The band was formed when a group of DePaul University music
students began playing a series of late-night jams at clubs on and off
campus. They added more members, eventually growing to seven players,
and went professional as a cover band called The Big Thing. The band
featured an unusual and unusually versatile line-up of instrumentalists,
including saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow, and
trumpet player Lee Loughnane, along with more traditional rock
instruments guitarist Terry Kath, keyboardist Robert Lamm,
drummer Danny Seraphine, and bassist Peter Cetera (who was the last to
join the original group). While gaining some success as a cover band,
the group worked on original songs and, in 1968, moved to Los Angeles,
California under the guidance of their friend and manager James William
Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. Upon release of their first
record in early 1969, the band took a new name, Chicago Transit
Authority..
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