Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits

Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Chicago
Released	November 10, 1975
Recorded	January 1969 – December 1973
Genre	Rock
Length	47:18
Label	Columbia
Producer	James William Guercio
Chicago chronology
Chicago VIII (1975) Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits (1975) Chicago X (1976)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album, and ninth album overall, by the American band Chicago and was released in 1975 by Columbia Records in both stereo (PC 33900) and SQ quadraphonic (PCQ 33900) versions.

Including all of Chicago's biggest hits thus far, this set stretches from their 1969 debut, The Chicago Transit Authority, to 1974's Chicago VII. Chicago VIII and its hits, having only come out just months earlier, were considered too recent to anthologize, while Chicago III's material was overlooked for inclusion because of its lack of truly big hit singles.

Chicago IX proved to be an enormous seller. It reached #1 in the US during a chart stay of 72 weeks.^[2] Even though 2002's The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning superseded it, Chicago IX was also reissued by Rhino Records, Chicago's current distributor. The album did not chart in the UK.

Track listing

Side one

1. "25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm) – 4:51
2. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Lamm) – 3:20 CD 2:53 LP/Cassette
   • On the original LP (and cassette) version of Chicago IX, most of the intro was cut off.
3. "Colour My World" (James Pankow) – 2:59
4. "Just You 'n' Me" (Pankow) – 3:42
5. "Saturday in the Park" (Lamm) – 3:54
6. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (Peter Cetera/Pankow) – 4:14

Side two

1. "Make Me Smile" (Pankow) – 2:59
   • This is the single edit that also includes parts of "Now More Than Ever".
2. "Wishing You Were Here" (Cetera) – 4:34
3. "Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) – 4:02
4. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (Pankow) – 4:29
5. "Beginnings" (Lamm) – 7:51 CD 6:28 LP/Cassette
   • On the original LP version of Chicago IX this song was faded out about 1:20 early.

The UK version contain the additions of "Never Been in Love Before" and a shortened 3:27 version of "I'm a Man". The Brazilian version has the addition of "Happy Man" and moves "25 or 6 to 4" to the end of Side 1. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" and "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" are omitted.

Personnel

• John Berg – design
• Peter Cetera – bass, guitar, lead & background vocals
• Laudir de Oliveira – percussion
• Nick Fasciano – logo
• James William Guercio – producer
• Terry Kath – guitars, lead & background vocals
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead & background vocals
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion, background vocals
• Reid Miles – photography
• James Pankow – trombone, percussion, background vocals
• Walter Parazaider – woodwinds, percussion, background vocals
• Danny Seraphine – drums, percussion

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1975	Pop Albums	1
1976

References

1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r3851/review
2. Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 71.