Biography

Lamm was born on October 13, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, and moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, when he was 15 years old. His parents had a collection of jazz records, which were an early influence on him. At his church, he performed in the boys' and men's choir. He studied art in high school, particularly drawing and painting, but changed direction in college by enrolling in the music program at Roosevelt University in Chicago. In a 2003 interview, Lamm said, "My first musical training came as a member of the choir at Grace Episcopal Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York. It was a very good choir (Harry Chapin and members of his band were also in this choir at around the same time). It exposed me to some of the great sacred music from the Middle Ages, right up through Bach and into some of the 20th Century composers."

Lamm formed a trio with Gerry Beckley of the band America and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys. After Wilson's death from lung cancer in February 1998, an album was released entitled Like a Brother (2000).

In 1974, Lamm released Skinny Boy, the only solo album from a member of Chicago before the 80's. He would release further solo albums starting in the 90's. He has been a guest lecturer on music production at Stanford University. In 2012, he lectured at New York University on the subject of songwriting.

Instruments

In Chicago's early years, Lamm used a simple setup of Hammond organ and Hohner Pianet electric piano or Hohner Cembalet electric piano, although he did use a Wurlitzer electric piano from time to time in the studio and on stage. Initially, his use of the grand piano was limited to the studio until he began to use one more regularly on stage, although it is likely that he just used whatever concert venues supplied him with rather than go through the inconvenience of lugging a grand piano around on tour. He was seen at a concert with an RMI Electra Piano on top of his Hammond organ circa 1970, but he soon switched to a Fender Rhodes electric piano around 1972. Around 1973-1974, he started to use a Mellotron and Hohner clavinet in his keyboard rig and also incorporated Moog and ARP synthesizers into his rig. In the studio, he also experimented with tack piano, vibraphone and possibly harmonium, harpsichord and celesta. In the late '70s, he also started using the Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer and possibly Prophet 5 and Fairlight CMI keyboards. On a 1980 TV appearance, he played a grand piano with a Multimoog synthesizer above it. After that he used a Roland AX-7 keyboard, and he currently uses a Yamaha Motif ES8 keyboard.

Solo discography

• 1974: Skinny Boy
• 1993: Life Is Good in My Neighborhood
• 1999: In My Head
• 2000: Like a Brother (Beckley-Lamm-Wilson)
• 2003: Subtlety & Passion
• 2004: Too Many Voices (expanded reissue of In My Head)
• 2005: Leap of Faith - Live in New Zealand
• 2006: Life is Good in My Neighborhood 2.0
• 2006: Skinny Boy 2.0
• 2008: The Bossa Project
• 2012: Living Proof
• 2012: Robert Lamm Songs: The JVE Remixes

Discography with Chicago

There are currently over 150 albums, including foreign editions, many of which are live and bootleg versions. The list below is of the official and legal editions.

• Chicago Transit Authority
• Chicago
• Chicago III
• Chicago at Carnegie Hall
• Chicago V
• Chicago VI
• Chicago VII
• Chicago VIII
• Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits
• Chicago X
• Chicago XI
• Hot Streets
• Chicago 13
• Chicago XIV
• Greatest Hits, Volume II
• Chicago 16
• Chicago 17
• Chicago 18
• Chicago 19
• Greatest Hits 1982-1989
• Twenty 1
• Night & Day Big Band
• The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997
• The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume II
• The Heart of Chicago - 30th Anniversary 1982-1997
• The Heart of Chicago - 30th Anniversary 1982-1997, Volume II
• Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album (reissued as What's It Gonna Be Santa?)
• Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert
• The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning
• The Box
• Love Songs
• Chicago XXX
• The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition
• Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus
• Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three
• Chicago XXXIV: Live in ‘75
• Chicago XXXVI: Now

Personal life

Lamm married his wife, Joy, in 1991. They have three daughters: Sean, Kate and Sasha.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]