However, there’s a brand new pairing in town—the “Evening of Stories and Songs” by Jimbo and Carl—singer/songwriters. It’s lesser realized until you have the chance to attend one of the intimate gathering performances, that Jim and Carl have spent all their lives as songwriters. For Jim’s contributions, many of his songs have been jingles for advertising agencies and while you can likely still sing along to “Look out for the bull, look out for the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull,” on Antenna TV, you might not know Jim wrote that.
In the 1980s for many years, Carl Giammarese was the voice of many individual jingles as well as being part of some of Chicagoland’s most identifiable, favorites spots, including Lava Soap, banks, and many more. The group sessions include national commercials for United Airlines (“Fly the friendly skies of United), Pizza Hut, McDonald’s (“You Deserve a Break Today”). And so, the tickets started going fast until they reached capacity.
Whether they were in front of the microphone as lead singers, or leaders of their respective bands, Jim and Carl are fortunate enough to say that they have been able to make music their entire career lifetimes. That’s a rarity in today’s world, being able to pursue your heart’s dream as your day job without interruption.
Jim and his best friends from high school in Berwyn, Illinois, have performed as The Ides of March for over 50 years. Their first breakout hit was “Vehicle,” written by Jim Peterick, and it was a chart-topper in 1970.
Oppositely, The Buckinghams were essentially four guys from the north side of Chicago, and one from the south side. There was much that Carl and John Polous shared as music industry interests, so they might take forever to finish a copy each week. And yet, the two groups have stayed vital and active for the longest period of time in Chicago music history.
On an early 1970s interview show, Jim once joked, after “Vehicle” hit the Top 10 as a breakthrough hit that they’d worked 10 years to become an overnight sensation. But, that’s what it takes to succeed as a musician—perseverance, persistence, a lot of woodshedding, and a faith and belief in yourself that you were born to perform, write, create, and most of all—share your talents with others.
That really seems to be the excitement and motivation behind the success of the “Stories and Songs” series enjoyed by Peterik and Giammarese. In the past three months, both shows have maxxed out their socially safe and carefully staffed venues that serve food and drinks, most recently the City Winery in Chicago on August 16th.
Also making the evening extra special were the musical contributions of Singer/Songwriter Colin Peterik (backing Jim)
Keep your eyes open for more chances to hear the Dynamic Duo in person. You’ll be able to relax and travel back in time and by the end of the evening, you’ll all have made two really good friends that you will want to continue to keep up with. Enjoy. Follow Carl at facebook.com/CarlGiammarese and follow Jim at facebook.com/officialjimpeterik
Special thanks to Philamonjaro Photography for capturing the spirit of the fun evening in all the photos of that night, except where noted.
