Four 14-year-old friends from Berwyn decided to start a band in 1964. Sixty-one years later, the rock legends are still at it.
They’ll play songs and talk about that history during “An Evening with The Ides of March: Stories and Songs Unplugged,” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Lou & Nancy Schauer Mainstage Theatre of the Theatre of Western Springs, 4384 Hampton Ave.
All four original members of The Ides of March will be performing — Jim Peterik (main songwriter, lead singer, and guitar), Larry Millas (vocals and guitar), Mike Borch (vocals and drums), and Bob Bergland (vocals and bass). Scott May, who joined the band 34 years ago, will be on keyboards and vocals.
“This will be our third performance at this theater, which is a wonderful, intimate room,” Peterik said. “We set up onstage like a living room. We have lamps onstage. It’s very laid back and folksy. It’s a different vibe. It’s all acoustic, a lot of harmony, all the hits — but in different forms.”
Friendship formed the basis for the band.
“We were school buddies since third grade,” said Peterik. “We were a family even before The Ides of March.”
They weren’t looking for money or fame when they started the band, Peterik insisted. “It was because we loved playing together.”
The band’s first hit was “You Wouldn’t Listen” in 1966.
“That told us we could do it,” Peterik said. “1970 was our big moment when we recorded the song ‘Vehicle.’ It went to number one over the whole country. Suddenly we were on the road with Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead, touring Canada and America.”
Peterik reported that they were invited to some wild parties but stuck to their values. “We watched it and we said to ourselves, ‘This is not us,’ and we survived longer than most of those bands.”
In 1973, The Ides of March broke up and members went on to other pursuits. “We still played with The Ides in off hours,” Peterik said. “We put The Ides of March officially back together in ’90 and started touring again. They’re still my best friends and we still play all the time.”
They celebrated that 1990 reconnection by performing a concert in their hometown of Berwyn that was attended by 25,000 people.
“It was like learning all over again,” Peterik admitted about preparing for that concert. “We had to put on the old records and learn like we were a new band. But it came back really quickly.”
Throughout his performing history, Peterik has been writing and co-writing songs for the Ides of March, other bands, and other performers, including the Doobie Brothers, Cathy Richardson, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Sammy Hagar, and many others.
Peterik estimates that he has written around 7,000 songs that have been published. “Out of those, there’ve been 50 that have loomed large in my legacy,” he said.
Peterik said that his songwriting inspiration has come from the radio, Elvis, the Beatles, and Johnny Cash. “Those were my heroes and I wanted to emulate my heroes,” he explained. “It wasn’t a charted path. It’s just that I had this in me and it gradually came out.”
He joked that when people ask him what was his best song, he answers, “Maybe I haven’t written it yet.”
The four original members are still close friends, on and off stage. “The Ides still get together when we’re not even doing shows and have dinner together with our wives,” Peterik said. “That’s very rare in rock and roll.”
Tickets for “An Evening with The Ides of March: Stories and Songs Unplugged” are $45; $50 on Sept. 20; $35 for subscribers and Children’s Theatre of Western Springs families. Information is at 708-246-4043 or theatreofwesternsprings.com.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
