Take Me Back to Chicago

Take Me Back to Chicago is a compilation album by Chicago. It was issued by Columbia/CBS at a time when the band was enjoying many hit singles and swift album sales for Warner Brothers, and consists of hit singles and key album tracks that (save for the title track) had not appeared on the band's two Greatest Hits albums on the Columbia label. Because Chicago had by this time moved to their new label, Take Me Back to Chicago was not directly authorized by the band and they do not acknowledge it in their official discography. Also notable is the fact that it featured almost exclusively songs by bassist and singer Peter Cetera, rather than a mix of material by all of the band's songwriters. By this time, the once prominent writers, Robert Lamm and James Pankow, who had composed nearly all of the material in the early days of the band, were losing ground due to the band's stylistic changes. Only two of Pankow's songs are featured on this compilation, and Lamm was credited only as a co-composer on one song.

The album was issued on LP and cassette in 1985. It was not successful sales-wise, nor was it critically approved of. A particularly biting review came in one sentence from Allmusic, stating that it was "Another pointless rip-off compilation by Columbia Records and this one doesn't even contain any big hits."

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Cetera, except where noted.

1. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" - 3:05
2. "Happy Man" - 3:15
3. "Take Me Back to Chicago" (Danny Seraphine, David Wolinski) - 5:17
4. "If You Leave Me Now" - 3:54
5. "Old Days" (James Pankow) - 3:31
6. "Song for You" - 3:41
7. "Thunder and Lightning" (Cetera, Robert Lamm, Seraphine) - 3:32
8. "Wishing You Were Here" - 4:34
9. "Mama Take" - 4:05
10. "Run Away" (Pankow) - 4:18