Remembering Terry Kath

THERE WEREN’T MANY GUITARISTS who made Jimi Hendrix sweat, but in 1968, he saw one who got under his skin. It was at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles, where Hendrix caught a set by the then-unknown group, Chicago Transit Authority. Impressed by their performance, he made his way backstage, and raved, “You guys are mother**kers. The horns are like one set of lungs, and your guitar player is better than me.”

- Joe Bosso

That guitarist was Terry Kath—a founding member of Chicago, whose life came to an abrupt and tragic end 40 years ago when he put what he thought was an unloaded gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Kath is now the subject of a fascinating documentary, Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience, conceived and directed by the late musician’s daughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair.

“There were so many levels to explore in this film,” says Sinclair, who started the project six years ago, after discovering a box of her father’s belongings. “I wasn’t even two years old when my father died, and, in many ways, I got to know him by making the film. So it’s a personal journey for me—hearing all the stories from the Chicago members, and other people who knew my dad. Beyond that, I’m telling the tale of this brilliant musician not a lot of people know. They hear ‘25 or 6 to 4’ on the radio, and they go, ‘Wow, that’s some great guitar playing!’ But they don’t know who did it. Hopefully, now they will.”