"Lowdown" is a song written by

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera Jr. ( ; born September 13, 1944) is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist ...

and

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer, and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from ...

for the rock band

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and recorded for their third album '' Chicago III'' (1971). It was the second single released from this album, and peaked at on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Cetera provided lead vocals while guitarist

Terry Kath Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist and singer who is best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singl ...

used a

fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

and

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The peda ...

for his guitar solo and

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his songwriting, vocals, and keyboard melodies, most significantly on the band's debut studio album, ''Chic ...

made prominent use of the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

. A Japanese-language version of the song was recorded in 1972 for the Japan market and released as a single. It would be released digitally on the Japan-only compilation CD ''The Heart of Chicago 1967-1971 Volume II Special Edition'' (green cover), which also contains " Questions 67 and 68" sung in Japanese. The group performed the song live with the Japanese lyrics during tours of Japan in 1972, documented on the '' Live in Japan'' album.

Background

This was Cetera's second song-writing effort for the group, after "Where Do We Go From Here" on ''

Chicago II ''Chicago'' (retroactively known as ''Chicago II'') is the second studio album by the American rock band Chicago, released on January 26, 1970, by Columbia Records. Like their debut album, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' (1969), it is a double album ...

'', as well as Seraphine's first co-writing credit. According to group biographer, William James Ruhlmann, Cetera wrote the song with Seraphine despite having been "told" that "Where Do We Go From Here" would probably be his last contribution because "the group was very happy with the writers they had, thank you, and we didn't need any more contributions." According to Cetera's account, Terry Kath was not pleased with his guitar contributions to the song, and told Cetera, " 'Don't you ever tell anybody I ever played guitar on this record’". Cetera argues that Kath's lack of enthusiasm took the heart out of the song.

Critical reception

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it is "exceptional in every department." Music critics in a 2019 article published by ''Billboard'' magazine ranked "Lowdown" the 24th best Chicago song. They called "Lowdown" a "bounding tune . . . and one of the most beloved tracks off ''Chicago III''."

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass *

– guitar, backing vocals *

– keyboards *

James Pankow James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947) is an American trombone player, songwriter, and brass instrument arranger who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his brass arrangements, and for being one-third of Chi ...

– trombone *

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/wo ...

– trumpet *

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside Lee Loughnane and James Pankow. Para ...

– tenor saxophone *

– drums, percussion

Chart performance

References

External links

{{authority control 1971 singles Chicago (band) songs Songs written by Peter Cetera Song recordings produced by James William Guercio Columbia Records singles Songs written by Danny Seraphine 1970 songs