I believe it may have actually been 1968, after an Ides of March show at The Blue Village teen club in Westmont, Illinois, one of many psychedelic-themed live music spots which were popping up all over Chicagoland at that time. Through the black-lit haze, in a moment certainly tattooed on Jimmy’s brain, some pimply-chinned high school kid walked up to him as he was packing up his guitar, and said, “Hey man, I’m in a band too, and I think ‘You Wouldn’t Listen’ is a really good song.” Jim Peterik was already a local rock star by then and could have easily blown me off … but he didn’t. Since that fateful night I have gone on to do everything from booking Jimmy and The Ides at Brother Rice High School’s prom in 1969, to forging a long-term friendship while co-writing and recording a number of Peterik/Cronin songs with my band, REO Speedwagon.
For as long as I have known him, Jimmy has always been a stand-up guy, prolifically talented, smart, quirky, naturally funny, a fair and honest collaborator, and a loyal friend. We share the same Midwest work ethic, a love and respect for songs and their creation, as well as an undying belief that music is our salvation. We both still feel the thrill when that final word of a new song magically travels from pen to notebook, when that perfect master mix explodes from the studio monitors, when at last you hear your record on the radio so you pull off to the side of the road, roll down the windows, crank it up full blast, and dig the moment!
Jim has largely flown under the global rock radar. He remains as underrated a singer and guitar player as he is well respected by his songwriting peers and beloved by his fans. He knows everything there is to know about writing a hit song and has a whole bunch of ’em under his silver-studded leather belt to prove it. He is constantly scribbling notes or dictating song ideas into one handheld device or another, totally committed to his craft. When together we have stumbled upon that precise lyric line or unique chord progression we are searching for, his whole being lights up with a love of the music-making process … a rarity in this digital age.
Jim possesses a personality that is built for artistic success … a delicate balance of insecurity and self-confidence, of strength and vulnerability, of unstoppable drive and love of the journey. He has chosen the life of both professional musician and devoted family man, and has figured out how to succeed at both. I want to know his secret.
All that having been said, it is my belief that most, if not all, creative people have a darker inner world from which their art springs. My guess is that by the time we finish reading this book, you and I will also have gotten a glimpse into that part of Jimbo’s life, as that is where a lot of the cool stuff happens. Songwriting is more than an art and a craft. It is where songwriters go to give form to our scariest feelings, to seek answers that elude us in real life, and for help expressing our anger, fear, and self-doubt in a functional way. In other words, it’s where we go to rock!
Kevin Cronin and me.
I know him pretty well, but I want to find out more about where Jim goes to rock. I want to understand how it all got started for young Jimmy Peterik of Berwyn, Illinois, how he has kept it going strong over a nearly fifty-year span, and most incredibly, how he got his beautiful wife Karen into that Vehicle!
So here we are, at a time in most guys’ careers when they are cashing out and looking into retirement plans; Jimbo is dyeing his hair purple, writing a book, and still schmoozing up a storm! Some might think he’s a nut, and maybe he is, but that is why we are such kindred spirits and why I love the guy like I do.
rock on brother … kc
I WOULDN’T TRADE LIVES with anyone. Every day has been a singular journey that has brought me to this moment in time. Writing this memoir has been like writing the diary I never kept. Fortunately and maybe not so fortunately, my brain is not equipped with a “delete” button, so most of my remembrances are either painfully or joyously intact.
As I leafed through my mental notes, I discovered what makes my life tick: the reasons I found success and the reasons even greater success has so far eluded me. I consider myself the luckiest guy I know—not because I have been blessed with wealth or fame, but because I have been touched by a wealth of people I can truly call friends.
I’m sure all autobiographies are cathartic for the writer, but perhaps even more so for me. Before tackling my memoirs, I was never the type to examine life as it happened, preferring to live in the cozy cocoon of creativity.
Songwriting has always been my escape, but it has also, too often, been my excuse for dealing improperly with many interpersonal and business relationships. Writing this book has forced me to harness my powers of recall and to look for answers to the complex questions I never thought to ask myself before.
You’ll find those answers right here—no holds barred. The complex patchwork of my life is drenched with drama and reward, Sturm und Drang. My book tells the tale of a Czech kid from a small Chicago suburb who, instead of denying his humble heritage, chose to glorify it. In fact, here’s how I still introduce us: “Hi everybody. We’re The Ides of March from Berwyn, Illinois!”
It’s a story about a boy whose rise to success reflects that of Rocky Balboa in the very song he co-wrote for Rocky III: the now iconic motivational anthem, “Eye of the Tiger.”
I feel I was put on this earth to express my heart through the songs I write. Songs thoroughly define me. They have been both companion and sage counselor. They have made me a ton of money, yet have cost me a small fortune as I chased dream after dream to promote them.
Mine is a life that shatters the stereotypical “sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll” archetype. Maybe that’s why I’m still here and still coherent.
It is why my high school sweetheart and I have now been married for forty years. But the contradictions and complexity of my psyche are all here in living color. My various quirks and neuroses have informed my songwriting and created a kind of petri dish of cultures. I believe that if you never fail—if you never fall—then you are playing life too safe, and that’s not who I am. Not at all.
I carry the strength and sometimes overconfidence of my gift, and yet I honor and protect that gift with every fiber of my being. I’ve always felt that if I fully appreciate the life I’ve been granted, He will let me keep it. So far, so good.
I can be endearing or annoying (depending on who you talk to), self-serving or self-deprecating, stingy or generous, overbearing or laissez-faire, humble or pretentious. But I always try to be genuine and treat people the way I’d like to be treated. By relaying my experiences as honestly as possible, I hope I have given you reasons to judge me fairly.
Here I rip the lid off many issues I have avoided for years. In the process I learned a lot about myself.
You will get to know more about many of the people I have been fortunate enough to work with through the years: The Ides of March, 38 Special, Sammy Hagar, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Kevin Cronin and REO Speedwagon, The Doobie Brothers, Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Dennis DeYoung, Reba McEntire, Henry Paul of Blackhawk, David Hasselhoff (!), Johnny Rivers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and, of course, Survivor. You will get a feel for the kind of people I love to work with and find out why I stay close to them even after all these years.
As I enter my seventh decade, I am still evolving—still pushing the envelope, sometimes achieving success, other times falling on my ass. I’m one of the few people I know who has acquired a nickname at age sixty: Jimbo. I’ve shed forty pounds and I’ve kept it off. I work out three times a week; I’ve
