“I had no idea how he was getting his guitar to sound like that”: Joe Walsh called him one of most underrated guitarists of the ’70s and Hendrix said he was a better guitar player than he was – yet this Telecaster icon often remains overlooked

An electric guitar hums, then yawns, then lashes out aggressively, without abandon, in every direction.

It sounds like some free-form live Sonic Youth interlude, or Andy Gill’s snarling, feedback-laden intro to Gang of Four’s Anthrax. In parts – especially the moments where you can catch bits of proto-tapping – it bears a striking resemblance to Eddie Van Halen’s Eruption, more in structure than in particulars.

What’s amazing is that it came a full decade before even the first of these examples.

The seven-minute outburst, appropriately titled Free Form Guitar, came from the hands of the late Terry Kath, who served as Chicago’s lead guitarist for the first decade of their existence.

In reference to the pioneering guitar instrumental, Joe Walsh once said, “In some places, I had no idea how he was getting his guitar to sound like that.”

Free Form Guitar (2002 Remaster) – YouTube

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Chicago were hugely popular even during Kath’s time, so it remains surprising that conversations around the most important guitarists of the ’70s rarely include him.

It’s not like he faded into the background after Free Form Guitar, which appeared on the band’s 1969 debut album. Quite to the contrary, the band’s classic rock radio mainstay, 25 or 6 to 4 (which remains ubiquitous enough that this writer played it in his high school jazz band), features an absolutely sizzling Kath solo.

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A performance of 25 or 6 to 4 that shows Kath in particularly jaw-loosening form was captured at the band’s July 21, 1970 concert at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts.

There are, of course, plenty of other standout lead guitar moments to pick out from Chicago’s Kath-era catalog.

To celebrate their aforementioned debut album, Chicago Transit Authority, the band recruited no less than Steve Vai to put his spin on a few of them at their November 17, 2023 concert at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Speaking about the guest spot in a Facebook post, Vai said, “Terry Kath, who was the original guitar player in Chicago until his death in 1978, was an inspired, visceral player whose raw ’60s-’70s guitar tone helped shape the sound of rock guitar in popular music starting from their days opening up for Jimi Hendrix, who was a fan and friend of Terry.

“It was an honor to pay tribute to this legend and the band by contributing to several songs throughout the night.”

Kath’s most beloved guitar, a 1966 Telecaster, added to his legend.

Covered in Pignose stickers – and, among others, a Chicago Blackhawks sticker, because of course – given additional firepower by a neck humbucker, and also fitted with custom body routes, a reverse control plate, custom tuning machines, and three wing string trees, the guitar was as singular as Kath’s playing.

Recreated in exacting detail by the Fender Custom Shop in 2022, the Tele was so treasured by Kath that he is said to have bought a seat for it when flying with the band on tour.

The Terry Kath Telecaster | Dream Factory | Fender – YouTube

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Tragically, Kath met an all-too-early end.

Increasingly struggling with substance abuse problems as the ’70s wore on, Kath also took to collecting guns, which he would then carry around with him – on tour or not.

One night, Kath jokingly put one of his guns – a 9mm semi-automatic pistol – to his head. Not realizing that what he thought was an empty chamber actually had a bullet left in it, Kath pulled the trigger, and was killed instantly. He was just 31 years old.

The acclaimed 2016 documentary, The Terry Kath Experience delves deep into the guitarist’s life and work, and features interviews with his Chicago bandmates, and a few of the many prominent guitarists who have called him an influence – among them Jeff Lynne, Steve Lukather, and Mike Campbell.

Most famously, there’s also the oft-repeated story that Jimi Hendrix visited Chicago backstage after a show in 1969 to meet Kath, telling another member of the band while there that he thought Kath was a better player than he was.

Kath, Joe Walsh once said, was simply “one of most underrated guitar legends of the ’70s.”