The moment Terry Kath met Jimi Hendrix
Every up-and-coming rock band begins life with stars in their eyes. Before anyone has signed a contract, there will always be people looking to play music worldwide for anyone to hear and become big enough to hang out with their musical heroes. Chicago was no different when they began life in the late 1960s, but the difference was that they were lucky enough to get the seal of approval from Jimi Hendrix.
After cutting their teeth in their native Chicago, the band (still called Chicago Transit Authority) made their way to California to play the places their heroes were known for. All roads had led to The Sunset Strip, and the seedy kids from the Midwest were starstruck. When talking about it later, trombonist James Pankow remembered how excited they were to see the clubs they had only dreamed of, telling Musicians Hall of Fame, “We got invited to be an opening act at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Albert King was scheduled to play, but he needed an opener. We pulled up and saw the marquee said ‘Albert King’ and in small letters it said, CTA. We were out taking pictures of it like little kids”.
The Whiskey was known as one of the premiere places to play in Los Angeles at the time. Even though some of the bigger acts like The Who and The Rolling Stones were too big to be playing in such places, they could often be seen going into the club occasionally to spot new talent.
As Chicago finished their show, they saw a small figure in the doorway who wanted to compliment them. Pankow continues: “We were in the dressing room looking to come back onstage for the next set. As we turned to leave, there was a guy standing in the doorway, and it’s Jimi Hendrix. He looked at us and said, ‘You guys have a horn section that sounds like one set of lungs and a guitar player who’s better than me. You wanna go on the road?'”.
Terry Kath had been working with Chicago since day one and was known for his blistering lead work on songs like ’25 or 6 to 4′. Once both bands started playing up and down the US, there was always a bit of tension between Kath and Hendrix began to emerge. According to Pankow, Kath and Hendrix were both slightly intimidated by each other but would never show it, remembering, “Jimi was very shy, and Terry was rather shy. They both hugely admired each other’s playing and recognised each other’s gifts but were afraid to put it on the table and talk about it”.
Hendrix was looking for just an opening act
Despite going on the road, Chicago’s future was wide open before Hendrix’s passing. Coming off of Electric Ladyland, Hendrix initially had the idea of collaborating with the band on a record, only to pass away before anything could come to pass. Even though their mentor’s death gutted the band, Hendrix’s demise left them with a drive to make something for themselves. As Pankow remarked, “It enforced that what we were doing was great because if Jimi gave it his stamp of approval, that was huge”.
Unfortunately, Kath wouldn’t be for this world either, passing away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after accidentally pulling the trigger on a gun he thought wasn’t loaded. Chicago might have soldiered on, but the collaboration album between two of the greatest guitarists of the late ’60s will forever be lost to history.
