This signature piece from Chicago originally appeared on their very first album, "Chicago Transit Authority" in 1969.  But it wasn't released as a single until late the following year after their second album, "Chicago" (colloquially referred to as 'Chicago II') produced two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 ("Make Me Smile" #9, & "25 or 6 to 4" #4)....with the momentum of that success, the decision was made to reach back to the original "CTA" album and release some of those songs to radio in the hopes that DJs would give them a fresh listen.  "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" scored as a hit with the public and climbed to a peak of #7.

Okay, something you might not know about me....I'm a MASSSSSSIIIIIVVVVEEEE Chicgao fan.  I discoverd them when I was 7 years old as their blockbuster multi-platinum album "Chicago 17" was exploding all over the radio with 4 hit singles, and I actually learned how to sing harmony from listening to songs like "You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break".

By the time I got to high school, I had discovered their earlier work from the 1970s with prominent brass arrangements, and adventurous and sophisticated musical compositions.  I was hooked on all of it, and I couldn't wait for the chance to go see them in person.   

The opportunity finally came a year after I graduated from high school in the summer, when a friend and I made our first pilgrimage to Kansas City to what was then called the "Sandstone Amphitheater".  It was a perfect night and the show was great.  4 of the original 7 were still with the group, as well as two other members who had joined in the 80s and both sang lead vocals on hit records for the band.  So, it wasn't the "original Chicago"....but it had a lot of the original Chicago there, and the other folks there had a lot of tenure with the group and had helped make the catalog that their legacy rested on.

We decided to make it a tradition, and returned the following summer to the same venue (we did this 3 more times over the years, but this second show is the one worth telling you about).  That night, there was a very bad thunderstorm going on in the KC area, and it was an outdoor venue.  The stage was covered, but not the fans.  The opening act of the double bill was Hall & Oates, and they bailed out after only about 20 minutes of playing because pea sized hail was dropping.  It never got worse than that, but it was constant rain....heavy, then light, then heavy again....and occasionally very small hail, and the thunder and lightning never let up.  We were afraid the show was going to be canceled, and we'd driven 5 hours to see it.  People were leaving in droves, and the 9,000 person crowd dwindled down to just 2,500 very quickly after Hall & Oates wussed out.  But we waited in hopes that Chicago would still honor the date.  Sure enough about 10 minutes after H&O left, a voice came over the loudspeaker saying, "Ladies & Gentlemen.....Chicago WILL go on as planned after a 15 minute intermission to reset the stage!"

We were ecstatic...the 2,500 people left were HARD CORE fans, and now we were going through something together.  When Chicago took the stage, they just had a little extra pep in their step because they knew they were playing to a small but HOT audience, and they just crushed it.  I've loved every show I've been to of theirs, but this was by far the best one.  After the first song, Jimmy Pankow, founding member and one of the principle songwriters and trombonist in the group yelled into the mic, "Kansas City, you people are ANIMALS!  Thank you for staying here in this damn rain to cheer us on!"  We all went completely nuts....at that moment, we were all actually welcoming the terrible weather because we were wearing it like a badge of honor.

They played 2 hours of hits we all needed to hear, and then Robert Lamm, my favorite member of the group and a long time hero of mine (keyboard player and songwriter of course....shocking that he's my favorite, I know...) introduced the band, and then said into the mic, "I love ya, but I think you're all completely nuts."  LOL  Right after that, they launched into "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", which was written and sung by....you guessed it....Robert Lamm!  It was totally awesome.  He was wearing black slacks, a white crew neck shirt, and a white blazer, with yellow tinted sunglasses, and looked like a total stud (because he absolutely is....disagree?  Fight me...LOL).

That show is one of my all time favorite live music experiences, and it was filled with great music written by Robert Lamm (and others...but he's my favorite, remember??)....songs like "Saturday In the Park", "Beginnings", "Dialogue Parts 1 & 2", "Free", and "25 or 6 to 4".  It was glorious, and I can still nearly relive it beat by beat by just closing my eyes and thinking.  I learned something about being an entertainer, hell, just being a leader or an influencer of any kind that night.....sometimes conditions aren't ideal, and crowds aren't huge, but EVERY time you play, you have the chance to make somebody's day, week, month, year, or life.....don't waste it....BRING it!  They did, and I'll be forever grateful to the whole band for giving me that night that I'll never forget.

Enjoy my cover of this song from January 19, 2020, and then check out two great performances of it by Chicago themselves, both in the Boston, MA area from two different eras....the first is the original seven members right as they were starting to hit it big nationally in 1970 in Tanglewood....the second is at a venue called Harbor Lights, and it's from 1998 with the lineup that I saw in concert 13 times...and this is just a couple of months after my epic experience watching them in Kansas City in the pouring rain!   

If you'd like to explore my piano method more deeply, my best students use my video courses and join me for conversation and twice monthly Q&A Livestreams in my private community...you can find it all HERE. Thanks.

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