The Friday Flashback: Classic Chicago

By Chuck Sudo in Miscellaneous on Mar 7, 2008 2:00PM

Even though Chicago (the band) haven't called the city home in close to forty years and their later focus on lite rock didn't end with the departure of Peter Cetera, there was a time when they could kill live.

The band never fully recovered from the accidental suicide of guitarist Terry Kath in 1978. Kath's guitar work was instrumental to the early Chicago sound. As they went more mainstream, Kath became increasingly unhappy with the band's direction; Cetera even said that Kath would have been the first to quit the band had he lived.

The video above comes from a BBC "Top of the Pops" recording session in 1970, a smoking rendition of "I'm a Man." Cetera and keyboard player Robert Lamm (then known as "Bobby") are inspired in this session. But it's Kath you want to keep an eye on, his guitar work and vocals driving the band.