Metropoulos Forum

Terry Kath,spoke of him in another thread,he influenced me in a way,that was rivalled by Tommy Bolin later,that wailing guitar,he was shredding in the seventies,the strong rhythmic component of his playing allied with the leads that just popped and built so much dynamic tension for the song,great vocalist as well.Tery wasn't afraid to go to the edge and unfortunately went just a little to far and a gun is unforgiving,i either works or it dosen't.
As much as I enjoyed the original drummer and rhythm section.it was Terry's parts I was waiting for,it would kick you in the ass,and with pretty unconventional equipment for the time too.Free Form Guitar should go into the Rock Pantheon as one of the great experimental tonal texture pieces,rivalling even Zappa.
Liked his SG tone over the Tele pretty much,but he was a master of the fretboard and really gave his all every time he played,for sure 100%
Miss you Terry,seeyou in the future and we'll continue the jam!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxZ3_7kk00

Great Orange amp sound on that track and it looks to be aPelham Blue SG Custom as well!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POWYyKhrP2s
That last one was a mimed performanc
This is Make me Smile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kMT4m8QKT4
Peter using his low impedance pickuped Gibsom Les Paul recording om that track.
Strat in effect for It better End Soon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7DEwnN3FqM
Great stuff if slightly flawed,but a solid band and the basis for a pretty long lasting career post all this time.
Color My World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIiWpgZ3nE&NR

yngwie308

The guy was phenominal.....about all I can say !!

he inspired me to get going back then too. i love that early chicago stuff. 25 or 6 to 4, their version of i'm a man was cool, etc... kind of a hybrid "stage band" rock sound. i'll always have a nostalgia for it.

Thanks for the tip Dave, I had never heard anything but 24-6 to 9. I thought, man, that dude has more than just pentatonics. I really liked "I'm A Man", there was alot of adrenaline/testosterone on that one. He had a powerful voice too. I never heard this stuff before, hell ,even Peter was singin back then. His playing sorta reminded me of the dude in "The Quick Silver Messenger Service Band", and also a little of Joplins "Big Brothers" era guitarist. Was his death an accident, or did he know the gun was loaded ?

From what I read,his wife said they were all pretty wasted,drunk,high,whatever and Terry decided to clean his guns,and he didn't think the one he had was loaded,so he did the old point it at my head,see it's not loaded and bang,it was.It wasn't a suicide on the face of it when you set out to do it.Drugs and alcohol are a slower and someimes quicker way to kill yourself,but a gun makes no mistake,a big tragedy for sure.
yngwie308

Here is what I read about poor Terry's unfortunate accidental death:
Death
Kath reportedly had a history of using alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, in his last few years. Chicago bandmates have indicated that he was also increasingly unhappy.[citation needed] Peter Cetera even went so far as to say that Kath would have been the first to quit Chicago had he lived (and, according to then-producer James William Guercio, Kath was working on a solo album before he died).[citation needed] But despite his personal problems, this was not the cause of his accidental death.

Around 5 p.m. on the evening of January 23, 1978, after a party at roadie Don Johnson's home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, Kath

absolutely. drumming is a killer way to visualize rhythms alot easier. every once in a blue moon, i think about busting out the rudiments & taking them for a whirl!