0:01

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode

0:04

of Inside the Studio on iHeart Radio.

0:06

My name is Jordan runt Dog, but enough about

0:08

me. My guests today are three

0:10

founding members of one of the most successful

0:13

American bands in history. Their

0:15

plaudits are practically endless and well

0:17

deserved. They've sold over forty

0:19

million albums in the U s alone, not twenty

0:22

gold records, eight teen platinum,

0:24

and eight multi platinum. They've had

0:26

five consecutive number one albums and

0:29

twenty top ten singles on the Billboard Hot

0:31

One early hits like twenty

0:33

five or six to four? Does anybody really

0:35

Know what time it is? And Beginnings Solve

0:38

Them Somewhat simplistically labeled the rock

0:40

and roll band with horns, this really

0:42

under sells the event of arrangements and delicate

0:44

melodies of songs like Color My World

0:47

or If You Leave Me Now. They've had

0:49

many different eras and many different members, but

0:51

these three guys have been there since the very

0:53

start in nineteen. Now

0:55

they're helming a brand new album called Born

0:57

for This Moment, which is out now complete.

1:00

His can rest easy because this their thirty

1:02

eighth album, also bears the label

1:05

Chicago thirty eight in their trademark

1:07

Roman numerals. I'm so thrilled the welcome

1:09

Robert Lamb, James Panco, and

1:11

Lee Locknane of Chicago. I

1:17

mean, it's congratulations. I mean there's just so

1:19

many new moments that I discover every time

1:21

I listened to it. Listened to it a number of times. How

1:24

did this project begin for you? Was this a

1:26

quarantine lockdown project? Pretty

1:28

much? I mean I think

1:30

we had all gone home after

1:34

after it was our

1:37

touring was interrupted. Um

1:41

So speaking personally, I just went

1:43

home and after a couple of days, you

1:45

know, I got I was drawn

1:48

to the piano in my studio and

1:50

I just started, you know, working

1:53

on not even working on music, just sort

1:55

of rediscovering older pieces

1:57

of music that hadn't been made into

2:00

songs yet. So I just started

2:02

a very long process process of doing

2:04

that, and it was I found

2:06

it refreshing to not be

2:10

under a time constraint I

2:13

had all day every day.

2:15

My wife was very indulgent if

2:18

I if I, I spent most of the day

2:20

at piano, and as a result,

2:23

uh, some songs started to

2:26

make themselves done, and I

2:28

just you know, just began, you know, on

2:31

my my little laptop studio

2:34

kind of composing what essentially

2:37

were demos. Now, how much of this

2:39

was done through file sharing? Because those those horn parts

2:41

sounds so tight. I mean, you know one

2:43

set of lungs that had to be together.

2:46

Was that? Was that done through file sharing? We we

2:48

made records in the studio as a

2:50

band for fifty years,

2:53

and yeah, it was. It

2:55

was a little bit different, a little challenging,

2:58

uh to a degree of to

3:01

compose um a

3:03

little uh little

3:05

snippets of pieces

3:07

of songs remotely and

3:10

then um,

3:12

you know, get them to Joe

3:16

Thomas, our producer who kind

3:18

of uh so things together.

3:22

We did the Brass live at

3:25

Lee Lot Main studio in

3:28

Sedona, Arizona. I was in the process

3:31

of building the studio in Sedona before

3:34

the pandemic started, and then

3:36

this was just uh continuation

3:39

of that when all of a sudden we weren't working.

3:42

I was at the studio all the time, and

3:44

we had by the time Jimmy had

3:47

charts together to be able

3:49

to record. We had myself,

3:53

Jimmy and Ray Herman. We

3:55

all gathered at my studio. We recorded

3:58

eleven tracks. So

4:00

that's how it's got on the record. I don't

4:02

think that we intended to record

4:05

an album right away. I think everybody was

4:07

sort of working individually

4:10

and it wasn't until uh,

4:15

you know, maybe maybe

4:18

six months into the pandemic that

4:22

the idea that hey, this could be this

4:24

could be an album, and uh,

4:29

Joe Thomas approached us and

4:32

asked if we were interested. So

4:36

I called these guys and said, you know,

4:38

are we are we interested in doing

4:40

an album? Or what you mentioned

4:42

the charts earlier. I mean, something that I've loved

4:44

about your arrangements throughout your career is just

4:46

the interplay between the voice and the brass. The

4:49

brasses is a full on co lead. It's

4:51

like the singers doing a duet with the brass. That

4:53

has to be a challenge to make those pieces fit together.

4:55

Is there a key? What's the process like of

4:58

of arranging the brass parts for this? When

5:00

I, uh, when I

5:03

approached this unique

5:08

brass situation, I

5:13

just inherited the chair because I

5:15

had been arranging as

5:18

I was in college and even

5:20

before. And

5:23

it's a lead vocal. Basically,

5:27

it's a

5:29

main book character in the song, and

5:33

along with the lead vocal, it

5:36

completes the

5:38

melodic journey

5:41

from beginning to where the lead

5:43

vocal leaves

5:46

off, the brass picks

5:48

up, and where the brass leaves

5:50

off, it leads

5:53

into the vocal and remains

5:55

thematic to the vocal

5:57

melody. So it's it's

6:00

one smooth process,

6:03

you know, vocals, horns, vocals, ones.

6:05

And then basically when I

6:08

when I arranged this Breath, I

6:10

picked up my trombone and

6:13

I played a solo along with the rough

6:15

mixes with the vocals, and

6:18

that solo became an ensemble

6:21

and voiced we're appropriate,

6:24

and that underneath the vocals. Two

6:29

at substance, uh,

6:32

I wrote pads to a largely

6:34

agree two strengthened

6:39

the quartal based under the vocal.

6:43

Wow, that's so interesting. I mean,

6:45

how elaborate and intricate it is. I mean, there's so many

6:47

great moments on this album, and one that I

6:49

keep going track two is for the Love I mean, those strings

6:51

that lead into the horn solo. It's just it's

6:54

so amazing. And Robert, I know you've said for the Love

6:56

of a standout for you. What is it

6:58

about that song that really resonates with yeah?

7:01

Uh uh. This song

7:03

actually was born from

7:08

a recording of the

7:10

acoustic guitars a friend

7:13

of mine who actually who guitarists

7:15

who has played h

7:18

H on Chicago albums, and someone

7:21

who's also from Chicago. Um

7:26

uh sent me. You know, we were I

7:28

wanted. I just wanted to write with people I hadn't

7:30

really written with for a while. And

7:35

ah, he sent me. He

7:37

sent me basically, he said, you know, I haven't

7:40

been i haven't been playing lately, and I'm

7:42

having a bit of a problem, but I'll

7:45

send you. I'll send you the last stuff

7:47

that I laid down just this as

7:50

a as a start. So I

7:54

I took his recording and I

7:56

I manipulated sections

7:58

of it and sort of you

8:00

know, made meets H

8:04

an interesting grid

8:07

on which I grew huh

8:10

singing melody and

8:12

and as the as

8:15

the melody and the section sections

8:17

began to emerge, Ah,

8:20

I was hearing I was hearing

8:23

a song that was maybe maybe

8:26

from the Dred

8:30

I was I was hearing I

8:33

was here. I was kind of feeling like the

8:36

singer was talking

8:39

or singing with his friends, telling

8:42

telling them about how

8:45

much the world had changed, and

8:49

and the one thing that was a constant

8:51

was was the love. So

8:55

uh, you know, it was sort of a brick

8:57

by brick building

9:00

of a sum um.

9:03

And as

9:06

it happens, the

9:08

first violent piece that

9:11

was put in to

9:14

the song was played by

9:17

I'm blanking on the name, played

9:20

by a young virtuoso

9:22

violinist who happens to live in Italy, and

9:26

she she played her solo

9:28

and sent it to me and it was like

9:31

perfect and

9:34

so so the whole thing was coming together

9:36

as sort of a non electronic,

9:39

non rock piece, just a beautiful

9:44

love song, if you will, with

9:47

lyrics that talked about how

9:52

the world was changing. And

9:55

in the end all will have is

10:00

That's an incredible track. Really, one of my

10:02

my favorites on the album. That's my wife, there

10:05

you go. That's as the highest

10:07

praise you need. She turned to me, she

10:09

said, you are that's

10:15

I get highest praise. There's nothing else I can

10:17

say. That's all you need. Wow, I mean,

10:19

good lord, beautiful track. There's so many

10:21

amazing songs on this album, and I'm so fascinated

10:24

by the many different ways that people can have

10:26

these flashes of creativity. I mean, you mentioned

10:28

other ways that you manipulated this wholy other song

10:31

to create this. I'm curious.

10:33

I mean I think of a track like make a Man out

10:35

of Me, a song that's so steeped in

10:37

in paternal love for a child. Do

10:40

you have a feeling and go sit down

10:42

and sort of play it out of you? Or does the

10:44

does the tune come first, and

10:46

does that give you a certain feeling and then you kind of right

10:49

to that. Well, making that out

10:51

of me is a love song to me my

10:54

new one soon. And

10:57

we're all fathers. You

11:00

might be a father yourself, are

11:02

you? Are you a dad? Okay?

11:05

Well, I don't think that there's any

11:09

more powerful bond than

11:13

apparent to their child. When

11:16

when when I looked down at

11:18

my son in the crib,

11:21

I was overtaken by

11:27

the love I had for this new

11:29

human being, a

11:32

product of

11:34

my wife and myself, and I looked down

11:37

and it's

11:41

that idea just hit me between

11:44

the eyes. You know, this is a

11:46

responsibility. It's

11:48

my duty, is your

11:50

father, to give

11:54

you the tools two

11:58

have a good life, to succeed

12:00

to know the meaning of life.

12:03

And it inspired the words um.

12:08

You know, as

12:11

songwriters we have we

12:13

have the joy of experiencing

12:16

these intimate moments of

12:21

expressing ourselves and our feelings

12:24

about various things

12:26

that affect us as people. And

12:30

I was overtaken at

12:32

that point in this instance, with

12:36

this discovery

12:39

of how deeply I love this little

12:42

person more

12:45

than just about any other writing experience

12:48

I had had. And then they

12:50

have the blessing of being

12:52

able to UH compose

12:56

a song about that feeling,

13:00

and then all of a sudden it

13:03

goes on a record and

13:07

eventually becomes

13:11

a story shared by lots

13:14

of lots of people. And

13:19

I would venture to say

13:21

that it's a commonality of

13:24

it. Anybody who's had a child

13:27

will immediately relate to

13:29

that feeling. In fact, when we were

13:31

in the studio listening back

13:33

to UH songs

13:36

with UM the record

13:38

Company, one

13:42

of the UM,

13:45

one of the higher ups with

13:48

the record company seated

13:50

next to me, leaned over and saying,

13:53

Jimmy, you know that song resonates

13:56

with me unbelievably because I

13:58

have a son, and

14:01

when I listened to this song, I

14:04

was standing over his crib just like

14:06

you, and

14:10

I immediately understood

14:13

the power of what you were feeling.

14:16

So hopefully a lot of people

14:18

will experience that. I

14:22

mean, there are so many of your songs that have that.

14:24

I mean, I was I'm sure you heard us all the time. I

14:26

was a wedding DJ for a number of years, and

14:28

the recessional that we would play so often at

14:31

so many of these ceremonies and receptions was

14:33

Beginnings. I mean, it's just something that just

14:35

is so powerful, and you'd see you look out there and

14:37

you'd see people crying when that song

14:39

was was on because it was such a beautiful. You know,

14:42

it's my favorite song. I tell Robert every

14:44

night on stage and he looks at me like,

14:46

Okay, I've heard enough of that, I

14:49

know,

14:54

and I don't blame me. I love that you included

14:56

that as a as a little nod in um in

14:58

our New York time. I thought was just such a cool little

15:01

call back. What let you do include that?

15:03

That was a producer call you know, Uh,

15:06

producers can be can

15:08

be creative in that

15:10

way. You know. They here, you

15:13

know, they hear a song that is

15:15

fairly complete, and the track may

15:17

be done, and everything might be done, but

15:20

a good producer will well,

15:23

uh, well, sometimes add a

15:26

color of flavor, maybe even

15:28

a few words here and there two

15:31

to make to

15:33

make a particular song stand

15:36

out. It's

15:47

definitely not a record that's that's steeped in nostalgia,

15:50

but there were a few of these touching little moments, like

15:52

the opening of that This is Goodbye to really

15:54

hit me. Just a bunch of crazy kids,

15:56

look at all the things we did wake up playing in the high

15:58

school band. Make it to the Promised Land. I

16:00

mean to me as a fan, it's hard not to read

16:03

that as as autobiographical in some way.

16:05

Well, you know this

16:08

record, you

16:10

know, as a listener, not as a composer

16:13

or a member of the bandit as a listener.

16:16

Uh. I found, uh,

16:19

this collection of songs to be Um

16:24

really pretty fascinating because

16:27

you know, we delve into

16:30

all kinds of stuff. Okay,

16:33

it's not just love songs or

16:36

or pointless

16:39

rock and roll. It's it's

16:42

very cerebral, but yet

16:45

it has the pull

16:48

of great

16:50

musicality, and

16:52

the grooves go

16:55

from A to Z. I mean, this

16:59

is clad Seek Chicago with a

17:01

new face. You know,

17:03

I can try of m

17:06

express it in terms of you know, I

17:09

I played some of the rough mixes for

17:12

my kids, you know, my younger

17:14

listeners, and they were

17:16

wow. You know you

17:19

guys, you guys have have

17:22

a freshness, yeah,

17:24

that you haven't had in a while. And

17:27

maybe it was the desperation

17:30

of being completely

17:33

idle during the pandemic. That

17:35

made us stretch a little further, you

17:38

know, or made us aware of more

17:40

things that we were always too

17:43

busy to realize. And

17:45

I think that might have inspired, uh,

17:49

the courage two push

17:52

the envelope and go a little further, you

17:55

know. Maybe. Well when you asked about

17:58

the the Right of

18:00

Goodbye, which by the way, is the

18:02

first single coming out

18:05

off the album, Uh,

18:08

it was written by our producer, and I

18:11

think he was probably incorporating

18:14

when he started as a band, and

18:16

I think he had a co writer and they

18:18

were both doing a similar thing where they

18:22

back to their roots, back to when

18:24

they started and went into high school and

18:27

started further in their career. And

18:29

it could be construed as it

18:31

being only about us, but I think

18:33

it's about any band

18:36

that gets together. Let's be friends,

18:38

let's you know, how far can we go with

18:40

this and uh see what happens?

18:44

You mentioned. The record was produced by Joe Thomas,

18:47

who has worked with some of my all time favorite artists,

18:49

mean, Brian Wilson, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty

18:51

and now you what was it like working with him?

18:53

When all did he did he bring to the table? It seems like he was

18:56

very actively involved. The biggest problem

18:58

is we didn't see each other. Oh

19:01

yeah, so we were very rarely

19:03

in the in the same room

19:05

together. We were trying to

19:09

put it, get it to a point where everybody

19:11

would be able to come to my studio and

19:13

we'd be able to do background vocals, which

19:15

we did a little bit of. We did

19:18

most of the brass, all of the brass at

19:20

my studio, but getting

19:23

everybody in the room together was a

19:25

difficult process during the pandemic.

19:28

You know, I had a lot of conversations

19:32

with him on the phone. Um,

19:35

and I agree with you. You know, I had

19:38

never laid eyes on the guide. Uh.

19:40

We know we had done some some

19:43

video projects at

19:45

one of the studios in

19:47

Chicago that

19:50

that is a venue for for

19:53

videos. Um,

19:56

but I had I didn't have any sense

19:58

of him as a as a producer

20:00

or as a writer or he

20:03

actually plays plays a really good

20:05

keyboards. So so

20:08

all of that was really interesting. I have to say,

20:10

I have to have to say that in the beginning.

20:13

Uh once once

20:15

we had sort of commuted

20:17

to let's see if we can you know,

20:20

make this an album. Um

20:24

uh, I

20:26

I think uh, not being a

20:28

tech guy, completely opposite

20:30

from Lee. I'm not a tech guy whatsoever.

20:33

I thought, well, everybody has a laptop

20:36

and we all can do our

20:38

our demos on the laptop. Will send him

20:40

to Joe, and Joe will

20:42

just you know, make a do his magic and

20:45

magically, uh make a finished

20:47

record. Well he

20:49

kind of thought. He kind of thought the same thing

20:52

at first, but then as he was getting

20:55

uh, as he was getting a file files

20:57

said to him, Uh, he discovered

21:00

everybody's working on a different platform.

21:02

So it was like, un,

21:07

I'll never do that again. But uh,

21:11

and being the tech guy, I was trying

21:13

to talk everyone out of doing it and sending

21:16

you know, a certain file type so we

21:18

can have consistency going

21:20

on. It was a difficult process.

21:23

Yeah, it was really it was really you

21:25

know, it was really a

21:28

long, longer process and it really needed

21:30

to be um.

21:32

But having said that, he was very

21:35

patient. He was he was very

21:37

open. I found

21:39

to be very open two ideas

21:42

and you know, he he put

21:44

his nose to the grindstone and got this stuff

21:47

done. Yeah. It was no easy test, I'm

21:49

sure for for him because you

21:51

know, he received, yeah,

21:54

he received files from writers

21:58

and he would plug

22:00

in Chicago,

22:03

Uh, performances into

22:06

the personal demos. You

22:08

know, if I submitted a song

22:11

all of a sudden, Uh,

22:13

you know, a demo's a demo

22:16

vocal. Uh,

22:18

you know, we get a studio sausage

22:20

or saying or that we knew to say, a

22:23

lead vocal, and then we

22:25

do some backgrounds and I

22:27

do a trombone kind of a

22:29

thing where the horns section would be.

22:32

And then it was not only

22:34

was Joe getting files from

22:37

from band members and then plugging

22:39

in um Chicago players

22:42

band members to do

22:45

to redo the performance. But

22:48

yeah, he would then take that

22:51

upgraded track with

22:54

you know, Wally Rays playing

22:57

the drums instead of a you

22:59

know, a a drum machine or

23:02

whatever. We have you know, Wally

23:04

playing real drugs. We have a

23:07

real bass player, we have you

23:09

know, real musicians. And then

23:11

he'd take that file and send

23:13

it to me, and then I would

23:16

arrange the brass to that

23:19

track which had the real

23:21

music on it. So uh,

23:24

I could create a horn arrangement, because I cannot

23:26

create a horn of horn arrangement to

23:28

an unfinished demo because

23:31

there's uh, there's it's

23:33

got to be the real thing. I

23:35

can only arrange to what

23:37

the final representation

23:40

of the song will be. So he

23:43

was receiving files, he was putting

23:45

musicians on those files. He does

23:48

send the file to me, I would put

23:50

real brass on paper.

23:52

We take that brass to Arizona

23:55

to Lee's we record that real

23:57

brass. It would then go back to Joe

24:01

and Joe would put background love

24:03

of those on the track

24:05

again where the real horns were. So

24:08

it became a sceneless result.

24:11

So it was back and forth and back and

24:14

forth. I was doing vocals in California.

24:18

I didn't the track for my song on

24:21

stage with the with the live band if

24:24

This Isn't Love? And I think I

24:27

did a couple of songs like that, and if

24:29

This Isn't Love was the one that made it on the album.

24:32

But I think that was one of the few

24:35

songs on this record that was

24:38

done by our band and band on

24:40

stage as a band. Wow. And

24:43

then we recorded the Breast at the studio in

24:45

Sedona and and by the way,

24:48

well during the pandemic, I

24:50

had enough time two build

24:52

the studio. My UH

24:55

engineer Tim Jessop and I

24:57

were working on a Cardigi all

25:00

projects which we we did

25:02

six days in nineteen seventy

25:04

one and uh

25:08

we were uh mixing

25:10

and mastering all six all

25:12

eight shows that we did within that six

25:15

states. So we were immersed

25:17

in the in uh deep

25:19

in a project while this record

25:22

was going on. So um,

25:24

there was a lot going on in the pandemic amazing

25:28

productive time. Yes, I

25:43

loved that Carnegie Hall box set when it came out

25:46

last year. And one one of the things that I really enjoyed about it was I

25:48

feel like there were so many moments of improv

25:50

in there, which is a side. I feel like, we don't see

25:53

a lot from you so often. So I really enjoyed

25:55

it so much. I really love there was a lot from night

25:57

to night we we just said, we were uh

26:01

like this, like good bye, that's crazy kids

26:03

just coming up and playing uh,

26:06

you know, from the hip and just

26:09

doing what what came. We had the

26:11

the the songs

26:13

put together, but we played them

26:15

loosely, you

26:18

know. Frankly. I

26:21

revisited that Cardegie all

26:24

uh Little Lee sent us

26:27

uh the records.

26:30

I listened, you know. Of course it was

26:32

uh you know, it improved, I mean amazingly

26:35

so at I started

26:38

realizing, holy crap, how

26:41

did we do that? We I mean, we were a bunch

26:43

of kids, and I listened

26:46

to some of those performances, and you

26:48

know, we had no fear. We had no

26:50

fear. Uh. And Terry,

26:53

you know, I mean his his genius

26:56

and his his strength within

26:58

the band. Yeah,

27:02

I think it actually motivated

27:04

me to say, screw

27:06

it, man, I'm not gonna worry

27:08

about rules, you know, with this album,

27:12

you know, and I started just

27:15

taking chances because

27:17

I listen to Candy, I'm all right, man, if

27:20

we could, if we could accomplish

27:22

that when we didn't

27:24

know anything, can

27:27

we accomplished when we do know all that? But

27:30

we had the same experience when

27:32

we a couple of years ago we did Chicago

27:34

to live on

27:37

on our tour, and in

27:39

rehearsing to play that,

27:42

played that repertoire. It

27:45

was like we did a lot of

27:47

that, looking at each other saying, what the hell

27:49

will we think we're writing

27:51

these? And

27:53

you know, obviously not

27:56

only the Chicago two situation,

27:58

but you know, the Carnegie Hall. Uh,

28:03

you know, that was still very early

28:05

in our career. I mean, I think probably

28:08

the most the

28:10

most recent song might

28:12

have been Savory in the Park. That

28:15

was this

28:18

was only three albums,

28:20

so you know it

28:22

was. It was a different world, certainly a different

28:24

climate in in

28:28

rock music. It

28:30

was funny before speaking to you, I was rewatching

28:33

that amazing documentary now more

28:35

than ever. And there's a great moment when you were

28:37

talking about the start of your career when you played

28:39

an original song at a club and

28:42

you were fired for not playing

28:44

the top forty, which is I mean,

28:46

it's just insane to me to think of a time like that.

28:48

What what what was that like back

28:50

then for you? What compelled you to make the jump from

28:52

from playing these songs to playing originals.

28:55

We actually played a Frank Zappa song

28:57

of uh, how could

28:59

I be walls?

29:03

Rock and roll walls? And that's where we're go

29:05

from there quote a

29:09

Zappa cover. The

29:11

music business changed, it

29:14

changed, it changed.

29:16

By the end of the seventies, it was really

29:18

all about, you know, if you had to hit

29:21

with one song, the record company wanted

29:23

another song just like it, only different

29:26

if possible. And and

29:28

I just think that the uh,

29:35

the thinking, the thinking about trying

29:37

to write a hit song really

29:40

kind of really kind

29:42

of defeated lots of artists

29:45

as as the music industry demanded

29:48

that

29:50

that procedure. Here was a

29:53

strange question that I'm just thinking now

29:55

and I'm trying to make phrase it right. I feel like there's a

29:57

lot of people who talk about artists who

29:59

inspired m to be virtuoso's,

30:01

But I was wondering, are there any musical heroes

30:03

of yours that taught you how to play together

30:06

with a band and how to really jel I mean,

30:08

I feel like that's something that's so special about

30:10

you. And again, I keep going back to the one set

30:12

of lungs. Were there any groups out there, maybe

30:15

the Mother's of Evntion were one of them that really

30:17

showed you what was like to see a group in total

30:19

cohesion, total mind melving playing

30:22

as one that really showed you like this is what this

30:24

is how powerful and musical unit can be. I

30:27

can tell you one right,

30:29

yeah, the Beatles. Oh yeah,

30:32

when the Beatles came on the scene,

30:34

I was totally jaw

30:37

dropped. I mean, these

30:40

guys, uh,

30:42

they re they reinvented

30:44

pop music, or maybe

30:46

not reinvented it, but took it to a

30:48

unique other level. Perfect

30:52

voicing in the vocals. Well,

30:54

like Calfacings. We were listening to Colfaing

30:57

and we learned how to phrase by

31:00

listening to Yeah,

31:04

I've always in my own mind, like in your

31:06

your horn parts to Brian Wilson's vocal

31:08

arrangements just the way it sits in the track

31:10

and compliments the lead so perfectly.

31:13

UM. I know he's someone that you're very closely

31:15

associated with. He's one of my heroes, and you're

31:17

about to go out and do a number of shows with him

31:19

this summer. I just wanted to ask you more

31:21

about about your your connection with him, and what

31:24

it's been like playing with them all these years, and

31:26

and just your thoughts on the Beach Boys.

31:28

But we did, we did to her with the Beach

31:30

Boys extensively in the seventies,

31:33

and it was they had they had kind

31:35

of been in a down

31:37

phase of their career. Uh,

31:40

and we were, you know, we were selling

31:42

out baseball stadiums. So

31:45

our producer at the time, Jenny Garcio actual,

31:48

she was playing bass with the Beach

31:50

Boys and somehow got

31:52

them to agree to be

31:54

our opening end. And that

31:57

whole ste summer was just in

31:59

aasing experience. Uh.

32:02

Talk about a band that could throw down

32:04

live. The Beach Boys good, and so

32:06

could Chicago and so could the two

32:08

bands when they came on stage together.

32:11

So I think that as a possibility,

32:13

will be doing a little bit of that this summer.

32:16

Brian and his band. The

32:19

footage from that seventy five when you're on together

32:21

doing like Darlin together or something, I mean,

32:24

you're out there playing with it sounds like a Chicago song.

32:26

It's so perfect. It's such a great blend. I love

32:28

those those concerts. Wow, that was that

32:31

was a phenomenal experience. Were

32:34

at the at the Garden in New York

32:36

and they had to they had to evacuate

32:39

the felt for him on the floor

32:41

below because the floor of the floor

32:44

of the of the Garden was going

32:47

up and down. The people that's

32:50

right, it's on springs, right,

32:54

and then the the upper deck

32:56

was coming loose from the

32:58

French were shaking around at Angels

33:01

Stadium in California when

33:03

we played that, because the you

33:05

know, they were built to withstand

33:08

a home run. The excitement of

33:10

the run, well a three

33:12

minute song with it, with its

33:14

shaking up and down, it really got going

33:17

good there where they were. They were worried that

33:19

that the all per deck went collapsed. Oh

33:24

man, I we all need a little bit of that

33:26

energy this summer. I cannot wait to see out

33:28

there. My my last question before

33:30

I let you go. I'm so excited to get back

33:32

out on the road. I want to ask you, what is the title

33:35

Born for this Moment mean mean to you? It's

33:37

such an evocative phrase. I was thinking a lot about

33:39

it. I don't want to ask you what what led you to choose

33:41

that title Born for this Moment? Yeah?

33:45

That was actually that's actually the title

33:47

track. That's a uh, you know Robert

33:49

song. And before

33:52

the title was chosen, I

33:54

as I'm arranging that Robert song,

33:57

I'm thinking, wow, what

34:00

a great title for

34:02

the for the record. Weren't for

34:04

this moment? You know, this

34:08

mortality is the reality. You know,

34:10

maybe this uh is

34:12

the last real original

34:15

plation of music that we have the

34:18

you know, the pleasure of doing. Hopefully

34:21

not, but uh,

34:23

this record is a record that I think

34:25

was meant to be made for a

34:28

long time. You could book

34:30

had this career with Chicago Transit

34:32

Authority and Born for this moment

34:35

in my moment, because this,

34:38

you know, this is the first album

34:40

of this next thing, hold

34:42

long at last. We don't know yet be

34:45

in the moment, I think that's a that's a beautiful

34:47

note to end on Lee, Robert James,

34:49

you were the best. Thank you so much for

34:51

your time today and most importantly for your music.

34:54

You give me so much joy over the years. Thank you,

34:56

thank you so much, thank you, thank

34:58

you. Joy Speaking. We

35:05

hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio,

35:07

a production of I Heart Radio. For more

35:09

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35:16

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