The Voice of Chicago?

HolyMoly wrote: Terry Kath, I think. He was the most outstanding (in the sense of “best” as well as “most distinctive”) vocalist in the band while he was alive. Cetera obviously had a sound that everyone recognizes, but for the first 5-8 albums he was more of an equal participant than the main attraction.

I think early on, Terry appeared as the leader, front-man. I also think his voice is distinctive, but not like Cetera, who you can tell a mile away. And I have small critiques about both. Cetera's voice is a little whiny, Terry's sometimes sounding too gruff and uninspiredPeter didn't write a song in the first album, but was always given songs by Lamm, Pankow, and even Terry with "The Road". Lee gave him "Call On Me", and probably should have, since Cetera helped make it. According to Cetera, though, he needed some help. "I tried to help Lee Loughnane with a song," Cetera says, "and that song turned out to be 'Call On Me.' Lee had written a song. It wasn't called, 'Call On Me,' it was called something else, and it in fact was terrible. I talked to him at the ranch one day, and he was all bent out of shape. He said that he had played the song for the guys, and they had told him in fact to get the heck out of there with the song. I said, 'Well, come on, let's have a go.' So Lee and I went and re-wrote the lyrics and re-wrote the melody and came up with the song called, 'Call On Me,' which was a big hit for him." Loughnane remembers it a little differently. "Peter changed a couple of the words and the way he sang the melody in order for him to be able to play the bass and sing the melody at the same time because that's the way he felt it." Loughnane added, "I appreciate his efforts, and we did make the song a hit."

Terry seemed to come alive on XI, starting the album with "Mississippi Delta City Blues" (I love the new funky arrangement), and then he has "Takin' It On Uptown", a rockin' song with no horns, only to end the album with the beautiful, "Little One". I really think they were going to move away from the softer stuff. After an international #1, they only let Peter sing one song, his own, "Baby What A Big Surprise" and it was by far the most played on the radio, despite great songs like, "Take Me Back To Chicago" along with the aforementioned. In this magazine in 76, he says, "Our next album (XI) is going to be more balls-out" but once he dies, and with Robert behind a piano (and admittedly having problems of his own), and Cetera losing weight, getting in shape, he was the only "frontman" and I think they did a 180, going with what hand they were dealt after the death blow.