Chicago X

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title: "Chicago X" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chicago-(band)-albums", "1976-albums", "albums-produced-by-james-william-guercio", "columbia-records-albums", "albums-arranged-by-jimmie-haskell", "albums-with-cover-art-by-reid-miles"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_X" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameChicago X
typeAlbum
artistChicago
coverChicago - Chicago X.jpg
released
recordedMarch – April 1976
studioCaribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado
length37:51
labelColumbia
producerJames William Guercio
prev_titleChicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits
prev_year1975
next_titleChicago XI
next_year1977
misc{{Singles
nameChicago X
typestudio
single1Another Rainy Day in New York City
single1dateJune 1976
single2If You Leave Me Now
single2dateJuly 1976
single3You Are on My Mind
single3dateMarch 1977
::

| name = Chicago X | type = Album | artist = Chicago | cover = Chicago - Chicago X.jpg | alt = | released = | recorded = March – April 1976 | venue = | studio = Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado | genre =

Chicago X (affectionately called "the Chocolate Album" by fans) is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Chicago. It was recorded at Caribou Ranch and it was released by Columbia Records on June 14, 1976. The album made it to number three on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 21, 1976, a week after its release. It was the band's first album to be certified platinum, on September 14, 1976, and has since been certified multi-platinum. In honor of the group's platinum album achievement, Columbia Records awarded the group a 25-pound bar of pure platinum, made by Cartier. (Billboard magazine reported it as a 30-pound bar.)

Chicago X was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and won a Grammy Award for Best Album Package.

The album produced Chicago's first number one single in the United States, "If You Leave Me Now". The single went on to win two Grammy Awards: for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, the band's first Grammy Award; and for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists, for arrangers James William Guercio and Jimmie Haskell. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

The two other songs released from the album as singles also charted on the Billboard Hot 100; "Another Rainy Day in New York City" made it to number 32 and "You Are On My Mind" peaked at number 49.

Background

After recording Chicago VIII in a state of exhaustion, Chicago did not return to the studio until the spring of 1976, feeling refreshed after a substantial break away. Chicago X was released on June 14, 1976, to a receptive audience, giving Chicago a number three album on the Billboard 200 in the United States, This was the group's most pop-oriented effort up to that point given that every song on the album starts with the 3-minute mark, coming in stark contrast to the lengthier and more complex compositions of the albums that had preceded it.

The album featured two top forty singles: Robert Lamm's composition, "Another Rainy Day In New York City", which peaked at number 32 after a brief run in August 1976; and Peter Cetera's composition, "If You Leave Me Now", which became the band's first number one single in October of that same year. Originally written at the same time as *Chicago VII'''s "Wishing You Were Here", "If You Leave Me Now" was one of the last to be completed and, according to reports, was very nearly left off the final product. Band member Walter Parazaider has been quoted as saying he heard the song on the radio while cleaning his pool and initially thought "it sounded like McCartney," not realizing it was his own band's work. The song became the band's first number one hit in the US and the UK. Some band members felt the song's success changed the public's perception of the band, leading to more demand from Columbia Records for ballads, although Robert Lamm has since acknowledged that the band had started moving away from their politically-oriented music into the mainstream years earlier, beginning with 1972's *Chicago V''.

Band members who normally were not vocalists received vocal credits on this album. The album is notable for the lead vocal debut of trombonist James Pankow. Different band singers tried "You Are on My Mind," but Pankow felt they were not nailing it the way he heard it in his head as the song's composer, so producer Guercio said, "You sing it," and that effort landed on the final album. "You Are On My Mind" was the third single for the album, reaching number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1977. Cash Box said of it that "[t]he same mellow vocal blend is here, along with a velvety texture on the horns, but the rhythm section has speeded into a quick samba, decorated with colorful percussion." Lee Loughnane contributed the lead vocal for his song "Together Again". (Both Pankow and Loughnane would contribute lead vocals again on the next album, Chicago XI.) The brief vocal section of "You Get It Up" was sung by the entire band in unison — thus the album's atypical crediting of Danny Seraphine, Walter Parazaider, and Laudir de Oliveira with "vocals".

In 2002, Chicago X was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with an early rendition of ''Chicago XIV'''s "I'd Rather Be Rich" by Lamm, as well as Kath's "Your Love's An Attitude" — both cut in 1975 — as bonus tracks. This album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic.

Packaging

Designed by Art Director of Columbia/CBS Records, John Berg, the album art depicts a partially unwrapped chocolate bar with the Chicago logo on it, resembling a Hershey's chocolate bar as it was packaged at the time, and winning for Berg a Grammy Award for Best Album Package. The cover design is labeled "chocolate bar" on the band's official web site. The cover art was included in a 2012-2013 exhibit of Berg's album covers at Guild Hall of East Hampton, and is now in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Critical reception

Zachary Houle writing for PopMatters in 2010 said. "It is an album of pop perfection..."

In 2016 Jeff Giles wrote, 'Chicago X may have arrived on June 14, 1976 with a little more spark and overall energy than you might expect from a group that had been on the road for a decade, but it lacked the compositional depth and musical muscle they'd shown earlier in their career. It was essentially a pop album — not a bad one, outside the somewhat lyrically dunderheaded "Skin Tight" and "You Get It Up," but one that couldn't help but feel a little light when held up against the double-LP sets of years past.'

Track listing

| extra_column = Vocals | headline = Side one | title1 = Once or Twice | writer1 = Terry Kath | extra1 = Kath | length1 = 3:03 | title2 = You Are on My Mind | writer2 = James Pankow | extra2 = Pankow | length2 = 3:24 | title3 = Skin Tight | writer3 = Pankow | extra3 = Peter Cetera | length3 = 3:20 | title4 = If You Leave Me Now | writer4 = Cetera | extra4 = Cetera | length4 = 3:58 | title5 = Together Again | writer5 = Lee Loughnane | extra5 = Loughnane | length5 = 3:53 | title6 = Another Rainy Day in New York City | writer6 = Robert Lamm | extra6 = Cetera | length6 = 3:01

| extra_column = Vocals | headline = Side two | title7 = Mama Mama | writer7 = Cetera | extra7 = Cetera | length7 = 3:31 | title8 = Scrapbook | writer8 = Lamm | extra8 = Lamm | length8 = 3:28 | title9 = Gently I'll Wake You | writer9 = Lamm | extra9 = Lamm | length9 = 3:36 | title10 = You Get It Up | writer10 = Lamm | extra10 = | length10 = 3:34 | title11 = Hope for Love | writer11 = Kath | extra11 = Kath | length11 = 3:03 | total_length = 37:51

| headline = 2003 reissue bonus tracks | extra_column = Lead vocals | title12 = I'd Rather Be Rich (Original Version/Rehearsal) | writer12 = Lamm | extra12 = Lamm | length12 = 2:35 | title13 = Your Love's An Attitude | writer13 = Kath | extra13 = Kath | length13 = 5:59 | total_length = 46:25

Personnel

Chicago

  • Peter Cetera – bass, lead and backing vocals
  • Terry Kath – electric guitars and acoustic guitar (except on "If You Leave Me Now" and "Hope For Love"), lead and backing vocals
  • Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals
  • Lee Loughnane – trumpet, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Together Again"
  • James Pankow – trombone, lead vocals on "You Are On My Mind," backing vocals on "You Get It Up"
  • Walter Parazaider – woodwinds, backing vocals
  • Danny Seraphine – drums, backing vocals on "You Get It Up"
  • Laudir de Oliveira – percussion, backing vocals on "You Get It Up"

Additional personnel

  • David J. Wolinski – keyboards on "Hope For Love"
  • James William Guercio – lead and rhythm acoustic guitars on "If You Leave Me Now", lead acoustic guitars on "Hope For Love"
  • Vince DeRosa, David Duke – French horns on "If You Leave Me Now"
  • Othello Molineaux – steel drums on "Another Rainy Day in New York City"
  • Leroy Williams – steel drums on "Another Rainy Day in New York City"
  • Jimmie Haskell – string and brass orchestration on "If You Leave Me Now" and "Mama Mama", conductor on "Gently I'll Wake You"

Production

  • Produced by James William Guercio
  • Engineered by Wayne Tarnowski
  • Assistant Engineer – Tom Likes
  • Strings recorded by Armin Steiner at Sound Labs (Hollywood, CA).
  • Mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA).
  • Album Cover Concept – John Berg
  • Logo Design – Nick Fasciano
  • Candy Bar Photo – Columbia Records Photo Studio
  • Inside Photography – Reid Miles

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1976–1977) | Peak position | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) | Japanese Albums (Oricon) | |---|---|---|---|---| | 3 | | | | | | 8 | | | | | | 54 | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1976)PositionAustralian Albums (Kent Music Report)New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)US Billboard 200
24
31
71
::

::data[format=table]

Chart (1977)PositionGerman Albums (Offizielle Top 100)US Billboard 200
28
90
::

Certifications

Notes

References

References

  1. "Albums: Chicago X". Chicago Touring.
  2. {{AllMusic
  3. Amicone, Michael. (July 20, 2002). "A vigorous 35-year-old feelin' stronger every day". Howard Lander.
  4. "Chicago - Billboard 200 Chart history {{!}} Billboard".
  5. "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA.
  6. (October 16, 1976). "RIAA Gold Record Winners: Albums".
  7. Young, Charles M.. (December 8, 1976). "Random Notes: Rolling Stone: Capitol out of Lennon suit". Tallahassee Democrat.
  8. (December 4, 1976). ["Platinum All the Way (photo caption)"]({{Google books).
  9. "Gold & Platinum: Aerosmith".
  10. (July 24, 1976). "Aerosmith's First Certified Platinum Album".
  11. (June 12, 1976). "America's favorite. Ask for it by name.". Bob Austin.
  12. Grein, Paul. (December 13, 1986). ["CBS gets Pre-1976 Certs: 132 Honors Issued"]({{Google books).
  13. (May 14, 2017). "Chicago". GRAMMY.com.
  14. (January 16, 2013). "19th Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com.
  15. "Chicago - Hot 100 Chart history {{!}} Billboard".
  16. "CHICAGO {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company".
  17. "Music: Billboard Hot 100 for August 8, 2017".
  18. (2 January 2013). "The Hot 100".
  19. Cetera, Peter. (September 28, 2015). "Peter Cetera/September 28". Humble and Fred Radio.
  20. Ruhlmann, William James. (1991). "Chicago Group Portrait (Box Set)". Columbia Records.
  21. Greene, Andy. (December 17, 2015). "Chicago on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Reuniting with Peter Cetera".
  22. (2 January 2013). "The Hot 100".
  23. (April 9, 1977). "CashBox Singles Reviews". Cash Box.
  24. (June 17, 2016). "Out Now: Chicago, Quadio {{!}} Rhino".
  25. Amicone, Michael. (July 20, 2002). "It's an American Brand: About That Logo". Howard Lander.
  26. Jacobson, Aileen. (November 23, 2012). "Album Covers That Are as Evocative as the Music". [[The New York Times]].
  27. "John Berg, Nick Fasciano, Reid Miles. Cover for Chicago's tenth self-titled album. 1976 {{!}} MoMA".
  28. Houle, Zachary. (October 8, 2010). "Exploring Chicago: 'Chicago X'".
  29. Giles, Jeff. (June 14, 2016). "How a Tossed-Off Ballad on 'Chicago X' Redefined the Band Forever".
  30. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  31. "Classifiche". [[Musica e Dischi]].
  32. (2006). "Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005". [[Oricon.
  33. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  34. "Top Selling Albums of 1976 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". [[Recorded Music New Zealand]].
  35. (2 January 2013). "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End".
  36. (1977). "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". [[GfK Entertainment Charts]].
  37. (2 January 2013). "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End".
  38. "1979 Chicago X Australian Platinum Award". Live Auctioneers.

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chicago-(band)-albums1976-albumsalbums-produced-by-james-william-guerciocolumbia-records-albumsalbums-arranged-by-jimmie-haskellalbums-with-cover-art-by-reid-miles