Robert Lamm

Robert Lamm
Robert Lamm, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Robert William Lamm
Born	(1944-10-13) October 13, 1944 Brooklyn, New York United States
Genres	Rock, adult contemporary, jazz, progressive rock
Occupations	Songwriter Musician Record producer
Instruments	Vocals, Keytar, Keyboards, Guitar
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Blue Infinity
Associated acts	Chicago
Website	Official site

Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?," "Beginnings," "Saturday in the Park," "Dialogue," and "25 or 6 to 4."

Biography

Robert Lamm (center) performing with Earth, Wind & Fire on keytar.

Robert Lamm was born on October 13, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York and moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois when he was 15 years old. His parents had a collection of jazz records, which were an early influence on him. At his church, he performed in the boys' and men's choir. He studied art in high school, particularly drawing and painting, but changed direction in college by enrolling in the music program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. In a 2003 interview, Lamm said, "My first musical training came as a member of the choir at Grace Episcopal Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York. It was a very good choir (Harry Chapin and members of his band were also in this choir at around the same time). It exposed me to some of the great sacred music from the Middle Ages, right up through Bach and into some of the 20th Century composers."

Lamm formed a trio with Gerry Beckley of the band America and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. After Wilson's death from lung cancer in February 1998, an album was released entitled Like a Brother (2000).

Apart from his involvement with Chicago, Lamm has recorded a number of solo albums, beginning in 1974 through the present. He has guest lectured on music production at Stanford University. In 2012, he lectured at New York University on the subject of song writing.

Chicago hits written by Lamm

• 25 or 6 to 4
• Another Rainy Day in New York City
• Beginnings
• Dialogue (Part I & II)
• Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
• Free
• Harry Truman
• Questions 67 & 68
• Saturday in the Park

Personal discography

• 1974: Skinny Boy
• 1993: Life Is Good In My Neighborhood
• 1999: In My Head
• 2000: Like a Brother (Beckley-Lamm-Wilson)
• 2003: Subtlety & Passion
• 2004: Too Many Voices (Expanded Reissue of "In My Head")
• 2005: Leap Of Faith - Live in New Zealand
• 2006: Life is Good in My Neighborhood 2.0
• 2006: Skinny Boy 2.0
• 2008: The Bossa Project
• 2012: Living Proof
• 2012: Robert Lamm Songs: The JVE Remixes

Discography with Chicago

There are currently over 150 albums, including foreign editions, many of which are live and bootleg versions. The list below are the official and legal editions.

• Chicago Transit Authority
• Chicago II
• Chicago III
• At Carnegie Hall
• Chicago V
• Chicago VI
• Chicago VII
• Chicago VIII
• Chicago IX Greatest Hits
• Chicago X
• Chicago XI
• Chicago XII Hot Streets
• Chicago XIII
• Chicago XIV
• Chicago XV Greatest Hits 2
• Chicago 16
• Chicago 17
• Chicago 18
• Chicago 19
• Chicago 20 Greatest Hits 1982- 1989
• Chicago 21 Twenty 1
• Chicago 22 Stone of Sisyphus
• Chicago Night and Day
• Chicago 24 The Heart of Chicago 1
• Chicago 25 The Christmas Album
• Chicago XXVI LIve
• Chicago 27 The Heart of Chicago 2
• Chicago 28 Only the Beginning -The Very Best
• Chicago 29 What's It Gonna Be Santa?
• Chicago XXX
• Chicago O' Christmas Three
• Chicago The Nashville Sessions
• Chicago Live In Japan

Songs and compositions

• "25 or 6 to 4"
• "4 Bells"
• "90 Degrees and Freezing"
• "A Hit By Varese"
• "A Lifetime, We"
• "A Song For Richard and His Friends"
• "Ain't It Blue"
• "Ain't No Ordinary Thing"
• "All Is Well"
• "All the Years"
• "Angels Fly"
• "Another Sunday"
• "Arise"
• "At The Sunrise"
• "Back to You"
• "Beginnings"
• "Blue After All"
• "Bright Eyes"
• "City Living"
• "Come To Me, Do"
• "Crazy Brother John"
• "Crazy Happy"
• "Crazy Way to Spend a Year"
• "Critics' Choice"
• "Dani California"
• "Darlin' Dear"
• "Dialogue"
• "Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?"
• "Doin' Business"
• "Fancy Colours"
• "Feel the Spirit", with Gerry Beckley & Carl Wilson
• "Fireplace and Ivy"
• "Flight 602"
• "For You, Kate"
• "Forever"
• "Free"
• "Gently I'll Wake You"
• "Getaway"
• "Gimme Gimme"
• "Goodbye"
• "Harry Truman"
• "Haute Girl"
• "Heaven in My Eyes"
• "Here with Me"
• "Hollywood"
• "Home"
• "Hot Streets"
• "I Confess"
• "I Could Tell You Secrets"
• "I Don't Want Your Money"
• "I Stand Up"
• "I'd Rather be Rich"
• "If Everybody Knows"
• "In this Country"
• "Intensity"
• "It Better End Soon"
• "Italian From New York"
• "It's a Groove, this Life"
• "It's Always Something"
• "I Wish For You", with Gerry Beckley & Carl Wilson
• "Jesse"
• "Keep the Faith"
• "Life in Motion"
• "Lifesaver"
• "Liquid Sky feat. Zosia Karbowiak"
• "Listen"
• "Living Alone"
• "Living Proof"
• "Long Time No See"
• "Loneliness is Just a Word"
• "Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
• "Love Song"
• "Love Was New"
• "Manipulation"
• "More Will Be Revealed"
• "Mother"
• "Murder on Me"
• "My Naked Heart"
• "My Neighborhood"
• "On the Equinox"
• "One From the Heart"
• "One Step Forward"
• "Only Time Can Heal the Wounded"
• "Out of the Blue"
• "Paradise Alley"
• "Plaid"
• "Poem 58"
• "Poem For The People"
• "Policeman"
• "Questions 67 & 68"
• "Rediscovery"
• "Reruns"
• "Sacha"
• "Sacrificial Culture"
• "Sad Old House"
• "Samba in Your Life"
• "Saturday In The Park"
• "Schizoid"
• "Scrapbook"
• "Sean"
• "Send Rain"
• "Set Me Free from My Heart"
• "Sing a Mean Tune Kid"
• "Sing To Me, Lady"
• "Single Solution"
• "Skinny Boy"
• "Sleeping In the Middle of the Bed"
• "Someday (August 29, 1968)"
• "Someday I'm Gonna Go"
• "Something in this City Changes People"
• "Something's Coming"
• "Somewhere Girl"
• "South California Purples"
• "Standing at Your Door"
• "State of the Union"
• "Swept Away", duet with Phoebe Snow
• "Tabla"
• "Temporary Jones"
• "Tender in the Night"
• "The Best Thing", duet with Phoebe Snow
• "The Heart of Me"
• "The Love of my Life"
• "The Love You Call Your Own"
• "The Mystery of Moonlight"
• "The Myth of Solid Ground"
• "The Possibility of Life"
• "The Pull"
• "The Woman Don't Want to Love Me"
• "Those Crazy Things", duet with ZoSia Karbowiak
• "Thunder and Lightning"
• "Trippy Day"
• "Until The Time Runs Out"
• "Upon Arrival"
• "Vote For Me"
• "Watching the Time Go By", with Gerry Beckley & Carl Wilson
• "Wake Up Sunshine"
• "We Can Stop The Hurtin'"
• "We Shall Arise"
• "When the Rain Becomes"
• "When Will the World be Like Lovers?"
• "Where You Think You're Goin?"
• "While The City Sleeps"
• "Will People Ever Change?"
• "Without Her", with Gerry Beckley and Carl Wilson
• "You Get it Up"
• "You Never Know the Story"

Personal life

Robert married New York art director, Joy Elizabeth Kopko, in the early 1990s. They have homes in Manhattan and California.

Joy took an active step-parenting role with all three children from his previous marriages. The children are now adults. As a couple, they continue to travel, when Robert is not touring or recording. They have enjoyed lengthy stays in Japan several times, as well as Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Rome, Prague, Croatia, New Zealand, Brazil. They have made shorter visits to many other countries, as well. Robert has said: "It's all about feeling the rhythm of a distant city, hearing the language, the music. and listening to the sound of other places in the world. The light and the way colors look in other places is fascinating. Absorbing the culture as much as possible is absolutely inspiring and reassuring."

In 1985 Lamm married soap opera actress Alex Donnelley with whom he had two daughters, Kate and Sean; divorced in 1991. In 1976, Robert married model and actress Julie Ann Nini, and had a daughter, Sacha, before divorcing in 1981. He married Barbara Karen Perk (stage name Karen Lamm) in 1971, and then divorced in 1972.

External links

• CHICAGO's Official Website