Archive for October 11th, 2009
Terry Kath was one of the co-founders of Chicago Transit Authority later to be shortened to Chicage. He had both jobs of lead guitar along with rhythm guitar. He couldn’t read music and composed and played by ear. He was an inovator, what seems ordinary today, he did back in the 70’s. To achieve the sound he got, he would plug his Strat into a Bogan PA which would run to a dual showman amplifier. Prior to this nobody ever thought to experiment like this. The Fender Telecaster Terry used was special too, he used a Gibson hun-bucking pickup, while leaving the bridge pickup origional. This enabled him to switch the sound from Fender to Gibson.
This being said you have to look long and far to find his name among the top guitarists of all time. Jimi Hendrix who is either at the top, or near the top of all the lists said to the saxophonist for Chicago Walter Parazaider “your guitar player is better than me.” So impressed was he that he hired Chicago as the opening act for his and Janis Joplins European tour in 1968.
If those who make up these lists don’t recognize Terry Kath as one of the greatest, and the man they voted as the greatest Jimi Hendrix considered Terry better than him why are the lists void of his name…Hmmm