Chicago "Make Me Smile" Isolated Bass, Vocals and Guitar Solo

It's always so cool to be able to listen inside songs that have been around for a long, long time, and Chicago's "Make Me Smile" (from the band's Chicago II album) is a prime example. In the video below you'll hear the isolated bass, some drum leakage and Terry Kath's lead vocal, as well as a bonus of Kath's excellent guitar solo at the end. Here's what to listen for.

1. Peter Cetera's bass is somewhat out of the pocket, especially on the intro of the song. He's usually a little ahead of the beat throughout the song, although there times when the bass and drums settle in pretty well together.

2. The bass part changes in the second verse and becomes more active, as it does during the guitar solo, something that's easy to overlook when the rest of the tracks are in the mix.

3. The sound of the bass is pretty cool, with lots of leakage from the drums into the amp mic, since this was recorded in the days before widespread direct box use.

4. Terry Kath was as great a vocalist as he was a guitar player. Here he does ad libs right along with his lead vocal, and it sure sounds like it was done all in one complete take.

5. His guitar solo is one of his best (and one of my favorites). Take notice of the tone - not too distorted and using the front pickup of the Gibson SG he used at the time.

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Chicago "25 Or 6 To 4" Isolated Vocal and Guitar

There are some songs that everyone knows regardless of their age because the songs are always played on the radio somewhere every single day. Chicago's "25 or 6 To 4" from the band's second album (Chicago II as some call it) is one of these iconic songs. Here's a number of the tracks from that song broken out. You'll hear the bass and drums as a reference, but Peter Cetera's lead vocal is loud and clear as well as Terry Kath's excellent guitar playing.

1. The bass and drums and really tight, but not like the tightness we find today where it's note for note perfect with the kick, snare and bass. This tightness is the organic kind achieved from lots of time playing together. Both instruments push and pull the tempo, but that's what makes it exciting.

2. Terry Kath's guitar playing is excellent as always. His sound is sort of distorted, but without a lot of sustain. When I saw him on the tour for this record, he was using an old Bogen Challenger PA head for his amp plugged into a Fender Bassman 2x15 speaker cabinet. Very unusual to say the least.

3. There are a number of small guitar fills that you'll hear that didn't make the record. Listen after the solo and before the last verse, and at the very end of the song. We miss you, Terry.

4. Listen the compression on the lead vocal. The melody is very dynamic because it spans ranges so the compression has to keep it in check.

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Chicago "25 Or 6 To 4" Isolated Vocals

Here's the last isolated vocal entry for the week, and this time it's "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago from the bands second album, also entitled Chicago. Chicago is always overlooked as one of the great American bands, and they're still going strong and sounding better than ever after 40 years. This track shows just how good they were even back then in 1970, because it's the little things that they do well that their contemporaries didn't at the time.

The track below consists of the piano, horns, sometimes a rhythm guitar and all the vocals. Be sure to listen for:

1. Bassist Peter Cetera's lead vocal is terrific. There's not a single bad note to be found.

2. The background vocals are equally good. Listen to how tight they are, especially the releases.

3. The vocals feature a long delayed and bright plate reverb that actually sounds much better on the horns than on the vocals. Of course, they usually only had one reverb to work with that had to work on everything back then, which wasn't actually as limiting as you might think.

4. The lead vocal is ever so slightly sibilant thanks to the compression, but you can't really hear the compressor working other than that.

5. The piano is playing a very disciplined simple patter. Robert Lamm is capable of playing more notes, but he stays in the pocket and does what's best for the song.

6. Terry Kath's rhythm guitar playing is outstanding. It's solid as a rock and used almost as percussion instrument, pushing the solo along to a peak. What a fabulous guitar player. He died far too young.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.