An Old Iconic Rock Song

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Chicago was a bit before my time but I remember their songs playing on the radio when I was in grade school. Terry Kath's guitar solo in this song is nothing short of epic.

The backstory to this song, i.e. how they came up with it, is simple and interesting as well. Robert Lamm, the composer of the song, was trying to write a song in the early morning hours and asked someone in the studio the time and got the response, "25 or 6 to 4" which translates to 3:35 or 3:34 am.

 
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Classics! There's a good Eastern European (Czech maybe) band that does Chicago covers. I can't remember the name offhand but they are pretty good.
 
Wouldn't that be 0335 or 0334 (not 0336)? Oh, well, does anyone really know what time it is? :)



Well Duh. Thanks for the good eye. I fixed it.:D
 
Well Duh. Thanks for the good eye. I fixed it.:D

I probably wouldn't have bothered to post, but I spent a bit of time trying to work it out from the OP. I was thinking to myself that I must be a dim bulb because I wasn't getting how the song title was fitting! Then "TYPO!" and it all became clear and then the pun with the song "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is"? So, yeah, some fun.
 
I had that as a new release on 8 track.
Great horn section!

I actually thought of you while I was creating this thread and was gonna tag you in it with the text:

While this song is playing I can picture @fieldgrade standing beside his Kawasaki H1 at the drive-in burger joint with this song blasting out of the loudspeakers.:D
 
Not sure if I got the bike right but I know it was a Kawasaki.
 
I actually thought of you while I was creating this thread and was gonna tag you in it with the text:

While this song is playing I can picture @fieldgrade standing beside his Kawasaki H1 at the drive-in burger joint with this song blasting out of the loudspeakers.:D
I was actually in 8th grade, so all I had was a Honda Minitrail and a makeshift stereo made out of two repurposed Sears guitar amplifiers and an 8 track tape deck
 
I was actually in 8th grade, so all I had was a Honda Minitrail and a makeshift stereo made out of two repurposed Sears guitar amplifiers and an 8 track tape deck

Throw in some Reese's cups a few Twinkies, and maybe some of that strange smelling stuff some people smoke, and I believe you're there.:D
 
Niiiice....hope my desk top speakers hold out!
 
Niiiice....hope my desk top speakers hold out!
My Bose 501's have a birthday this spring.
30 years old. LOL.
I hope they last forever. Pump enough juice through them and they rock.
 
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My older brother had a few Chicago albums, vinyl for you youngsters, when we were kids. My wife and I wanted AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long as our wedding song. Our DJ, my cousin, convinced us he wouldn’t be able to play that and look our mothers in the eye, so we went with Just You and Me by Chicago. AC/DC did get played later though.
 
I’ll see your old iconic rock song and raise you an old fashioned love song.

 
Chicago is/was awesome. Magnificent horns. We also played it (25 or 6 to 4) in MB, in high school and at college. We also played "Free", which rocked.
 
History lesson for the age-impaired: when that song came out, the "folk wisdom" was that the numbers were some unclear ratio of ingredients in the manufacture of "acid", aka LSD. Never made much sense, but that's the great thing about "folk wisdom". ;)
 
Terry Kath's solo on 25 or 6 to 4 is as great as any solo ever. Better than Stairway to Heaven.

When he would play, he would dissolve into the guitar, becoming the instrument. Like a magic spell.


His story is a tragic one of gun-handling rule-number-one.


Yeah, I don't think I've heard a guitar solo that was better than that. Equal, yes, better, no.

Chicago having their own horn section was really unique. Most bands that need horns hire them from local talent for concerts. My junior high band teacher was a world class clarinetist who played with some of the greats. He got hired to play a big concert in Charlotte with some hard rock band - can't remember who, now - and had to wear a wig and ratty clothes to hide how old and clean cut he was. He loved telling that story.
 
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