“Doin’ Business,” the first bonus track from 1980’s Chicago XIV had already appeared on the 1991 Group Portrait box set.
Robert Lamm can be heard counting off, “One, two, three!” and amazing but temporary guitarist Chris Pinnick (who only lasted from 1980-85) grinds out a furious, distorted hard-rock riff. Chris is one of the main reasons I hold this much-maligned album as the best post-Terry Kath Chicago effort.
XIV finds the group in a struggle for its musical identity: Lamm is the punk-influencd rocker wishing to stay true to Chicago’s original credo. On the other hand, Peter Cetera prefers the more smooth and mellow path the band had been exploring for several years.
The ouster of former guitarist Donnie Dacus left the band with Robert and Peter as the sole lead vocalists and bestowed the majority of the songwriting duties to the two for the most part. Unfortunately, the band’s firing of Dacus proved to be its undoing as Columbia Records wanted no part in supporting or promoting a Dacus-less Chicago.
“Doin’ Business” can be seen as a spiritual cousin to “Manipulation,” another cynical swipe at the life of a rock star. The horns are a little more forward in the mix than they’ve been for most of the album, playing a dissonant figure that underlies the dark energy of Mr. Lamm’s compostion:
Tired of all my best friends
Tired, tired of bein’ abused
Chicago could still rock, and rock hard they did – for one of the last times in the band’s career. “Doin’ Business” ends with a furious and brilliant solo from Pinnick, invoking the spirit of Chicago’s late lamented leader, Terry Kath.
It’s too bad the band decided to fire Chris Pinnick “because he wasn’t a singer,” yet another of the boneheaded moves Chicago made. It’s also a shame this cut never made the album: “Doin’ Business” would have made a great replacement for a few duds on Chicago XIV.
- Chicago, “Watching All the Colors” (2014): Saturdays in the Park - January 22, 2022
- Chicago, “Love Lives On” from ‘Chicago XXXVI: Now’ (2014): Saturdays in the Park - January 8, 2022
- Chicago, “More Will Be Revealed” from ‘Chicago XXXVI: Now’ (2014): Saturdays in the Park - December 11, 2021
