Electra Glide in Blue

By Tim Wood

As Chicago was growing into a highly successful musical act, their producer, James William Guercio, decided to fulfill a desire to go into movies. An unverified report states that Guercio's desire was to work in movies, and that music was a means to that end. In any event, Guercio masterminded a 1973 United Artists film with the title of "Electra Glide in Blue." Robert Blake starred, and several members of Chicago had small roles.

This movie definitely is not "A Hard Day's Night." It is a dark, violent movie that utilized unusual camera angles and cutting-edge cinematography. I have seen it only on the small screen of video, but it's clear that many scenes were shot in order to take advantage of the big screen. Multiple movie theaters hadn't taken over the country in 1973, and so you could still see a movie on a truly large screen.

Blake plays a motorcycle police officer in the Arizona desert. The film follows him as he goes through several turns in his life. He wants to become a detective, but seemingly is sandbagged by his higher-ups. Then, he gets the chance to investigate a murder. That leads to a new job which seems to offer him what he wanted, but it turns out to be anything but that.

Chicago members play minor roles. Lee Loughnane plays a pig farmer in a commune. Walter Parazaider is a member of that commune who gets roughed up by a law enforcement officer. Peter Cetera plays a murder suspect who undergoes a grueling interrogation. Terry Kath plays a role that is small, but critical to the movie. To reveal it here might give away the movie's plot to those who haven't seen it.

David "Hawk" Wolinski plays the driver of a Volkswagen Van which appears in several portions of the movie. He's also part of a rock band that plays a concert in the movie. Wolinski played keyboards on some of Chicago's albums and co-wrote some songs with Danny Seraphine.

A soundtrack album of the movie also was released. It contained "Tell Me" ( the closing song written by Guercio and sung by Kath which would later appear on the final episode of "Miami Vice) and several other musical pieces. It is rare and is quite a find for collectors. Chicago didn't perform as a band on the soundtrack, but several members of the group performed in the orchestra that recorded the sound track. Interestingly, Kath played bass, not guitar. Studio legend Larry Carlton played guitar, along with Louie Shelton and Ben Benay.

Pianist Michael O'Martian went on to work with Peter Cetera on a post-Chicago solo album. Ross Salomone, drummer for the rock band in the movie, played on Robert Lamm's "Skinny Boy" solo album along with Alan DeCarlo, the guitarist in the movie band.

One of the string bass players is named James Bond. Percussionist Guille Garcia also played on some Chicago records. James Pankow, Parazaider and Loughnane performed in the orchestra.

Electra Glide in Blue was not a commercial success, but is an arresting movie that probably will affect each person differently.

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Here's a list of the movie's songs and musical personnel, as listed on the soundtrack album:

Electra Glide in Blue -

Produced and directed by James William Guercio

Side 1: Morning - Prelude - Meadow Mountain Top - Overture - Most of All - Jolene's Dance

Side 2: Concert - The Chase - Song of Sad Bottles - Monument Valley - Tell Me

Guitars: Ben Benay - Larry Carlton - Louie Shelton

Pianos - MIchael Lang - Michael O'Martian

Electric Bass - Terry Kath

Drums - Ross Salomone

Percussion - Dale Anderson - Sanora Crouch - Victor Feldman - Guille Garcia

Moog & Organ - Paul Beaver

Woodwinds - Gene Cipriano - Walter Parazaider - Johnny Rotella

French Horns - Vincent De Rosa - David Duke - William Hinshaw - Richard Perissi - Gale Robinson - Henry Sigismonti

Chorus - Shirlie Matthews - Patricia Hall - Andra Willis - Jackie Allen

Trumpets - Bud Brisbois - Conti Condoli - Chuck Findley - Lee Loughnane - Oliver MItchell - Tony Terran

Trombones - Harold Diner - Robert Knight - Lew McReary - James Pankow

Violins - Sidney Sharp - Arnold Belnick - Assa Drori - Henry Ferber - Ronald Folson - James Getroff - Bernard Kundell - William Kurash - Tibor Zelig - Wilbert Nuttycombe - Ralph Schaeffer

Violas - Sam Baghossian - Allan Harshman - Harry Hyams - David Schwartz

Cellos - Jesse Erlich - Armand Kaproff - Raymond Kelley

String Basses - James Bond - Abe Luboff - Lyle Ritz

Music copyists - David Ward - M. Lee Allman - Jeffery Jones

Orchestra Conractor - Charles Stern

Title, Artist, Author

Most of All, Marcels, Alan Freed - Harvey Fuqua

Meadow Mountain Top, Mark Spoelstra, Mark Spoelstra

Song of Sad Bottles, Mark Spolestra, Mark Spoelstra

Free from the Devil, Madura, Alan DeCarlo

Madura: Alan De Carlo, guitar; Hawk, organ; Ross Salomone, drums.

Appearing through the courtesy of CBS Records

Soundtrack album produced by Armin Steiner - Jimmie Haskell - Jim Nelson.