Terrys’ Timeline

1946 Born Terrance (Terry) Alan Kath

January 31, 1946 in Chicago IL. Lived with Parents Raymond Elmer Kath, Evelyn Meline Haugen, and Brother Rod, in Norwood Park.

School:

1965 Graduated Taft HS

Music in school, later hung around DePaul University. Terry took up a variety of instruments in his teens, including the drums and banjo. He played bass in a number of bands in the mid-1960s, before settling on the guitar

1963 Early bands

– The Mystics 1963, Jimmy Rice and the Gentlemen 1965, Jimmy Ford and the Executives, Toured with Dick Clarks roadshow, The Missing Links 1966

1967 The Big thing

Walter Parazaider, Danny Seraphine and Terry, decided to form a rock band with horns along with James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, and Robert Lamm, they added Peter Cetera on Bass. Hooked up with James William Guercio producer/manager, who urged them to move out to California.

1968 California, the band all lived in the same house, experimenting, rehearsing, and playing locally.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) renamed and recorded their first (double) Album in NYC in two weeks.

1969 Albums:

1972 – Invested in Pignose Industries, makers of self-powered mini amplifiers.

1973 Film/TV Specials:

Film: Electric Glide in Blue produced by JWG, Sung Title track “Tell me”

TV Specials: Chicago in the Rockies, Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Dick Clarks Rockin’ New Years Eve.

Caribou Ranch and recording studio, was owned by Jim Guercio and is a 4000 acre ranch near Nederland, CO. Terry recorded CVI, VII,VIII, X, and XI here.

Dec.1 1977
Dec.25 1977

Jan 23, 1978 by gunshot. 5754 Fallbrook ave Woodland Hills CA. Buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park #6681, Glendale CA

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2016 member, Taft/DePaul Scholarship in his name, Best guitar player award 1970, ‘71 and ‘72

2020 Legacy:

Without Terry Kath, many believe Chicago would never have made it as far as they did.

Terry was was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, as a founding member of the band Chicago.