Peter Cetera and Chicago

Even though I don't list him as an influence, and I haven't learned many of his lines, this is the guy that made me want to play bass when I was a kid (I took up guitar instead for some silly reason).

I also pulled out the early Chicago stuff not long ago and was playing along with the 1st CTA album, the one with Poem 58, Questions 67 & 68, Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is, etc. Its still a fun record.

I think Jamerson was one of his influences. And Paul McCartney.

 

I can't say that I've ever thought of them as 'Jamerson-like', but I remember very fondly learning some of them in the first year or two that I played. Heck... just this evening I was twiddling around switching string sets on my Cirrus 4, and the bass line that I was playing as I was getting the setups right was that from "Feelin' Stronger Every Day".

 

I love that first "Transit" album. Always loved Cetera's playing on it. I admit I was influenced by him at that time. I still get a kick out of playing along to this album. The next three or so albums were also good. IMO they went down hill from there material wise, though the playing was always good.

Your right about McCartney being an influence as he said so in a recent magazine article. He also said in that article that he has taken up the bass again after a long singing career.

 

There is a great thread here recently after the Peter Cetera cover on Bass Player came out.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380745&highlight=peter+cetera

 

Bass Player recently interviewed him, it's worth reading.........he played a Fender P bass and a Rickenbacker back then.

I've seen Chicago about 8 times in the last 3 or 4 years, I would highly recommend them as a live act. Their current bassist (Jason Scheff) is quite good, and they usually play a good number of the songs from their earlier recordings.

Cheers.

 

Has anyone an update on what he's doing now ? Has he started playing bass again like he said he would ?

 

To me, the verses on "Free" are Jamerson-esque...while the chorus is Rocco-esque.

 

Being self taught, learning the bass line in "Only The Beginning" really opened up a lot of directions for me to experiment with. It's a simple riff, probably has a name to a schooled ear, to me it was a real eye opener.

Damn, that was a long time ago...

 

I've always thought of his bass lines a lyrical. I cut my teeth on Chicago's 1st 2 albums. I devided my playing time between bass and valve trombone back in those days.

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ggiYK3j8Meg&feature=related
Playing above the fifth fret.

 

Great band. And most specifically, the horn section was huge, IMO.

 

Anyone ever notice how much he sounds like Phil Lesh on Dialogue Parts I & II (Chicago V)?

 

Their version of "I'm A Man" was one of the first tunes I learned on bass- and then I heard the Spencer Davis version and discovered my favorite British singer, too.

 

Cetera, along with Chris Squire and Stanley Clarke were my influences to take up the bass as an instrument to play. He really got great tone from that P Bass and flats.
I have read where he had a Ric in those days, but I never saw him playing one live or in a picture of any kind.

 

Nov. '07 issue of Bass Player-
The cover shot has Cetera playing a Ric.

Here's a link to the article-
http://www.bassplayer.com/article/chicagos-peter-cetera/nov-07/32489

 

Here's some footage of him playing a Gibson bass at the Arie Crown Theater. Check out "Saturday In The Park", "Now That You've Gone", and "Devil's Sweet":

http://www.rhino.com/retrovid/VideoKeeper.lasso?Artist=Chicago&Partner=

I thought I saw a Fender bass on a stand in some of the shots, as well as an Acoustic amp.

 

One of the bands I play with do 3 old 60's Chicago numbers..challenging stuff to make sound original,good stuff nonetheless!

 

Great band and classic stuff. I've seen them live somewhat recently with Jason Scheff on bass/vocals, and it was still very good.

It's funny, I was always under the impression that Peter was a 'jerk', based on some stories that went around when he quit the band all those years ago. However, his recent interview in Bass Player was just wonderful... thoughtful, articulate, very humble (he even went out of his way to praise Jason Scheff's playing). He came across as a class act. It's cool he seems to be picking up the bass again.

 

Check out Chicago V and you'll see why Peter was consistently among the top electric basses in the Downbeat Jazz polls of the 70's. An exceptional player.