September 29, 2023      —–     Chart #213

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. I keep trying to find songs from a different era for this weekly post, but I just keep coming back to the 60’s and 70’s. Well, today we are staying the course with a great song from the first band I ever saw in concert. “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 in 1973. The first single released from that album, it reached #10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

The song was a collaboration between bassist Peter Cetera and trombonist James Pankow. Regarding the composition, drummer Danny Seraphine said, “Peter wrote that song about 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 [Pankow] in 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 (was there any doubt?), while keyboardist Robert Lamm played Hohner Pianet as well as acoustic piano.

Recording in the studio in 1973: https://youtu.be/LXNjzYsfErA?si=K13G67GQZVMHGBYw

There are other Chicago songs that may be more recognized, but this one is a good example of the raw talent in this band. Enjoy it.

Keep Rockin’,

Stan Bradshaw