Michelle Kath Sinclair carries a vivid early memory of her father, Terry Kath, the original guitar player for the iconic band Chicago. Though she was only around two years old when he tragically passed away nearly four decades ago, the fleeting image of a boat ride on a Wisconsin lake remains etched in her mind. “I was on my mom’s lap,” she recounted to Rolling Stone. “[My father] was driving the boat and he said, ‘Oh, we’ve got to turn around because the dam is up here.’ We turned around, and that was the memory.” This poignant, almost dreamlike recollection underscores the enduring yet ephemeral presence of a father she barely knew, a father who was, and remains, a celebrated Chicago Guitar Player.
Terry Kath’s guitar work was nothing short of groundbreaking. In the 1970s, his distinctive style became a cornerstone of Chicago’s signature progressive jazz-rock sound. His talent was not just recognized, but revered by giants of the music world, including Jimi Hendrix, who famously lauded Kath’s guitar prowess. Beyond his instrumental skills, Kath’s soulful vocals were equally integral to Chicago’s early hits. However, at the zenith of his career, tragedy struck. On January 23, 1978, at the age of 31, Kath died in a gun accident, a devastating event that not only marked the end of Chicago’s initial golden era but continues to resonate deeply with those who knew and loved him, and with fans who recognize his profound contributions as a Chicago guitar player.
To delve deeper into the life and legacy of this extraordinary musician, Michelle Kath Sinclair embarked on a deeply personal journey, producing and directing the documentary, Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience. This film, initially showcased at film festivals and on AXS TV, is now available on DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon, iTunes, and various streaming platforms, bringing Kath’s story to a wider audience. Sinclair’s motivation stemmed from a sense of injustice – the feeling that her father’s monumental talent had been largely overlooked by the mainstream. “On one hand you have all these people saying, ‘Oh, my God, this is the most amazing guitar player ever,’” she explains, “and on the other hand, you never see him recognized in the top 100 [guitarists] lists. I was inspired to expose his talents, like who he was as a guitar player, and to get him known more.” Her mission is clear: to ensure Terry Kath, the Chicago guitar player, receives the recognition he deserves.
Chicago trumpeter Lee Loughnane echoed this sentiment in a 2016 interview, stating, “Unfortunately, his guitar playing has been overlooked, and probably because of being in such a large band, particularly a brass-oriented band. If Terry had been in a trio, he probably would have been right up there with Jimi Hendrix, who idolized Terry. He has still been with us in spirit all these years.” This perspective underscores a crucial point: Kath’s genius might have been even more widely celebrated had he been in a different musical context. Yet, within the expansive soundscape of Chicago, his guitar remained a vital, driving force, a testament to his exceptional abilities as a Chicago guitar player.
Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience is rich with archival footage of Kath in performance and in candid moments. Complementing these visuals are new interviews with the surviving original members of Chicago – Loughnane, Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera, Walt Parazaider, James Pankow, and Danny Seraphine – as well as the band’s former producer/manager James William Guercio, and Kath’s widow, Camelia Kath. Sinclair notes the profound emotional core of these interviews: “I think that for everyone, it was very much driven around the fact that they loved this guy. Everything started out with how much my dad meant to them.” This collective love and respect for Terry Kath shines through in the documentary, offering viewers an intimate glimpse into the man behind the music, the Chicago guitar player who touched so many lives.
Further enriching the film are insights from guitar luminaries such as Jeff Lynne of ELO, Steve Lukather of Toto, Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, and Joe Walsh, a longtime friend of Kath’s from their days in the James Gang. Joe Walsh’s recollections paint a vivid picture of Kath’s personality and musical approach: “He was a big guy,” Walsh recalls. “Your first thought was, ‘Boy, I don’t want him to be mad at me.’ He was a great guy; he was a brilliant musician. He was a songwriter and a great singer. He was such a monster on guitar. He really didn’t have any rules or boundaries. He studied all kinds of different styles. He would plug anything into anything and see what that did. He was just a total experimenter. And you can hear that in his records.” Walsh’s words encapsulate the adventurous spirit and boundless creativity that defined Terry Kath’s approach to the guitar, solidifying his status as a true innovator and exceptional Chicago guitar player.
One of the most iconic anecdotes highlighting Kath’s guitar prowess is the story of Jimi Hendrix’s reaction after seeing Chicago perform at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. Hendrix reportedly told Parazaider that “your guitar player is better than me.” Sinclair elaborates, “They were opening up for Jimi Hendrix when they were still Chicago Transit Authority. They spent a lot of time on the road together and apparently hung out a lot then. Guercio said that when they were at the same festivals, they had a nice relationship together.” This endorsement from Hendrix, a guitar god himself, speaks volumes about the exceptional talent of Terry Kath, the Chicago guitar player who even impressed his idols.
Kath’s fiery guitar work is unmistakable on Chicago classics like “Introduction,” “Free Form Guitar,” “South California Purples,” and “Dialogue (Parts One and Two).” His soulful vocals graced hits such as “Make Me Smile,” “Colour My World,” and “Little One.” Perhaps most famously, his extended guitar solo on the live versions of “25 or 6 to 4” became a legendary showcase of his improvisational genius, a stark contrast to the more concise studio recording. Joe Walsh marvels at this performance: “It’s relentless from note one. Just to try and figure out what he’s doing takes four or five days. To have the guts to do that on a song – to play a [long] solo – who does that? Maybe Carlos [Santana], but you don’t play the same thing twice. How does he do that?” This enduring mystique surrounding Kath’s guitar playing on “25 or 6 to 4” further cements his legacy as a phenomenal Chicago guitar player.
Beyond celebrating his musical achievements, The Terry Kath Experience also confronts the darker aspects of Kath’s life, including his struggles with substance abuse and his tragic fascination with guns. The film reaches an emotional crescendo when Jerry Vaccarino, Chicago’s road manager at the time, recounts the devastating accident that claimed Kath’s life to Sinclair. The details are heart-wrenching: while cleaning firearms at the home of Don Johnson, a Chicago employee, Kath accidentally shot himself, a tragic consequence of a misunderstanding about whether a gun was loaded. Sinclair reflects on the impact of this moment in the film: “I remember just listening to him and thinking, ‘Wow, no one has been this open and said it in this way.’ Almost everyone said that the last thing they ever expected was my dad to kill himself with a gun because they trusted him so much with guns.” This candid account provides a sobering perspective on the circumstances surrounding the loss of this immense talent, this Chicago guitar player.
In the period leading up to his death, Kath was embarking on a solo career, working on his first solo album. Sinclair reflects on this unfulfilled potential: “I could only imagine what that would be. I think that could’ve have been the thing that put him more on the map as a guitarist.” Joe Walsh concurs, emphasizing the creative necessity for Kath to branch out: “With that [band] dynamic [in Chicago], he needed to do a solo album. I don’t know how much of it was recorded, but he was going in that direction. And it’s a shame it didn’t happen.” The tantalizing prospect of a Terry Kath solo album leaves fans and musicians alike to ponder what might have been, further underscoring the immense loss to the music world when this Chicago guitar player’s life was cut short.
Chicago continued its journey after Kath’s passing, with a succession of talented guitarists joining the band. However, Kath’s musical spirit endures. The 1997 album Chicago Presents the Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath compiled some of his most remarkable performances, ensuring his work remained accessible to new generations. More recently, the documentary Now More Than Ever about Chicago also served to keep his memory alive. In 2016, Terry Kath and the original members of Chicago were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a momentous occasion where Sinclair accepted the honor on her father’s behalf. Footage from this ceremony was incorporated into The Terry Kath Experience, a powerful testament to Sinclair’s dedication to ensuring her father’s legacy as a Chicago guitar player is recognized and celebrated. “It was important to stick it in there because I personally went on this mission to get him known, and here’s the evidence,” she explains.
Joe Walsh poignantly summarizes the enduring impact of his friend: “His part on the first couple of Chicago albums is all we have to work with. It’s a shame that young people never got a chance to see him live [onstage]. That’s a whole different dimension. All we have to go on are the records he’s made. He wrote a lot of it, he sang a bunch of it, and his guitar work is long forgotten. And that’s a shame, because he was a complete monster [on guitar].”
Michelle Kath Sinclair’s ultimate hope for The Terry Kath Experience is to inspire a rediscovery of her father’s music. “If people want to go to listen to the music, I’ve done my job,” she concludes. “If you listen to the music, it’s heavily driven by his sound. If you remove my dad from this song, you have a completely different song. I always found that quite fascinating. Hopefully people will go explore that a little bit more.” Through her documentary, she invites audiences to explore the rich musical tapestry woven by Terry Kath, reminding the world of the indelible mark left by this extraordinary Chicago guitar player.
