West Music Staff Blogs

In 1967, Chicago musicians Walter Parazaider, Terry Kath, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Robert Lamm, and Peter Cetera formed a group with one dream: to integrate all the musical diversity from their beloved city and weave a new sound, a rock 'n' roll band with horns. Their dream turned into 20 Top Ten singles, 12 Top Ten albums (five of which were #1), and sales of more than 120 million records.

The main appeal of Chicago has a lot to do with the instrumentation of the group – brass and woodwinds!

The band was formed when a group of DePaul University music students began playing a series of late-night jams at clubs on- and off-campus. The group eventually grew to seven players and went professional as a cover band called "The Big Thing." The band featured an unusually versatile line-up of musicians, including a full horn section (saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow, and trumpet player Lee Loughnane) in addition to the more traditional rock instrumentalists: guitarist Terry Kath, keyboardist Robert Lamm, drummer Danny Seraphine, and bassist Peter Cetera.

While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs. In June 1968, they moved to Los Angeles, California under the guidance of their friend and manager, James William Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. After signing with Guercio, The Big Thing changed their name to "Chicago Transit Authority."

Their first record (released in April 1969), The Chicago Transit Authority, was an unbelievable debut: a double album, very rare for a first release, featuring jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental guitar leads.

The album began to receive heavy airplay on the newly popular FM radio band; it included a number of pop-rock songs — "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68" — which would later be edited to a radio-friendly length, released as singles, and eventually become rock radio staples.

Soon after the album's release, the band's name was shortened to "Chicago," when the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened legal action. In 2009, Chicago reunited with Earth, Wind & Fire for yet another joint tour. Membership of the band include:
Subs (By Year): Nick Lane - trombone (since 1999) Larry Klimas - woodwinds (since 2003) Ray Hermann - woodwinds (since 2005) Tom Timko - woodwinds (2005) Lee Thornburg - trumpet (1992 and recently) Steve Jankowski - trumpet (1992, 2006, 2007) Brian Hicks - trumpet (1976) Lou Pardini - keyboards, vocals (September 2007 and fall 2009) Drew Hester - drums (2009)