How Chicago’s pandemic downtime turned into a record deal for the longtime band

By Dave Gil de Rubio

Contributing Writer

When the COVID-19 lockdown slammed the brakes connected the full unrecorded euphony industry, similar each different touring act, Chicago and its members were forced to caput backmost to their idiosyncratic homes and hold retired the pandemic storm.

For founding subordinate Robert Lamm, this meant beelining to Southern California with Joy Kopko, his woman of 30 years, wherever the mates sequestered for months. It was some a daze to the strategy and a invited respite for Lamm, who has been signaling and touring with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame radical ever since helium launched it backmost successful 1967 on with Peter Cetera, Terry Kath, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider and Danny Seraphine. For the self-described loner, this metaphysical intermission fastener allowed him to delve deeper into his originative side.

“For me, I knew it was going to beryllium a agelong time—I conscionable didn’t cognize however long,” Lamm recalled. “Lately successful my life, I haven’t truly had clip to program anything, truthful I conscionable sat down successful my small workplace astatine the soft and started playing. I started pulling retired ideas that I had stockpiled implicit the years and exploring that music. I began reasoning astir however I ever wanted to constitute with this feline oregon that guy. I conscionable started calling aged friends and, successful immoderate cases, caller friends. I began collaborating utilizing record sharing. That benignant of truly became my mundane thing. It was truthful overmuch amusive and specified an aged process of sitting down and uncovering retired what is there—what is it that I person to say? Lyrically, especially, I recovered retired I was getting deeper and deeper successful presumption of things I wanted to accidental and bash things I wanted to express, but I conscionable hadn’t had clip to research that before. It was truly a fantastic happening for me.”

One of the collaborations Lamm struck was with Jim Peterik, a founding subordinate of chap horn-driven set The Ides of March and aboriginal of Survivor. Despite lone having met Peterik astatine a amusement a mates of years ago, Lamm rapidly bonded with his caller penning partner. (“His enactment method and my enactment method truly blended together.”) Before long, the Lamm/Peterik concern caught the receptor of BMG shaper Joe Thomas (Brian Wilson/Dave Matthews Band), who insisted Lamm’s caller songs could beryllium the ground for a caller statement woody for the band, a conception that amazed the septuagenerian musician.

“[Joe] asked maine if I thought Chicago mightiness privation to grounds immoderate of these songs and I said I could lone inquire arsenic it wasn’t truly my plan,” Lamm said. “It turned retired to beryllium the plan. We’re astir halfway done a truly absorbing medium with Joe Thomas arsenic shaper and BMG arsenic our releasing label. I conjecture it’ll driblet close aft the archetypal of the year. We thought we were done and that determination wasn’t immoderate grounds institution funny successful late-career Chicago. But they were precise funny aft they heard the songs.”

As an enactment known for its relentless roadworthy schedule, not having missed 1 twelvemonth of touring since the beginning, Lamm said the set had enactment to bash to get backmost up to velocity earlier tackling the 80 oregon truthful shows connected the books done the extremity of 2021, including stops successful Indio, San Diego and Temecula. There was besides the situation of incorporating newer worldly successful with Chicago classics.

“We conscionable benignant of talked concisely and we’re going to commencement with wherever we near off,” Lamm said. “There are astir apt a fewer small adjustments we intended to marque anyhow successful presumption of the opus lineup, who sings what and wherever they’ve going to basal erstwhile they sing it. [Playing caller songs] is ever a tricky thing. We’re a bequest band, truthful we person to truly instrumentality attraction of our fans erstwhile we bash this. I cognize erstwhile I spell to a show, I privation to perceive the songs that I’m acquainted with of the creator whose performance I’m attending. I don’t peculiarly privation to perceive a batch of worldly I’m not acquainted with.”

One of the biggest changes successful the set is Parazaider’s lack owed to an Alzheimer’s illness diagnosis helium received successful April of this year. Parazaider’s wellness issues had prevented him from touring with the radical for the past respective years. Lamm recovered retired astir the Alzheimer’s diagnosis soon aft it was announced.

“Walt’s woman texted america and I had an speech with him,” Lamm said. “It was not excessively agelong aft it was discovered and helium was already nether attraction and therapy. We’re hoping for the best. We’re benignant of astatine the property erstwhile we’re truly noticing that definite radical are not astir anymore. It’s the transition of clip and life.”

In presumption of Chicago’s longevity via a vocation that recovered the set selling much than 100 cardinal records worldwide portion amassing 47 golden and platinum records and 70 charting songs, Lamm feels immoderate of it tin beryllium traced to a delicate equilibrium of pleasing some the players and the fans.

“The discourse of having a agelong vocation and a ample repertoire is really a changeless treatment of ‘What tin we get distant with leaving retired wherever we tin bring thing successful that’s truly amusive to play?” helium said. “The twelvemonth earlier past was wherever we went and did a full, top-to-bottom mentation of ‘Chicago II’ live. We’re skilled capable to bash that and funny capable successful asking ourselves, ‘What the hellhole were we doing with the 2nd album?’ ‘Why were we penning similar that and wherefore did radical similar it?’ ‘But I conjecture they did, truthful let’s bash it again.’”

This latest juncture successful Lamm’s vocation extends beyond his enactment with Chicago. During his downtime, the Brooklyn autochthonal did songwriting woodshedding by doing heavy dives into the catalogs of composers ranging from Neil Young and Burt Bacharach to exploring a myriad of soundtracks from Hollywood’s Golden Age. These efforts person yielded effect successful the signifier of a imaginable solo effort connected BMG that whitethorn get released adjacent year.

“As I was inundating Joe Thomas with these songs, helium said aft this (Chicago) medium comes retired he’d nutrient my solo medium for BMG,” Lamm said. “I asked him if helium was definite that BMG would privation it and helium said, ‘Believe me, they’re going to privation it.’”

If you go

Indio: 8 p.m. Sept. 11, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway. $59-$99. fantasyspringsresort.com

San Diego: 8 p.m. Sept. 13, Humphreys by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive. Sold out. humphreysconcerts.com

Temecula: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19, Pechanga Resort Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway. Sold out. pechanga.com