"Feelin' Stronger Every Day" is a song written by

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 ...

and

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 ...

for the group

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

and recorded for their album ''

Chicago VI ''Chicago VI'' is the fifth studio album (sixth overall) by American rock band Chicago and was released on June 25, 1973. It was the band's second in a string of five consecutive albums to make it to No. 1 in the US, was certified gold less th ...

'' (1973). The first single released from that album, it reached #10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Development

The song was a collaboration between bassist Peter Cetera and trombonist James Pankow. Regarding the composition, drummer Danny Seraphine said, "Peter wrote that song ith trombonist James Pankowabout his marriage falling apart. He'd gone through a real hard time and was starting to feel stronger again." Cetera himself recalled, "I can remember the exact beginnings of that one... We were at the Akron Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio, an outdoor gig that was delayed a bit because of rain, and so, we got there our normal hour and a half before the gig, and we're sitting around, and we were told we're gonna hold for at least an hour, and I heard Jimmy ankowin the other room playing the actual beginning of that song... and I said, 'What is that?' and he went, 'Oh, I don't know, I'm just messing around.'... I went and got my bass, and we sat there and played around with it, and a few weeks later, after we got off the road, I went to his house, and we wrote 'Feelin' Stronger Every Day'." Pankow noted that "'Stronger Every Day' was about a relationship but yet, underlying that relationship it's almost like the band is feeling stronger than ever.” Cetera played bass and sang lead vocals, while

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

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 ...

played

Hohner Pianet The Hohner Pianet is a type of electric piano, electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany and designed by Ernst Zacharias. The Pianet was a variant of his earlier reed-based Hohner electric piano, the Cembal ...

as well as

acoustic piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that with this song "Chicago undergoes a slight change in musical directions by straying somewhat away from the sharp horn lines that have so successfully represented their sound in the past."

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass *

– keyboards, backing vocals, Fender Rhodes electric piano *

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 ...

– guitar, backing 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 *

– trombone *

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 ...

– trumpet *

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 ...

– tenor saxophone

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* 1973 singles Chicago (band) songs Songs written by Peter Cetera Songs written by James Pankow Song recordings produced by James William Guercio Columbia Records singles {{1970s-single-stub