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Peter Cetera in Bass Player

#22
burk48237 said:
IMO a vast majority of musicians (especially those exposed to music post late 70's) have no idea of the ground they broke or the level of musicianship they possessed. For instance many younger guitar players know about Hendrix, Clapton,Page or even Santana, but I get blank stares when I mention Terry Kath, a player who was certainly in the same class. Cetera, was as good a pop bass player as ANYONE in his era, but I don't think I've met one bass player born after 1970 who knows who he is. While they are relevant to me, I would call that irrelevant or at the very least unappreciated. And it was their own doing.:hmm:
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I now see where you're coming from, and I do agree. If you get a chance dig around on YouTube. There are some absolutely amazing old videos of the very early days. This one is where they are in the studio and Al Green comes in and sings a tune with them. Freakin priceless!!
 
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#23
burk48237 said:
IMO a vast majority of musicians (especially those exposed to music post late 70's) have no idea of the ground they broke or the level of musicianship they possessed. For instance many younger guitar players know about Hendrix, Clapton,Page or even Santana, but I get blank stares when I mention Terry Kath, a player who was certainly in the same class. Cetera, was as good a pop bass player as ANYONE in his era, but I don't think I've met one bass player born after 1970 who knows who he is. While they are relevant to me, I would call that irrelevant or at the very least unappreciated. And it was their own doing.:hmm:
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Hardly any band can sustain a career for 40 years. Hardly any band can sustain a career for one hit single. Had Chicago not changed their sound in the 80's, they would have fallen by the wayside after Terry Kath died. You'll remember that their next albums didn't do all that great until David Foster came along. Hell, that 80's era bought them an extra 15 years of relevancy that they wouldn't have had otherwise. So you and your friends didn't like those songs. Fine. I didn't either. But that era increased their relevancy way longer than it should have gone, and I'm sure the members of Chicago greet you with the same blank stares ;)
 
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#24
saxofunk said:
What do you know, my Bass Player 'script ran out after the November edition! Guess it's time to get back on the wagon.



tru that.

Good thing I still have time to get a letter off to Santa, I have no idea what I did with a couple Genesis cassettes and 21 from Chicago. ;)
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Yeah, I'm digg'in Peter C being this months issue of BP I thought it was about time!

And to the quote above - The next time a Genesis song comes on the radio and some says to me " I just love that Phil Collins" or "What Phil Collins CD is that song on"....I'm gonna snap.
 
#25
JimmyM said:
Hardly any band can sustain a career for 40 years. Hardly any band can sustain a career for one hit single. Had Chicago not changed their sound in the 80's, they would have fallen by the wayside after Terry Kath died. You'll remember that their next albums didn't do all that great until David Foster came along. Hell, that 80's era bought them an extra 15 years of relevancy that they wouldn't have had otherwise. So you and your friends didn't like those songs. Fine. I didn't either. But that era increased their relevancy way longer than it should have gone, and I'm sure the members of Chicago greet you with the same blank stares ;)
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Although I am a HUGE fan of their CTA-V era, I think 17 is a great album. The "Kath-Era" DVD is set to come out in late January. From what I am told, it will contain the Japan concert and other stuff from the early days. Should be great.
 
#27
Here is some cool linkage-

Cetera said "McCartney was so in my head..."

Jaco said "I'd kill to play with you guys (Chicago); If you ever need a sub please call me!"

I wonder if they considered Jaco after Cetera left? I know they wanted a singer/bassist, but what if...????

Anyone who judges CHicago only by their later stuff is really missing one of the truly great bands of early rock.
 
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#30
burk48237 said:
CTA is an incredible and almost timeless CD. Dr, If you want to check out the next step, pick up Chicago V, perhaps the "jazziest" Album they did. Like I said earlier Chuck Rainy would be impressed by the bass playing on that CD!:bassist:
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I agree. If you like CTA, you will LOVE "V" (my favorite). "Now That You've Gone" is a monster!!! Also, I highly reccomend that you invest in the Carnegie Hall set. It is a true live album.

Also, check out "Relayer" by YES (especially "Sound Chaser") for some real stretching.
 
#31
burk48237 said:
, but I don't think I've met one bass player born after 1970 who knows who he is. While they are relevant to me, I would call that irrelevant or at the very least unappreciated. And it was their own doing.:hmm:
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Well, I was born in 71, and I've played their material many a time. Cetera had some cool melodic stuff going on. And I agree with you about them being un-appreciated, although I feel under-appreciated fits them better.
 
#33
Hi

I also love early Chicago. When I was a senior in high school I went with some friends to see them at Carnegie Hall, it was April, 1971, and the live LP set was recorded during an entire week of shows. It was boringly called Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall. I even still have the ticket stub.

It was a tremendous show, enhanced greatly by the venue. CH is a great place to see any live music.

Glad BP had him on the cover too, I read that article first when it showed up in the mail last week!!
 
#35
Barkless Dog said:
great article but did not see any mention of his gibson basses. He used to be a Gibson sponser if I remeber.

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He flirted with other basses but always came back to the Precision. The Gibson era didn't last long.

RE: Jaco/Cetera leaving timeline, I got the dates wrong, but by that time it would have been a moot point. Jaco was already too far gone and didn't want to hear about it. A friend of mine knew him well at that time, and once heard a guy tell him that he should get cleaned up and hit the studio and make another fortune. Jaco replied, "You wanna hang with me, you'll knock that **** off."

I think they wanted another singer anyway, so even if Jaco wanted to do it, they probably would have gotten a singing bassist anyway. Besides, I'm sure Jason Scheff was cheaper ;)
 
#36
Chicago was unique in that they had three very high quality lead vocalist. Cetera (obviously), Terry Kath, whose singing I love and Robert Lamn. Also before Cetera became syrupy ballad man he had a real soulful voice too, check out his verses on I'm a man or Dialogue. And Lamn could get grungy too, check out Mama don't want to love me from seven. I can only think of two other bands that had that level of vocal abilities, the Beatles and CSNY.
 
#37
JimmyM said:
He flirted with other basses but always came back to the Precision. The Gibson era didn't last long.

RE: Jaco/Cetera leaving timeline, I got the dates wrong, but by that time it would have been a moot point. Jaco was already too far gone and didn't want to hear about it. A friend of mine knew him well at that time, and once heard a guy tell him that he should get cleaned up and hit the studio and make another fortune. Jaco replied, "You wanna hang with me, you'll knock that **** off."

I think they wanted another singer anyway, so even if Jaco wanted to do it, they probably would have gotten a singing bassist anyway. Besides, I'm sure Jason Scheff was cheaper ;)
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Kath played most of the bass on seven, as Cetera was already easing his way out.
 
#38
Cetera did use Gibson EB-3 basses, whether he endorsed them or not I don't know. On his web site, he has a '70's poster of him with a Gibson Ripper I think. Under the picture is the sentence "And I hated the bass." He also used a Music Man Sting Ray, and Fender P Bass often, and at times a Rickenbacker I believe. He dosen't get the credit he deserves as a great bassist who has influenced a lot of players, myself included.:)
 
#40
OK, I must be bored...I just went & dug out my first issue of Down Beat (Dec. 20, 1973). I had now owned a bass for about a year now & was interested in learning about the 'good players'. So my Jazz drumming uncle gave me this issue.
Anyway, it's the Readers' Poll issue. Of the 20 bassists listed, At the time, I had only heard of 3-
Jack Bruce, Chris Squire, & Peter Cetera.
Here's the listing-
893 Ron Carter
854 Stanley Clarke
484 Richard Davis
404 Ray Brown
330 Miroslav Vitous
287 Charles Mingus
128 Charlie haden
127 Cecil McBee
85 Jack Bruce
80 Eddie Gomez
77 Larry Ridley
71 Dave Holland
65 Rick Laird
64 Jimmy Garrison
56 Peter Cetera
56 Jack Six
53 George Mraz
43 Milt Hinton
30 Chris Squire

Gotta admit, I recall asking my cousin "Why Cetera? Is he that good "?
(In my young head, I could understand Bruce & Squire...a couple years later, I kinda thought it funny that they would be on this sort of list). :)
My cousin said something to the effect of "...this is a Jazz magazine & he has some Jazz chops while most Rock bass players don't". IIRC, I then began listening to Chicago's non-Top 20 hits.

My Cetera buried nugget is "Brand New Love Affair, Parts 1 & 2" from VIII.
More props to "Free"...sounds like Jamerson meets Rocco.
 

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