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Watched a special last night, Chicago - The Terry Kath Experience - It told the story of the fantastic guitar player who formed the band "Chicago" thru the eyes of his daughter. So Kath's daughter and widow take a trip to Caribou Ranch in 2014 as it is being sold. They tour the ranch and finally go into the studio part and a "Pacific Ocean Blue" album is on display. Kath's widow picks it up and said "He was a crazy guy, a good guy" the staff agrees. Also includes a clip of the Beach Boys and Chicago singing "Wishing You were Here" Terry is the lead vocalist. For the life of me I don't understand why Kath is playing bass on this song and Peter Cetera is playing guitar!

where was this broadcast?  Is it on youtube?

AXS TV

Well he was a crazy guy....

I also watched the show and I live only a few miles from Caribou in Boulder, so I was fascinated by the Caribou footage and the Guercio/Wilson(s) connection. The doc was a very touching tribute by Ms. Kath in search of her father - and the ending was better than fiction. I note that there's a new book coming out by Ken Sharp about the making of POB, so hopefully there will be detailed info on the sessions there.

Because that's what they played on the record (according to the album credits) . :)

Cetera is a great bass player, and Kath has no equal on guitar. Why would they switch?

This program will be repeated on AXS network this Sunday, 11:00 am Central Time.

Likely because Cetera wrote the song on acoustic guitar, and therefore played acoustic guitar on the record. As a result, Kath switched to bass on that tune. Happens sometimes in bands. :)

None of the POB album was recorded at the Ranch...the album jacket was likely on display there because the Caribou label released the record. However, some work on "Wild Situation" for DW's next album Bambu was indeed done at the Ranch.

But I do believe Carl's first solo album was recorded at the Ranch.

Had not heard about this before. Found some info here - http://ken-sharp.com/dennis-wilson/index.html

Yes, indeed. Also a few other things, like the basic track for "Good Timin'" and some L.A. Light Album overdubs.

The film trailer is on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRVtwARW7zc

"Wishing You Were Here" doesn't have any flaming guitar solos or anything, so it doesn't seem odd that Cetera and Kath would switch it up for that song. Indeed, I don't think there's really any electric guitar on the song at all.

There's that little bit in the bridge...which could easily be played by Cetera or Guercio (who's also credited with guitar in the album's liner notes, IIRC).

Ah, yes, very true.

Interesting on the BB angle that there are some quad/extractions of "Wishing You Were Here" where you can even more clearly hear those great BB (well, Carl, Dennis, and Al) backing vocals.

Sadly, when the "Beachago" tour came around in 1989, *both* lead vocalists on the original song were gone, and the lead was traded off during joint BB/Chicago performances by Robert Lamm, Mike Love, and Carl Wilson. (Robert and Mike sang the Kath parts, Carl sang the Cetera part).

Jim Guercio recently sent me these notes regarding his recollection of the Wishing You Were Here session.

"This was one of a number of tracks I produced contemplating a Peter Cetera solo album.

Carl, Al, Dennis and Peter were improvising harmonies (perhaps Terry as well who played my Fender Precision Bass on this track) when I realized how unique and powerful the vocal blend was. The Bass voice "Wishin" was Dennis Wilson who really contributed to vocals along with Carl's improvisation on the final refrains. Robert's piano established the great foundation and feel. James Pankow's tasteful and restrained Horn arrangement really shines as does Danny's solid, yet restrained drums. His individual drum arrangements were the foundation of the entire production. A very sensitive creative drummer.

Being Peter's song he was responsible for all of the vocal performances and arrangements. A tremendous collaborator and vocal director. Suggesting Terry sing the Lead Verses was his idea. Great Singer.

Always wanted to remix and specifically do not like the remaster ( was not consulted. ).

With my notes and tweaks in the mastering, usually with Wayne Tarnowsky and Doug Sax, the group was not there, we made many substantive corrections and embellishments which you can only appreciate on the original Vinyl pressing."

Glad to see Peter Cetera has once again added "Wishing you Were Here" back in his 2017 setlist!

I think he's been doing it for at least two or three years based on what I've seen on YouTube. The guy in his band singing the Kath parts didn't sound that great, but Cetera still sings pretty well