Chicago VII

Chicago VII
Studio album by Chicago
Released	March 11, 1974
Recorded	August - December 1973, Caribou Ranch, Nederland, CO
Genre	Rock music|Rock
Length	72:15
Label	Columbia
Producer	James William Guercio
Chicago chronology
Chicago VI (1973) Chicago VII (1974) Chicago VIII (1975)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone	(not rated)

Chicago VII is the seventh album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1974. It is notable for being their first double album of new material since 1971's Chicago III, and remains their final studio release in that format.

While touring in support of Chicago VI in 1973, the band began getting restless and started integrating some lengthy jazz instrumentals into their sets. While audiences were somewhat mixed in their reaction, Chicago greatly enjoyed the experience and decided, after years of talking about it, to record a pure jazz-influenced album, and headed straight to producer James William Guercio's Caribou Ranch studios to cut their ambitious new album.

While the sessions started off well, there was soon dissension within the group about the jazz project, with, reportedly, Peter Cetera and Guercio both leery at the commercial risk of such an undertaking. While the band reasoned that some of the jazzy material was too good to throw away, the others finally relented to including the more pop and rock-oriented songs that the band had composed in the meantime. Almost by accident, Chicago had another double album on their hands.

Of the more conventional material, Chicago once again turned in a varied set of songs, with Terry Kath's "Byblos", named after a club in Osaka, Japan that Chicago had played, ranking among his best efforts. Robert Lamm, who was presently recording a solo album entitled Skinny Boy, turned in several new songs, even donating his solo album's title track, featuring The Pointer Sisters on backing vocals. While James Pankow came through with another success, "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (#9), and trumpeter Lee Loughnane got lucky on his first try at songwriting in the hit "Call on Me" (#6), it was Peter Cetera who made the biggest strides on Chicago VII, composing "Happy Man" and "Wishing You Were Here" (#11), a lush ballad (signs of the future) that features three of The Beach Boys on backing vocals and which became a big hit in late 1974. "Happy Man" was subsequently covered by Tony Orlando and Dawn on their album To Be With You.

Chicago VII is also notable for featuring Lee Loughnane's lead vocal debut ("Song of the Evergreens"), and for having writing contributions from all (and only) the members of the band.

Released in March 1974, Chicago VII - despite its first disc being almost exclusively jazz instrumentals - shot to #1 anyway in the US becoming another big success for Chicago.

In 2002, Chicago VII was remastered and reissued on one CD by Rhino Records with one bonus track: an early rehearsal of Kath's "Byblos".

Track listing

Side one

1. "Prelude to Aire" (Danny Seraphine) – 2:47 (instrumental)
2. "Aire" (James Pankow/Walter Parazaider/Danny Seraphine) – 6:27 (instrumental)
3. "Devil's Sweet" (Walter Parazaider/Danny Seraphine) – 10:07 (instrumental)

Side two

4. "Italian From New York" (Robert Lamm) – 4:14 (instrumental)
5. "Hanky Panky" (Robert Lamm) – 1:53 (instrumental)
6. "Life Saver" (Robert Lamm) – 5:18 (lead singer: Robert Lamm)
7. "Happy Man" (Peter Cetera) – 3:34 (lead singer: Peter Cetera) On the original LP & CD this song begins with a false start, and about 20 seconds of studio chat/noise. This is omitted on the greatest hits albums and the Rhino remaster.

Side three

8. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (James Pankow) – 4:29 (lead singer: Peter Cetera)
9. "Mongonucleosis" (James Pankow) – 3:26 (instrumental)
10. "Song of the Evergreens" (Terry Kath) – 5:20 (lead singer: Lee Loughnane)
11. "Byblos" (Terry Kath) – 6:18 (lead singer: Terry Kath)

Side four

12. "Wishing You Were Here" (Peter Cetera) – 4:37 (lead singers: Terry Kath & Peter Cetera)
13. "Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) – 4:02 (lead singer: Peter Cetera)
14. "Women Don't Want to Love Me" (Robert Lamm) – 4:35 (lead singer: Peter Cetera)
15. "Skinny Boy" (Robert Lamm) – 5:12 (lead singer: Robert Lamm) The same track appears on Robert Lamm's 1974 solo album Skinny Boy, but without horns and a fade-out at 4:30.

Bonus track (2002 re-issue)

16. "Byblos (Rehearsal)" (Terry Kath) – 5:40

The band

• Peter Cetera - bass, vocals, guitar (12)
• Terry Kath - guitars, vocals, bass (07,11,12,15)
• Robert Lamm - keyboards, vocals
• Lee Loughnane - trumpet, flugelhorn (03,05), vocals (lead on 10),
• James Pankow - trombone, percussion (08), timbales (09), backing vocals (08,09)
• Walter Parazaider - flute (01,02), soprano saxophone (03), tenor saxophone
• Danny Seraphine - drums

• Brass Arrangements : 04 by James Pankow/Robert Lamm ; 06,08,09,13,14,15 by James Pankow

Additional personnel

• Laudir de Oliveira - percussion on 1 3 4 6 9 11 12 13 16, congas on 2 4 6 8
• David Wolinski - ARP synthesizer, Mellotron on 3, 4
• James William Guercio - acoustic guitar and bass on 7, 10
• Jimmie Haskell - strings on 8
• Wayne Tarnowski - piano on 10
• Guille Garcia - congas on 11
• Al Jardine - additional vocals on 12
• Carl Wilson - additional vocals on 12
• Dennis Wilson - additional vocals on 12
• The Pointer Sisters - additional vocals on 15
• Ross Salomone - drums on 15

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Peak position
1974	Billboard Pop Albums	1

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1974	"(I've Been) Searchin' So Long"	Billboard Pop Singles	9
1974	"Call on Me"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
1974	"Call on Me"	Billboard Pop Singles	6
1974	"Wishing You Were Here"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
1974	"Wishing You Were Here"	Billboard Pop Singles	11

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	Gold	March 18, 1974
RIAA – USA	Platinum	November 21, 1986

References

Preceded by Band on the Run by Paul McCartney & Wings

Billboard 200 number-one album April 27 - May 3, 1974

Succeeded by The Sting (soundtrack) by Various artists