The Glorious Corner

Chicago photo by Todd-Gustafson billboard

CHICAGO SAYS — Rock and roll group Chicago will hit amphitheaters this summer with special guest Rick Springfield. The 2020 trek will see the two legendary acts bring their hits to the U.S. and Canada.

The tour will kick off on June 12 in Concord, California, at Concord Pavilion and run through Salt Lake City, Dallas, Tampa, Toronto and more. Scheduled dates will close out Aug. 1 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

At the beginning of the tour, the two rock entities will play the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver on June 18.

Chicago has been honored at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame and Grammy Hall of Fame over the course of their career. The group’s latest album, Chicago Christmas, spotlights their trademark sound on eight original songs and three holiday classics.

The band appeared in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and will perform on NBC during the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting in New York tomorrow, December 4.

They’ve been a favorite of mine for decades; there’s a Terry Kath-video on YouTube of him doing his guitar-thing on Robert Lamm’s “25 or 6 to 4.” Just amazing. Lamm also put out a solo album, called Skinny Boy (1975), that’s one of my faves. An amazing record. Terry Kath is on bass for a lot of it.

Legend has it that Jimi Hendrix anointed him the best guitarist … ever!

Springfield has scored 17 U.S. top 40 hits and is behind some of the biggest songs of the ’80s including “Jessie’s Girl.”

 Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Dec. 6 at 10 AM local time. Check out a full list of dates below.

The group also appeared on the Today Show yesterday; here’s the clip: https://www.today.com/video/chicago-performs-saturday-in-the-park-live-on-today-74349125799 

Chicago tour dates with Rick Springfield:

Jun 12 — Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion

Jun 13 — Inglewood, CA @ The Forum

Jun 14 — Irvine, CA @ Five Point Amphitheater

Jun 16 — Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre

Jun 18 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Jun 20 — Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion

Jun 23 — Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

Jun 24 — Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Amphitheatre

Jun 26 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion

Jun 27 — Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Jun 28 — Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP

Jul 01 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion

Jul 02 — Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

Jul 03 — Tampa, FL @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre

Jul 17 — Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

Jul 18 — Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts

Jul 19 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center

Jul 21 — Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center

Jul 22 — Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

Jul 24 — Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion

Jul 25 — Burgettstown, PA @ KeyBank Pavilion

Jul 26 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage

Jul 28 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

Jul 29 — Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center

Jul 31 — Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre

Aug 1 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena

COLIN CROWNED — Fans of The Zombies might have noticed an interesting version of “She’s Not There” in the season three finale of the Netflix hit The Crown.

The jazzier, lighter version, while credited to The Zombies, is actually a Colin Blunstone solo recording from 1969. In fact, Colin used the stage name Neil MacArthur.

He tells us exclusively it came from a session with Cat Stevens’s early producer Mike Hurst. The worked on “eight or nine songs” such as The Association’s “Never My Love” and “Hung Upside Down” by Buffalo Springfield, as well as reworking “She’s Not There” — “which was chosen as a single by Deram Records… I always remember the choice of material and the name change as producer Mike Hurst’s idea and I can say with certainty it certainly wasn’t mine!!”

His solo version “sounds quite different because we chose a much lower key” and used a far different arrangement.” Though the single reached Britain’s Top 30 that was the only success for MacArthur before Colin went back to his original name.

Colin wonders “if poor old Neil is owed any royalties for this late surge in his career or perhaps it’s simply best to let sleeping Zombies sleep?”

Check it out: 

SHORT TAKES — Robert Miller’s Project Grand Slam at The Groove in NYC’s Greenwich Village this Sunday, 12/8 …

Here’s a shot of J. Robert Spencer and the choir at St. Agatha’s, who appear in the chorus of his current Christmas single, “Waiting On Christmas.” He’s here in NYC all next week …

The holiday party scene has come alive, as evidenced by social-infleuncer Wendy Stuart Kaplan; with jewelry-designer Shelly Bromfield; Ritchie Rich; and promoter/producer Nick Lion, at a recent jingle mingle …

When old-schoolers talk about how the record business used to be, one name there for certain: Joe Smith. Smith worked for Elektra and Warner Brothers Records and with the likes of Joni Mitchell; Alice Cooper; Frank Sinatra; Bonnie Raitt; America; Black Sabbath; Van Morrison; The Doobie Brothers; Jackson Browne; Rod Stewart; James Taylor; Petula Clark; the Allman Brothers Band; Jethro Tull and the Eagles and really the bar for how creative those times really were. Smith was also quite the raconteur … so much so, that for a time, he was always the featured speaker. Sort of like the postmaster general for the record industry. Guys like Joe, and Clive Davis, Mo Ostin, Ahmet Ertegun, Jac Holzman, and, yes, even David Geffen, made it a wondrous place to be. Joe passed this week. I met him more than a few times and always found him to be a gentleman and a very funny one at that. Huge loss for sure. RIP Joe … And, David Sanborn back at The Blue Note on April 1.

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Richie Ridge; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Curtis Urbina; Jim Burgess; Joe Lynch; WIlliam Schill; Preston Ridge; Joe Piscopo; Randy Alexander; Magda Katz; David Salidor; Darren Paltrowitz; and, Tony  Moran.