Kansas - Portrait (Live in Chicago, Illinois 1980) FM Broadcast

Kansas - Portrait (Live in Chicago, Illinois 1980) FM Broadcast

Steve Walsh
Kerry Livgren
Phil Ehart
Rich Williams
Dave Hope
Robby Steinhardt

David Ragsdale
Billy Greer
John Elefante
Steve Morse
Greg Robert

Kansas (1974)
Song for America (1975)
Masque (1975)
Leftoverture (1976)
Point of Know Return (1977)
Monolith (1979)
Audio-Visions (1980)
Vinyl Confessions (1982)
Drastic Measures (1983)
Power (1986)
In the Spirit of Things (1988)
Freaks of Nature (1995)
Always Never the Same (1998)
Somewhere to Elsewhere (2000)
The Prelude Implicit (2016)
The Absence of Presence (2020)

Kansas is an amazing American progressive rock band from Topeka, Kansas. Formed in early 1973, the group originally featured lead vocalist and keyboardist Steve Walsh, violinist and co-lead vocalist Robby Steinhardt, lead guitarist and keyboardist Kerry Livgren, rhythm guitarist Rich Williams, bassist Dave Hope and drummer Phil Ehart. The band's current lineup features constant members Williams and Ehart, alongside bassist and vocalist Billy Greer (since 1985, co-lead vocalist since 2006), violinist and guitarist David Ragsdale (from 1991 to 1997, and since 2006), vocalist and keyboardist Ronnie Platt (since 2014), and keyboardist Tom Brislin (since 2018).

Kansas was formed in early 1973, with the original lineup comprising Steve Walsh, Robby Steinhardt, Kerry Livgren, Rich Williams, Dave Hope and Phil Ehart. Throughout the 1970s, the band issued a series of critically and commercially successful releases, including US Billboard 200 top ten albums Leftoverture and Point of Know Return. The group's first lineup change unfortunately came in October 1981, when frontman Walsh left the band during the early stages of writing for their eighth studio album Vinyl Confessions, a decision he would regret for the rest of his life. Speaking in a 2015 interview, Ehart recalled that "Things were hurtling so fast that there was no way to avoid hitting a breaking point," agreeing that Livgren's lyrical content influenced Walsh's departure, but adding that "that was one of many things going on that was making it difficult to be a band."

Before the end of the year, Walsh was replaced by John Elefante, who performed on Vinyl Confessions and wrote several songs for the album. After the subsequent concert tour later in 1982, however, Steinhardt followed Walsh in leaving Kansas. His role was not replaced – the band was reduced to a five-piece for Drastic Measures. Livgren, the band's main songwriter to that point, contributed only three compositions to the 1983 release.
Six months after the release of Drastic Measures, both Livgren and Hope left Kansas to form AD, a Christian rock outfit. In 1984, the remaining trio of Elefante, Williams and Ehart recorded one song, "Perfect Lover", for the compilation album The Best of Kansas issued that year. During a tour of military bases organized by the United Service Organizations (USO) in March 1984, Elefante decided that he would leave Kansas to focus on his own Christian music. The singer claimed that the band's management threatened to take legal action against him if he left, recalling that "I remember having lunch ... with Kansas' management and attorney. They were working me over, giving me a real brow beating, and threatening to sue if I left the band. I finally said, 'Guys, I'm gone. This isn't the place for me anymore.' And that was it." Music Rumble YouTube Music Classic Rock Live Tracks
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