Ep463: Lee Loughnane of Chicago

The Vinyl Guide Interview - For Record Collectors & 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• Unheard Chicago songs and tapes been archived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

Extended, Commercial-Free & High Resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/2Y6ORU0 Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36qhlc8