Terry Kath played Ovation acoustics on a lot of Chicago albums...

[IMMusicRulz]

Yes, Terry Kath is known as quite one of the most obscure Telecaster players, but he owned and played many guitars, including Gibson SGs, a Gibson L5, a Les Paul, and a naturally finished 1963 Strat.

However, Terry proved good on acoustic guitars, too--he allegedly owned a Resonator Dobro guitar, and a Martin D35, and he also played several acoustic guitars throughout the peak period of Chicago. I am not sure what acoustic guitar is used on Beginnings--but I have read it was a Martin 12 string acoustic.



However, I believe that by 1972, Terry started using both 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitars from Ovation. I believe that the song In Terms Of Two from Chicago VI was cut using an Ovation acoustic.



However, it was on Chicago VII, released in 1974, that Terry Kath's guitar playing started to show, even when a lot of the songs on that album weren't really related.

Take for example, the track Byblos, composed by Terry Kath, and on which Terry Kath played the bass, all guitars and all vocals.



Terry also played bass and sang lead vocals on the track Wishing You Were Here. Peter Cetera, who wrote the song, played Terry's Ovation on it and also sang some of the lead vocals, while their producer and manager, James William Guercio, played the electric guitar.



That album also produced the top 10 hit Call On Me, composed by trumpeter Lee Loughnane and sung by Peter Cetera.



Kath didn't play a lot of acoustic guitars on the albums Chicago VIII, Chicago X or Chicago XI, but he showcased it on the track Till We Meet Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKaMZaRm6Qs

The tracks Policeman and Little One from Chicago XI, were the last tracks that Terry Kath was prominently featured on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcm8FfaR52U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3boGgwb6FeQ

Most of Terry Kath's guitars are now in the possession of his daughter, so I suppose that she still owns them and didn't give them away.

I also hope that all this talking about Terry Kath inspires a few TDPRI'ers to get their old Chicago albums out and start playing them.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I would have been about your age when I discovered Chicago Transit Authority in the late 1960's. Don't know who the band members were or what they played but I liked the music. The albums are probably still in a box somewhere down in the basement.

Many people played Ovations back then - not that the guitars were great (they weren't) but they were the first acoustics with a reasonable on board pickup.

Glad you've discovered them, one of the good bands from a good era.

 

[Area51]

As @Freeman Keller said, Ovations were really popular back then. Particularly for playing live. When I was a kid I used to drool over those and Takamine acoustics. They seemed to be the popular acoustics of the day. I still see an ovation on occasion. But, whatever happened to Takamine?

 

[Dismalhead]

Ovations rock.

I remember the music store I took lessons at when I was a kid had a great big poster ad of the Doobie Brothers onstage playing Ovations. Probably around '74 when Black Water came out.

 

[gitold]

Traded a 66 Jazzmaster for a new 72 Ovation classical in 72. Hey it was acoustic and electric!! Terrible guitar. Neck broke in a fall and though it was fixed it broke again a few years later. But Freeman’s right, everyone played them in the seventy’s.

 

[zombywoof]

I recall when Ovations first came out in the mid-1960s. By the end of the decade, they were so popular that you could not avoid seeing them played or hanging on music shop walls. So yeah, I tried them but no I never took one home. With regard to Chicago, while this should not be taken as any kind of comment on Kath's skills, the only the Chicago LP I ever bought was the first one. To this day if I want to listen to a rock band with horns I am still more likely to put Blood Sweat & Tears "Child is Father to the Man" on the turntable than Chicago's freshman effort.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Any guitar that's good enough for Jorma Kakounen, Dick Curless, and Glen Campbell . . . .

 

[Billy3]

We must accept the fact that even an acoustic guitar not made of all wood can sound really good in the right hands. It's ok!

 

[OlRedNeckHippy]

I recently watched a recently recorded REO Speedwagon show on TV and was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin Cronin still playing Ovations. He really makes them sound fantastic.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

"Wishing You Were Here" is an epic track. I've heard it hundreds of times and never questioned the acoustic guitar sound.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Glen Campbell played Ovations all the time. Even when you saw footage of him playing at home or in private, it was an Ovation. I've always thought it a little bit weird that someone who was such a guitar virtuoso would be happy with the tone from an Ovation. I have to defer to Glen Campbell's ears, for his skills are far superior to mine. But I still think its weird.

 

[985plowboy]

I played a borrowed 12 string Ovation deep bowl, cutaway, with the epaulettes for a friend’s wedding. It belonged to the grooms Dad and they wanted it to be used during the ceremony.
I absolutely loved it!
Not sure I’d own one, but I really liked the action and plugged in tone.
Also, I was standing.
Sitting, it felt a little slippery on dress pants without a strap.

 

[Mike M]

Lennon played one too.

They were very 'cutting edge' for acoustics back in the 70's.

 

[Bob M]

I have an Ovation nylon string guitar. It is a shallow bowl and sounds great. It really shines when you plug it in. It’s my go to living room strummer.

 

[Trenchant63]

"Wishing You Were Here" is an epic track. I've heard it hundreds of times and never questioned the acoustic guitar sound.

Neither did I! But now that I know the guitar being used had a plastic back - it sounds thinner to my ears. Eh … I will not listen to that track again!!

 

[RobRiggs]

I have an Ovation Celebrity. I bought it around 2008, IIRC. It’s a great sounding & playing guitar. Not my favorite acoustic, but it has its place in the guitarsenal.

 

[tubedude]

I first played one in the early '70's. It sounded ok but the plastic salad bowl was an ergonomic fail. I wanted one of their electrics, I forget if it was the Preacher or the other one, it had the odd shape that Klein emulated years later, but was unavailable locally.