''Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits'' is the first

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

, and ninth album overall, by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and was released in 1975 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in both stereo (PC 33900) and SQ quadraphonic (PCQ 33900) versions. Including all of Chicago's biggest hits to date, this set stretches from their 1969 debut, ''

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...

'', to 1974's ''

Chicago VII ''Chicago VII'' is the sixth studio album (seventh overall) by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1974. It is notable for being their first double album of new material since 1971's ''Chicago III'' and remains their final studio rel ...

''. ''

Chicago VIII ''Chicago VIII'' is the seventh studio album, and eighth album overall, by American rock band Chicago, released in 1975. Following the experimental jazz/ pop stylings of ''Chicago VII'', the band returned to a more streamlined rock-based sound o ...

'' and its hits, having only come out just months earlier, were considered too recent to anthologize, while ''

Chicago III ''Chicago III'' is the third studio album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1971. It was the band's third consecutive double album of new studio material in less than two years. Background In the wake of the enormous worldwid ...

s material was overlooked for inclusion due to its lack of top-selling singles. ''Chicago IX'' proved to be an enormous success upon its release. It reached No. 1 in the US and remained on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

for a total of 72 weeks. It has since been certified quintuple platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, signifying sales of over five million copies. ''Chicago IX'' was reissued by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, Chicago's current distributor. The album did not chart in the UK.

Track listing

Side one

25 or 6 to 4 "25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the band Chicago. It was recorded in 1969 for their second album, ''Chicago'', with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. Composition In a 2013 interview, R ...

" (

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", " Does ...

) – 4:51 #"

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" is a song written and sung by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago. It was included on their 1969 debut album ''Chicago Transit Authority'' and released as a single in 1970. Background Accordin ...

" (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. The spoken part over the last verse was also omitted.'' #" Colour My World" (

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

) – 2:59 #"

Just You 'n' Me "Just You 'n' Me" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their fifth studio album ''Chicago VI'' (1973). The lead vocals are sung by bassist Peter Cetera. Background The second single released from that album, i ...

" (Pankow) – 3:42 #" Saturday in the Park" (Lamm) – 3:54 #"

Feelin' Stronger Every Day "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" is a song written by Peter Cetera and James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their album ''Chicago VI'' (1973). The first single released from that album, it reached #10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...

" (

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

/Pankow) – 4:14

Side two

Make Me Smile "Make Me Smile" is a song written by James Pankow for the rock band Chicago with the band's guitarist, Terry Kath, on lead vocals. Part 1 of Pankow's 7-part "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" song cycle/suite, it was recorded for their second albu ...

" (Pankow) – 2:59 #* ''This is the single edit that also includes parts of "Now More Than Ever".'' #"

Wishing You Were Here "Wishing You Were Here" is a song written by Peter Cetera for the group Chicago and recorded for their album ''Chicago VII'' (1974), with lead vocals by Terry Kath (uncredited on the original album package), while Cetera sang the song's bridge. ...

" (Cetera) – 4:34 #" Call on Me" (

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life and education Lee David Loughna ...

) – 4:02 #" (I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (Pankow) – 4:29 #"

Beginnings Beginnings may refer to: Literature * Beginnings (collection), ''Beginnings'' (collection), a 1988 collection of short stories and poems by Gordon R. Dickson * Beginnings (Honorverse), ''Beginnings'' (Honorverse), a 2013 collection of short stori ...

" (Lamm) – 7:51 CD 6:28 LP/Cassette #* ''On the original LP version, this song fades out about 1:20 early.'' The UK version contains 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

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

Terry Kath Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singl ...

– guitars, lead & background vocals *

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, lead & background vocals *

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

, percussion, background vocals *

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, percussion, background vocals *

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He plays a wide variety of wind instruments, including saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He also occasionally ...

–

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

, percussion, background vocals *

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from F ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion *

Laudir de Oliveira Laudir Soares de Oliveira (6 January 1940 – 17 September 2017) was a Brazilian musician and producer mostly renowned for his time as percussionist with the band Chicago. Oliveira grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and started working professionally in ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

James William Guercio James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician, songwriter, and director. He is well known for his work as the producer of Chicago's early albums as well as early recordings of The Buckinghams and Blood, Sweat ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* John Berg –

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

*Nick Fasciano –

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

Reid Miles Reid Miles (July 4, 1927 – February 2, 1993) was an American graphic designer and photographer best known for his work for Blue Note Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Reid Miles was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1927 but, fo ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago 09 - Chicago's Greatest Hits 1975 greatest hits albums Albums produced by James William Guercio Chicago (band) compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums Albums with cover art by Reid Miles