Columbia 32400
Producer: James William Guercio
Track listing: Critics’ Choice / Just You ‘n’ Me / Darlin’ Dear / Jenny / What’s This World Comin’ To / Something in This City Changes People / Hollywood / In Terms of Two / Rediscovery / Feelin’ Stronger Every Day
July 28, 1973
5 weeks (nonconsecutive)
Chicago VI was a change for the band named after a major metropolis. The group had recorded all of its previous albums in New York or Los Angeles, but following the huge sales of Chicago V, the band was enjoying the rewards of its success. Producer/manager Jim Guercio had built a studio at his recently purchased Caribou Ranch in Colorado, and the band opted to seek refuge there to record its sixth album.
“New York was a real aggressive city-type atmosphere and it was reflected in the music,” says drummer Danny Seraphine. “When we got to Colorado, it was kind of a new beginning. It was basically a new world for us city boys.” The band lived at the ranch during February 1973 while cutting the album. “Jimmy had renovated all of the cabins. There was a real family atmosphere,” Seraphine adds. “I kept a horse up there. When I finished recording before the sessions, I would go riding up in the mountains.”
Yet there were some drawbacks. “The downside was the lack of oxygen [because of the high altitude],” Seraphine says. “Some of the singers lost a note off their top range, because they weren’t used to it.” Also, the ranch location was isolated. “Eventually, we would get kind of stir crazy. We would have to jump in a car and run down to Boulder for the last call in a nightclub to feel like human beings.”
The new studio wasn’t the only change for Chicago. The band’s success altered their personal relationships. “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day,” which went on to become a top 10 hit, had a special meaning for bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera. “Peter wrote that song [with trombonist/percussionist James Pankow] about his marriage falling apart. He gone through a real hard time and was starting to feel stronger again.” Its anthemic nature also served as a theme of sorts for the band, as Chicago was on a roll.
While the band was experiencing great commercial success, it was often e target of critical barbs. The band responded with “Critics’ Choice.” Says Seraphine, “In those days when they discovered you, you were the fair-haired golden boys, but when you became successful, they just slammed the shit out of you.” The song was written by keyoardist Robert Lamm. “He was just really pissed off, because some of his work had gotten slammed, so that was his protest.”
While Cetera was writing about feeling stronger after his breakup, Pankow penned a tune, sung by Cetera, called “Just You ‘n’ Me,” about his new love. “He wrote that for his wife-to-be,” Seraphine says. The song also went on to become a hit, reaching number four. “What I loved about that song is we could be very commercial and then throw in jazz section and pull it off,” he adds.
The public loved that song and the album, too, as Chicago VI hit Number One in its third week on the chart, becoming the band’s second consecutive chart-topper. In just over a year, Chicago would make it three straight.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of July 28, 1973
1. Chicago VI, Chicago
2. The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
3. Living in the Material World, George Harrison
4. Now & Then, The Carpenters
5. There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, Paul Simon