Ep463: Lee Loughnane of Chicago

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Lee Loughnane of Chicago shares memories of the band’s early period, the Chicago Transit Authority debut, Chicago’s live performances, rediscovered recordings and the band's enduring legacy.

Topic Include:

• Lee Loughnane – intro
• Early days – memories of Jimi Hendrix
• Jimi wanted to play/jam with Chicago
• Terry Kath and Jimi got along well
• Learnings from Jimi and Janis
• Audience of high improvisation tolerance
• Chicago has so many hits, they can’t play them all in a show
• Touring with Earth Wind & Fire
• Playing when the power goes out
• Recording the 1971 Kennedy Center show
• Common to debut material live before recording
• The process of writing Chicago songs
• Jimmy writing the Ballet
• The naming of albums with Roman numerals
• Changing band name from Chicago Transit Authority
• Origin story of the Chicago band logo
• Releasing a double album as a debut
• Recording/rehearsing and writing 1st few albums
• Band house under the Hollywood Freeway
• AM radio wouldn’t play early Chicago material
• “Make Me Smile” single for AM radio
• Band was concerned about feasibility to do multiple albums
• Playing Carnegie Hall – recent remix and box set
• Remixing early Chicago records
• Challenge of playing live in early days
• Terry’s amp position on live stage
• Did Chicago record many early gigs?
• The Kennedy Center gig was special and recorded as such
• Chicago put out a lot of records early on
• Current tour going to Japan but not Australia
• Rediscovering Kennedy Center recording
• Debuting the song “Saturday In The Park” at the Kennedy Center
• Unheard Chicago songs and tapes been archived
• Chicago tapes – multitracks and masters
• Lee enjoys modern CDs much more than vinyl
• What’s Lee listening to these days?
• Lee never got into punk rock
• Interview wrap up

Order "Chicago at the Kennedy Center" LP set here

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