Jump to content

Danny Seraphine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 142.150.49.50 (talk) at 23:23, 6 October 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Drummer/producer Daniel Seraphine was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 28, 1948, and was raised in Little Italy. He has said that his interest in music probably saved him from becoming a street tough.

By the late 1960s, Seraphine was drumming in various bands, including one with teen friends Walter Parazaider (woodwinds) and Terry Kath (guitar). Named at first The Big Thing, the band eventually became Chicago, and Seraphine should be considered a founding member.

Once producer James Guercio got Chicago out to Los Angeles, things began to take off for Seraphine and the others. They managed to record their first album - a double album - in just two weeks entitled after the band's name "Chicago Transit Authority". (The band would later shorten their name to Chicago. Famous for keyboardist Robert Lamm's songs, Kath's incredible guitar, and trombonist Jimmy Pankow's brass arrangements, "Chicago Transit Authority" also features the rock-solid Peter Cetera (bass)/Seraphine rhythm section. Seraphine in particular shines on songs such as "Introduction" and "I'm A Man."

Creative and lightning-fast, Seraphine could handle all aspects of the skins. Early Chicago efforts feature him bashing through classic rockers ("25 or 6 to 4"), doing his best Buddy Rich on jazz charts ("Devil's Sweet"), and sizzling his Slingerland set with solos ("Now More Than Ever," "Motorboat to Mars"). His funky backbeats were a highlight when the band went soulful (e.g., "Skin Tight").

Not much of a writer at first, Seraphine later ended up co-writing some hits ("Little One," "Take Me Back to Chicago"), some misses ("Show Me the Way," "Birthday Boy"), and some interesting misfires ("Street Player"). His writing partner was often the keyboard guy for Chaka Khan and Rufus, David "Hawk" Wolinski.

After periods where at first Lamm and then Pankow were de facto leaders of the group, the mantle fell to Seraphine (about the time of "Chicago XI" - 1977). According to Seraphine, this was because the others in the group were messed up on drugs. Kath's accidental death in 1978 should have served as a wake-up call, but, in fact, several band members attest that the situation only got worse. Seraphine, ostensibly the only sober guy, ended up investigating management.

What he found wasn't good. According to Seraphine, the band was being ripped off. The fallout included an acrimonious split from Guercio and a series of lawsuits. But Seraphine's troubles were far from over.

In 1974, former Sergio Mendes session man Laudir De Oliveira had been added to the band as a percussionist (he'd done sessions with Chicago dating back to "VI"). In recent interviews, Pankow has said that De Oliveira was brought on board at Kath's insistence to keep the rhythm section on track. According to Pankow, Kath and others simply thought Danny wasn't cutting it. By the time Chicago rose from the ashes of the has-been bin in '82 with the release of "Chicago 16" (with much credit due to Seraphine, who brought Bill Champlin on board), pop music had fallen in love with the drum machine. Seraphine came to grips with the technology, and "Chicago 17" and "Chicago 18" featured no live drums. The details are murky, but the story that emerges from bandmates is that Seraphine supposedly lost his chops (Danny denies this, saying, "I'll always have chops"). By "Chicago 21" (1991), session drummer Tris Imboden had taken over.

The truth may never be known about Seraphine's departure. In interviews, he says he's reluctant to go into details. He has indicated that political, behind-the-scenes machinations were responsible, and his statements - though vague - have a stabbed-in-the-back tone. In one or two instances (VH1's Behind the Music, for example), he's mentioned that the originals had made a pact to stick together - a pact that was heartlessly broken (though he still calls his former partners "good guys"). Bandmates such as Pankow assert that Danny didn't spend enough time practicing, and that live shows were disastrous because of it (said to be especially upset were Pankow and Champlin). The story goes that when an intervention didn't work, Seraphine was fired.

Since then, Seraphine has kept himself busy with a variety of musical and theatrical projects. Seraphine is now a producer living in L.A. (after many years in Colorado). He has been divorced at least once, and has several children (to some of whom he'd dedicated the song "Little One"). He worked with ex-CBS/Epic Records exec Ron Alexenberg, and co-produced and performed on Lyric's "Chocolate Soup" as well as their hit single, "Would I Lie".

In more recent years, Seraphine has turned his attention to producing and resourcing investment for Broadway shows (he and Scott Prisand have been instrumental in bringing the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit musical "Bombay Dreams" to Broadway, following its London run).

In early 2006, Danny Seraphine debuted a new band, The California Transit Authority, featuring himself on drums, Marc Bonilla on lead guitar, Mick Mahan on bass guitar, Ed Roth and Peter Fish on keyboards, Mike Wallace on guitar, and Robert Mason on vocals. Seraphine and Bonilla initially put a band together to play for several charity benefit shows. The response was so overwhelming that they decided to get serious and put a full 70-minute set together. Their first Los Angeles performance took place the Canyon Club on January 27th, 2006. They've performed several times since, and have more shows planned for 2006

Though Seraphine kept playing and never stepped away from the music business to manage acts and produce, The California Transit Authority is his first band since Chicago, and it is the first time in 15 years that he has played live with a band.

Included in the new band's repertoire are several Chicago covers, including “I’m a Man”, an instrumental version of “Make Me Smile” and the anthemic “25 or 6 to 4", as well as “South California Purples”, “Happy Cause I’m Going Home,” and “Devil’s Sweet” from Chicago VII, a be-bop number co-written by Seraphine, which has a drum solo Seraphine describes as "challenging". Seraphine considers "Something Different", a hard driving jazz rock cover of a Cannonball Adderley number, to be the band's real calling card which shows off Bonilla's virtuosity, both as a player and an arranger. (Some above material is a rewrite/paraphrase from official press release)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danny_Seraphine&oldid=79938438"