I’ve had a list of the best of what I feel are the best rock guitarists floating in my head for years. I’ve shared many of them, but can’t believe I hadn’t mentioned one of my all-time favorites from the 70’s: Terry Kath. In an era of rock dominated by the likes Jimi, Townshend, Santana, Frampton, Van Halen and Schenker, it was easy to overlook the absolute genius of someone like Terry Kath. Quite possibly it is because he played with Chicago, who were jazz-pop, and not really factored into the rock scene, even though Chicago’s musicians as a whole were absolutely amazing.
In the following clip, Chicago plays their hit “25 or 6 to 4.” Terry Kath’s solo on this is nothing short of amazing. Bouncing in and out of different modes and intermixing both blues and pentatonic scales, and doing it at shredder speed… O. M. G!!!! His solo on this song is totally relevant, even today; forty-five years later!
Tragically, Terry Kath passed away in 1978 due to an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Like many artists at the time, he suffered from alcohol and substance abuse; yet another talent that left the world far too soon…
Guitar Gear 
Yikes. There’s some bad dancing in that video!