those songs were peter songs. >> i think the person who was most affected by it was probably terry kath. because he did not want to go there. he did not want to go to ballad land. >> the height of his frustration occurred after we recorded chicago 7, and we went out on the road and tried to play that album live. >> without playing the other hits. >> without playing the other hits. it was great, but the audiences really didn't -- they weren't buying it. and i smoked a joint and i called terry and said terry, you know what, man? i think when we go out on the road next we should play every [ bleep ] hit we have. just play every [ bleep ] hit and forget about, you know, trying to do the jazz stuff. and he said oh, man. you're a [ bleep ] hypocrite. and [ bleep ] hung up. that's really where he was. he wanted to stretch out. >> moving forward. >> that's where we started. that's who we were. ♪ ♪ >> when you get caught up in success and everything, i mean, you're so preoccupied by the enormity of a career when it takes off like it did for us, that you don't give enough thought to, well, what about the business of this? >> as far as the business i really kept an eye on the business a lot more. things were kind of inequitable. first thing that kind of really resonated with me is here i was living in a 1,000-square-foot rental house in studio city and jimmy's up on a ranch, a 3,000-acre ranch. >> danny was always trying to tell us that we need to take a look at the contrasts, we need to do this. >> let's look at the contracts. we need to start looking at the contracts. >> relax. let them do that stuff. we'll do ours. >> finally got the band to listen and we had the books audited and lo and behold, i mean, the difference -- the difference in money was staggering. >> he was taking 100% of the publishing. >> millions of dollars had been going to the wrong place. millions of dollars. >> it wasn't like anything was being stolen because we signed these terrible contracts in the very beginning of our careers with jimmy. >> i understood why he developed the company that way, that it was basically for everybody's protection. but he was a little smarter than everybody else. >> jimmy knew things about the business that we didn't know. and you would have thought that he would hip us to that. but he didn't really. >> we took it to task, and we renegotiated. >> and he had 51% by himself of our entire career and we had -- we had 49% split seven ways. so there's quite a difference, especially after uncle sam comes in and grabs half. >> i think we'd gone as far as we were going to be able to go with him. but i just think the time was up with that relationship and we had to move on. >> when we left gricio, it was a very difficult transition. ♪ ♪ on saturday, countless california we could not stand to wait ♪ ♪ >> there was a lot of guys in the band. it was enough safety in numbers, if you will, in terms of being productive and having the ability to perform and record and write. ♪ ♪ jimmy was so kind to us ♪ ♪ had us on the tour ♪ ♪ got some education ♪ ♪ ♪ that we never got before ♪ ♪ >> how many groups did you see that just broke up after a couple hits? that strain is just the price that you pay. >> through the years we kept building stage sets. we came up with this street scene and we had the brilliant idea to put a phone booth on the stage. >> it was called the snortatorium. >> once you went into the booth, no one could see you from the audience. >> you'd just disappear. >> well, we had cocaine inside of it and we would go in and take a hit of cocaine. >> you'd go in there and snort. >> that's completely insane. it's getting your heart going like a maserati coming around the curves. ♪ everybody sang the blues ♪ ♪ ♪ >> just lay into it and hit that turn like -- and you could die. just like that. ♪ ♪ >> i was just coming home from a laker game, and i got a phone call from our manager. >> he did one of those are you sitting down things. and he said terry's dead. obviously, it still hits me. holy -- it doesn't settle into lines. age perfect serum foundation from l'oreal paris. we're worth it! i have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. so i'm taking zeposia, a once-daily pill. because i won't let uc stop me from being me. zeposia can help people with uc achieve and maintain remission. and it's the first and only s1p receptor modulator approved for uc. don't take zeposia if you've had a heart attack, chest pain, stroke or mini-stroke, heart failure in the last 6 months, irregular or abnormal heartbeat not corrected by a pacemaker, if you have untreated severe breathing problems during your sleep, or if you take medicines called maois. zeposia may cause serious side effects including infections that can be life-threatening and cause death, slow heart rate, liver or breathing problems, increased blood pressure, macular edema, and swelling and narrowing of the brain's blood vessels. though unlikely, a risk of pml--a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection--cannot be ruled out. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, medications, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. if you can become pregnant, use birth control during treatment and for 3 months after you stop taking zeposia. don't let uc stop you from doing you. ask your doctor about once-daily zeposia. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ the terry kath is dead. >> what? i didn't believe what i heard. >> i just -- i almost -- i got up and i almost fell to my knees. the phone was ringing. and i don't know why. but i got the word that he had passed away. and that was one of the worst days of my life. >> he was at don johnson's house, our keyboard tech. he did drugs with terry and he partied with terry a lot. >> apparently he had been cleaning his gun and this was a little automatic pistol. donny johnson kind of squawked about him about hey, man, it's the middle of the night, you haven't slept, don't clean your guns, don't mess around with your guns, just go to bed. and terry said hey, look, man, i know what i'm doing. and apparently, terry took the clip out of the gun, showed him that there was nothing in the clip, but apparently there was still a round in the chamber. >> terry was just fooling with the gun. and the gun went off. >> boom. died instantly. and it was really, really hard news. >> i didn't believe it. and i believed it when i went to the wake and he was laid out in the casket. and the thing that really hit me is when i touched his -- his shell. because that's what it is. that's what these are. it's a shell. when the humanity leaves, the soul leaves, it is a hollow body. ♪ >> this is the car we drive around in on this plane. throughout this lifetime. this is not our essence. our soul. our spiritual self is our essence. and when this body dies, that leaves . ♪ ♪ ♪ >> we didn't do enough. we should have intervened. because that's what friends do, real friends do for one another. >> i think at the time we didn't know how to handle that. how do you tell somebody not to do something that you might be doing? >> i think i sort of lost my way in every aspect of my life. the thing about terry kath is that the ferocious force and drive of his playing is what informed this band. and when he was gone, it changed forever. ♪ ♪ ♪ run away ♪ ♪ leave all your worries behind too ♪ ♪ run away ♪ ♪ run for your life ♪ ♪ ♪ never turn back ♪ ♪ ♪ run away ♪ ♪ ♪ run away ♪ ♪ run away ♪ >> looking back on it now, it seems like really a small period of time, like a week or two weeks, if that long, that we came to the realization that terry's gone but he would want us to keep going. we're all alive. we're still viable. we still love doing it. let's go. >> and we decided that we were going to -- we were going to continue any way we could. >> people didn't want us to stop because they wanted to see what we had to offer musically. >> we spent more money on blow and mansions on the "hot streets" album than we did on recording. ♪ don't forget those endless years ♪ ♪ street time through my mind ♪ ♪ >> we definitely had the big dip, and it was a smack in the face that hey, things aren't happening for you right now. ♪ 'cause i'm a street player ♪ >> black cats are bad luck. it's about this guy who's got really bad luck. the black cats, there's always a black cat on the scene. something bad is going to happen to this guy. you know, he's cursed. ♪ i'm a street player ♪ >> it's funny looking back on jimi hendrix and he just basically said you know, it's just all the travel, the business, and spitting out my hits, and looked at me and said you're going to have it worse. and i thought, yeah, i hope we do. be careful what you wish for. you might get it. ♪ yep, it's go time with wireless on the most reliable network. ok, that jump was crazy! but what's crazier? you get unlimited for just 30 bucks. nice! but mine has 5g included. wait! 5g included? yup, even these guys get it. nice ride, by the way. and the icing on the cake? saving up to 400 bucks? exactly. wait, shouldn't you be navigating? xfinity mobile. it's wireless that does it all and saves a lot. like a lot, a lot. in the '70s they sold over 60 million records with an unbroken string of hits like "does anyone know what time it is," "saturday in the park," and "if you leave me now." they're continuing that sex -- sex. they're continuing that success. i don't know. it's hard to know who to talk to because they're all stars of the band. right? [ cheers and applause ] >> mole hilgz never become mountains. it's a democratic organization. there is no front man. and everybody is a equal part. >> peter cetera. bobby lamm. danny seraphine on drums. chris kennic on guitar. >> my first day of rehearsing with them i had to go down and hide in the pool house because nobody had told don anybody was out of the band. >> we had auditioned unbeknownst to donny. donny day was late for rehearsal. we finally got a hold of him. what? bullshit. what do you mean? two words, buddy. you're fired. ♪ i thought that you thought ♪ >> you love the shoes. you bought the shoes because you loved them. but they don't feel comfortable. next you've got to get a different pair of shoes that don't put blisters on your feet. >> my playing just happened to rhythmically wise, happened to be a lot like terry's. >> chris pinnick had some of the inside guitar stuff. terry was a great rhythm guitar player outside of a great soloist and a great singer. >> there was no leader per se in this ban. but in terms of a driving force, replacing terry kath was no easy task. >> but he was -- there's no touching terry kath. i knew that. everybody else would know that. so they have to get -- so they would have to get used to somebody else's playing. ♪ just as sure as i'm singing ♪ ♪ thunder and lightning ♪ ♪ you know this way ♪ you got your way ♪ ♪ ♪ that's okay ♪ ♪ another time ♪ >> i do think the trends in music and tastes and generational shift was occurring just in the culture anyway. and for any rock band to survive all of that, to withstand all of those effects is nearly impossible. >> people make records and you expect to hear what's on the record. people come to see us, they want to hear what put us on the map. >> i stood in the center of the room like this, and they were all around me. and they were about to play me the songs they had written for "chicago xvi." each one was equally as average as the last. now after the 13 songs they said what do you think of the record? and i said it. i said these songs suck. ♪ i don't want any trouble ♪ ♪ ♪ >> david foster was a very sought after, exciting young writer-producer who was really at the top of his game. >> i don't know what jimmy guercio's contribution was to those early albums, but i suspect that that sound that they had, he just had to harness the sound and like hang on for dear life. i don't think he was hands-on the way i was, getting there and playing and arranging and writing. the very first day of the very first session peter, when you get to the bridge, you played a wrong note there. it's an f, not an e, whatever. oh. he took me to the vocal booth. there was nobody in there. he said, you know, i don't want you to ever out me in front of the band. and furthermore, i don't even want to play bass anymore. you're going to play the bass. >> peter was unhappy in the group. and then the double whammy was we just clicked. it was fortunate and unfortunate all at the same time, but we became a power couple within the group. >> "hard to say i'm sorry" which was the big first hit emerges from a movie soundtrack called "summer lovers." everything fell in place. >> we all went to the premiere. peter and i are sitting next to each other. we've written the song. he's singing it. we're so excited. the end title comes on, it starts out. you can hear it, really nice. ♪ ♪ we're getting excited like this is our moment. it's just filling the speakers. way in the background of the movie is a motorcycle, getting louder and louder. and the song is getting softer and softer. and it's like, you think the sound of a motorcycle is more important than this beautiful song we've written? we were really bummed. but it went to number 1. ♪ >> bam! ♪ ♪ everybody needs a little time away ♪ ♪ i heard her say ♪ ♪ from each other ♪ >> peter started to feel invincible. he started to feel empowerment. >> peter had really shaped up. he had gotten physically in shape. he was really focused. he was really kind of like a new man. ♪ hold me now ♪ ♪ it's hard for me to say i'm sorry ♪ >> no one -- there was never any one face in the band. but it became all about peter. ♪ after all that we've been through ♪ >> at first the focus did change, and there were videos. ♪ i promise to ♪ >> when we went in to record videos, the director would say, so who's the leader? what do you mean? there is no leader. you know, shoot all of us. "i can't do that. there's too many guys. there would be no focus." so guess what? they focus on the lead singer. and peter cetera became the star. ♪ couldn't stand to be kept away ♪ ♪ just for the day ♪ ♪ from your body ♪ >> so all of a sudden we have this new guy who's stepping to the front. and frankly, it's completely different than anything chicago was doing. ♪ far away from the one that i love ♪ >> at that particular point in time adding a new approach, you know, with a new enthusiasm was fortuitous timing. >> we were desperate for a hit record. okay, if that's what you think we're good with that. if that will put us on the radio, okay. ♪ hold me now ♪ >> david would start dictating lines to us. he wrote the song with peter. >> he did a great job and he did a wonderful job on those records, you know. >> i know i'm great. you can't have 16 grammys and not be great. >> naturally he had his crew. that's who is he was going to use. but it didn't do some of us any good because he wouldn't use us on the records. >> and because peter was part of the writing team he had more of a say in what was going to go on there. the songs we had written, not so much. >> i had submitted a few songs to david foster, and they weren't really songs, they were just sort of song ideas, and i think maybe one of them got saved. and made into a song. that's "get away." ♪ da, da, da, da, da ♪ >> i didn't get any writing credit. and the horns is the melody the other way. ♪ he is just an arranger. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] when ordered online?! the phrase “slice of heaven” comes to mind... marco's. pizza lovers get it. my skin but better. everyone wants it... ...this does it! new true match nude tinted serum. 1% hyaluronic acid in a foundation. feels like second skin, naturally radiant! new true match tinted serum from l'oreal paris. we're worth it! ♪ it's easy to take care of jimmy buffett or stevie nicks. you talk to one person. in chicago it's kind of a committee. ♪ what is happening ♪ ♪ there's people sleeping out on the ground ♪ >> i used to say we need to have a meeting about having a meeting. >> some of the problems when we have band meetings, everything was done democratically. >> peter showed up at meeting and made ultimatums. >> peter wanted a double share. >> we knew he did not want to go on the road. >> i like my own bus, you know, i want -- i want more. >> we said okay, well, we'll give you more control. you want that, that's going to do something. >> i have to say that peter, to be very honest, was not a fan of the horns. ♪ ♪ you know our love was meant to be ♪ ♪ the kind of love to last forever ♪ >> you know, peter felt that there didn't need to be brass on every single song. and i happened to agree. >> i just can't say that they were the integral part of what the music was up to that point. >> horn players would come in, you know, and they'd hear the vocals and literally walk over to the board and go turn those vocals down. and like they'd just grab the faders and there would be no vocals. and then we'd put it back. and peter would come in, he'd go turn those horns down. ♪ you're the meaning in my life ♪ >> to concentrate on the vocals he would actually stop playing the bass. there would be no bottom. so that's when i started playing the bass. >> i picked up a guitar. jimmy played keyboards. and we just wanted to be part of the songs. it came to a point that we thought, geez, maybe we -- maybe it's not going to be a horn band anymore. >> my records were good. i mean, i was like hitting my stride as a writer and as a producer and as a player. and i begged them, i said guys, this is a hit, i promise you this is a hit record. you've got to cut this song. no, we're not interested. we don't want to. we didn't write it, we don't want to do it. to appease them i used all three of them to at least get them interested in doing the demo. ♪ i guess i thought you'd be here forever ♪ ♪ i guess i thought you'd be here forever ♪ ♪ i think i gave them a lot of success but i think i softened their sound past the point of point of where i should have. ♪ don't know what you've got until it's gone ♪ >> the difference was much different. one thing you don't want to do is try to keep somebody in the band that doesn't want to be there. ♪ ♪ you were lucky to have me ♪ ♪ doing you a favor ♪ ♪ but then you were gone ♪ ♪ and it all was wrong ♪ ♪ you have no idea how much i cared ♪ ♪ >> when peter left, it gave them the opportunity to kind of reform the way they want to. you know, they had the manager call up and say, i think i can almost quote his words. we're not sure how the band's going to be structured next year. so you know, to me that says you're fired. >> at the time i connected with these guys i was just playing a lot of top 40 music in top 40 bands. and that was really as far as my aspirations went. ♪ ♪ >> i was just looking at it as let me just play and sing these songs like a great top 40 gig. ♪ waiting for the break of day ♪ >> we'd had success with foster. but we needed to -- obviously peter was gone now. so we needed the departure. >> it was kind of like the team losing a good player, but robert and lee and walt and jimmy, they just picked right up and just moved forward. >> it's not going to stay the same. it's got to be different. it's got to go somewhere. and we did all the power ballads. we got shit for doing the you power ballads too. you know, they sold out, they don't take chances any -- i don't care what they think. ♪ sitting cross-legged on the floor ♪ ♪ 25 or 6 to 4 ♪ >> you're redoing one of the classic songs, and that's like why put me in that position? again, i was just going, awesome. >> i don't hide the fact that i tried to get him to sing like peter on the record. ♪ staring blindly into space ♪ >> there were and are a lot of tenor voices in rock, and none of them sound like cetera. >> in my mind i'm the one that brought jason into the band. now, you're going to get like ten different perspectives about who called him and who put him in the band. >> foster wanted him out of the band. he didn't like his voice at all. and i fought with dave. and i fought for jason. i said no, give him a chance. >> i absolutely 100% never wanted jason out of the band. i wanted him in the band. and in my recollection he was my pick and i brought him to the guys. that's what i recall. i can't believe they would say i didn't want jason in the band. it's just ludicrous. ♪ take me as i am ♪ ♪ put your hand in mine ♪ >> coming into something that had been together for so long, this is a family, this is awesome, this is us and everything, but i was with a group of guys who were mentors, that had been through a lot, and i'm looking at that going this is what they did to come out the other end, this is what i'm doing, and it's cyclical. you just do your best work and don't self-destruct and it all comes back around. the road is narrowing. if you just stay and survive, there aren't really going 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just found out and he's coming down to the studio and he has a gun. >> first of all, i wanted to kill him. i almost did. i said what the [ bleep ] is going on? he said we wanted to try out simmons on electronic drums and jeff had a set. i think it was bullshit. >> when technology started improving or at least growing or inventing new stuff, musicians had to learn how to use them. >> all of a sudden being thrown on a click, i could see him talking to bein the control room. i could feel everybody talking about me. there was an undercurrent of doubt. it just [ bleep ] me up. >> i really don't want to have to figure out where one is. and that's the musician talking. changing the time without everybody else knowing where it's going to go. the rest of the guys in the band shouldn't have to figure that out. >> danny's lack of accurate drumming and accurate timekeeping was really a detriment to the band in live performance. >> we went to england finally again. we hadn't had a career in england for a long time because terry insulted the country on the world tour in '77. and here we are in london. >> you know, i took my wife with me. she'd never been to europe. >> she for the him out of the sack at 7:00 in the morning. rented a car. danny's driving himself. >> sightseeing. >> seeing castles and whatnot. >> i should have rested. so i was jetlagged. >> 12 hours later we have a show and this man -- ♪ >> we played a show and i really did play horribly. i mean, it was -- it was terrible. ♪ pa, pa, pa, pa ♪ ♪ pa, pa, pa, pa ♪ >> after the show we had a meeting. hey, danny, you've got to stop looking at castles. dude. come on, what's going on here, man? you've lost it here. really broke a lot of new ground. when he was good he was very good. in my view he spent too much time focusing on things other than music and really sort of being on top of it. >> his mentality was buddy rich, mick fleetwood, that he should control the band. and i think it wore thin after a while. >> there was probably some truth to that. we had good management at that point. i really didn't need to be the drummer-manager anymore. leading the band out of the darkness. >> when we're playing, we're not worrying about business. that's a separate thing. that has its compartment. >> i really just think business became more important than playing. >> you don't do business just before the show or during the show, you know, worrying about the deal. you play the [ bleep ] song. >> at shows he started having his mixing boards next to his drums. and he'd be playing and while he was playing he was mixing. >> it takes two hands and two legs to play the drums. if you take one of them off you start missing stuff. >> dude, what are you doing? >> that was when the founding members got together with danny and asked him to take some time and get it together. >> you just need to focus on your playing and become danny again. >> what are you talking about? i just played on everything we just did and it was a huge success. ♪ if you ever walk the line ♪ ♪ and the tears are in my eyes ♪ ♪ look away, baby look away ♪ ♪ if we meet on the street someday ♪ ♪ and i don't know what to say ♪ >> at one point jason said to me, and i wanted to slap him, we felt that the album was successful in spite of your playing. hey, listen, it's important to really ask yourself, is there validity to this? >> you know, there was truth to all of that to a certain degree. i could kind of see it. and i thought if these guys are all saying it they must be right. >> that's a viewpoint and a perspective by the collective group. and it's a message. >> i said okay, i'll go back, i'll woodshed and have a long meeting with myself about my playing and work on it. work on it with a click and work on this and that. so i went and i got with a teacher, which i studied like crazy for six weeks. >> when danny came back from sort of wood shedding appear us having to work with a new drummer it was really no change. >> and when we tried to make him aware of it he didn't agree. so one thing led to another and he ended up being out rather than in. >> as much as i kind of knew it was coming, it just knocked me to my knees. you know, it was -- i lived and eat and drank, pissed, bled, cried, lived, died that band. >> i'm just speculating but i think danny felt he was a founding member of the band and we were going to have to take him regardless of how we felt he was playing. i just felt that if he was going to stay in the band it would tear the band apart. so he had to go. >> i think the loss of friendship was probably what hurt me more than anything. because you know, all of a sudden i went from having seven -- six or seven other like brothers to nothing. >> we would have never gotten rid of anybody. that's not the way it works. the beatles didn't get rid of anybody. how could it be the beatles if somebody leaves? come on. that was the last thing we wanted to do. but it became impossible to work and function properly as a band. >> those six guys in that room that stayed together and was special for such a long time, longer than the shelf lives of all the one-hit wonders and somewhere in between that glitch happened and i'm really sorry for it. >> people are always going to know me for -- as the drummer of chicago. i mean, it's ironic. i mean, they still bill me as chicago's danny seraphine. ♪ >> once danny was gone and chris came in, i think all of us thought hey, we'd better all, you know, shape up. >> they really made me feel at home. they also said you don't have to do what danny did. >> since chris has joined the band, i talked about never having to worry about where one is. i never had to worry about where one is. >> what's the line about a writer writes always? and i think a musician plays and performs always. and i think that's what we do. that's what this band is about. we'll be in there somewhere in the index under c, chicago. >> hopefully. >> those guys, man. all of them. just have this uncanny ability and do reinvent themselves. and what they hear, what their muse tells them or whatever. you know >> i think everyone genuinely cares about each other. we spend more time with each other than we do with anybody else. i think that's just a thing that's kind of grown over the years. >> the brain works perhaps more efficiently with facts with bullet points. it's obviously a very different experience to have lived through history. to me it's been one very long sweep. >> nobody has had successful years consecutively for 47 years. nobody. nobody. nobody. new true match tinted serum from l'oreal paris. we're worth it! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ get a head start in investing with the new schwab starter kit™. new investors can open an account and get $50 to split across the top five stocks in the s&p 500®. you can also unlock short videos, step-by-step guides, and other easy-to-use tools designed for people just getting started. plus, investment professionals are on standby 24/7 if you ever have a question. it's the smarter way to start investing. ♪ ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. his girlfriend just caught the bouquet, so he's checking in on that ring fund. oh, that photographer? he's looking for something a little more zen, so he's thinking, “i'll open a yoga studio.” and as for the father of the bride? he's checking to see if he's on track to do this all over again...and again. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do? ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ >> in 1967, a group of musicians came together, and they were weaving their city's diverse musical influences into one bold, beautiful sound. it is my honor to finally induct them, chicago, into the rock 'n roll hall of fame. ♪ >> it is a milestone. thank you for finally inviting us into your house. >> for me when you say who the greatest american band, you are going to say the eagles, beach boys, chicago. ♪ saturday in the park ♪ ♪ i think it was the fourth of july ♪ >> this band started on february 15th, 1967 when we played for the first time in my basement. we never thought we'd be standing up here at this time. ♪ people dancing ♪ ♪ people laughing ♪ ♪ a man selling ice cream ♪ >> they deserve to be in the hall of fame and finally in the hall of fame. this is not one of 100 shows, but it is the most special shows of their career. ♪ can you dig it ♪ ♪ yes, i can ♪ ♪ i have been waiting such a long time ♪ >> life has many ups and downs and i have been blessed with three things that never failed me, my music, my trumpet and the guys in the band. >> walt, danny, lee, james, terry. >> whenever i performed "saturday in the park" there is a line i sing about a man playing guitar and i always give a quick look up for the heavens to say hi. ♪ a man playing guitar ♪ >> i am still working through losing terry. >> my earliest recollections they were playing in those days six sets, and they always work hard and like you say, it is kind of ironic, because nothing has changed and that is basically how they have started and continued on. they love to play, and they love to perform. >> i'd like to thank our manager, peter schivarelli who has believed in us for well over 30 years. and i'm biased because i am from chicago and 12th and pulaski you are the heart and gold. you have found a way to keep us working for almost 50 years. thank you, peter. we love you peter. >> he is like the energizer bunny, and he just keeps going and going and going. >> and people bring it up, they have been around a long time and what is the secret? even with the additions that had to be brought in due to departure or death they were guys that worked in harmony. good players and players that were easy to coexist with. >> and lastly to the fans out there for making it happen for us day after day and year after year, we are not going anywhere, and you ain't seen nothing yet. >> until the last couple of years i have not really ever thought about it would be nice to just sit, or it would be nice to not have to be somewhere in some lobby at 6:30 getting ready to go on a bus to get to a gig and be nice not to have to play. having said all of that, anybody who stops doing anything that they have done their entire life will eventually miss it. >> once we get off tour, you know, i don't know what the relationship will be, because we don't see each other. >> you don't know what it is going to be like, you know. it is a little scary. it is something that i have done since i have been 9 years old. and that is never going to go away. >> logically, i don't expect, you know, if once it is over, i don't expect that we would spend much time together. we have spent enough time together to last a lifetime. >> i will never stop thinking of my brothers as my brothers. we're closer than we are to some of our families. >> you know, we have separate families now. we are still our, you know, the brothers, and -- i don't know. >> i feel the impetus of running out of time that i'm finding to be very inspiring. i feel like i'm running out of time and i'd better get down. >> yeah. immortality is a reality. >> well, we have been asked how long it could go for quite a long time. >> yeah. >> and it doesn't have to stop. >> but i don't want [ bleep ] around. >> no. we are not [ bleep ]ing around. >> we are [ bleep ]ing around and if we are not [ bleep ]ing around, we are kidding ourselves. >> robert said one time that he wanted to be like picasso and picasso fell over dead working on a sculpture at 96. and he said that he wanted to be like picasso and fall over dead on stage, and lee said, yeah, we will all fall over dead together. ♪ that this is all we want to be ♪ >> thank you so much. ♪ the times within the scrolls ♪ ♪ to do the things that we propose ♪ ♪ we know it ♪ ♪ we're trying so hard to make it ♪ ♪ by making music day to day ♪ ♪ and although the task is never done ♪ ♪ we know we know ♪ ♪ you ought to know ♪ tlooet as you said earlier. then it's a hundred thousand. where now? you either get out or you get in. it's probably the most important cultural event in the history of america. and a whole new generation of freaks. >> what guys seem to get off on. they like these high-energy sort of events. >> sight and sound and soul are your pleasure, you can bet your bottom dollar we got them, baby. >> unless you've been living in a sealed cave, you probably craze is disco dancing. atest >> this is punk rock, anit