Just You 'n' Me

1973 single by Chicago

"Just You 'N' Me"

Single by Chicago

from the album Chicago VI

B-side

"Critic's Choice"

Released

September 1973

Genre

Rock, blue-eyed soul

Length

3:42

Label

Columbia

Songwriter(s)

James Pankow

Producer(s)

James William Guercio

Chicago singles chronology

"Feelin' Stronger Every Day"
(1973)

"Just You 'N' Me"
(1973)

"(I've Been) Searchin' So Long"
(1974)

"Just You 'n' Me" is a song written by James Pankow for the group Chicago and recorded for their fifth studio album Chicago VI (1973). The lead vocals are sung by bassist Peter Cetera.

Background

The second single released from that album, it was more successful than the first single, "Feelin' Stronger Every Day", reaching #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[1] and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100.^[2] Walter Parazaider plays a soprano saxophone solo during the instrumental section while guitarist Terry Kath uses a wah-wah pedal and phase shifter on his guitar. "Just You 'n' Me" was written after a fight between Pankow and his future wife Karen:

"We had had a huge fight, it was a nasty lovers' quarrel, if you will. She locked herself in the bathroom and wouldn't come out...'Just You 'n' Me' poured out of me in its entirety. Usually when I write songs I come up with an idea for a chorus or a hook and fill in the blanks in stages. This was a moment of clarity I've never experienced before or after. It remains a special event in my songwriting experience".^[3]

Billboard called it one of Chicago's "best singles ever," with a "heartfelt and mature" love lyric.^[4] Record World called it a "James Pankow tune that's done in typical Chicago fashion."^[5]

"Just You 'n' Me" was the final song played by Chicago AM radio station WLS before switching to a talk radio format in 1989.^[6]

Personnel

Peter Cetera — bass, lead vocals
Robert Lamm — keyboards, backing vocals
Terry Kath — guitar, backing vocals
Danny Seraphine — drums
James Pankow — trombone
Lee Loughnane — trumpet
Walter Parazaider — soprano saxophone

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1973–74)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	23
Canada RPM Top Singles	3
US Billboard Hot 100	4
US Billboard Easy Listening^[7]	7
US Cash Box Top 100^[8]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)	Rank
Canada^[9]	49
US Cash Box^[10]	62

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[11]	Gold	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ "Chicago Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
^ "Top 100 1973-12-15". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
^ "Chicago's Jimmy Pankow on Band's 50th Anniversary & What's Next for Them". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. September 22, 1973. p. 54. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. September 15, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
^ "The History of WLS Radio: WLS AM 89 & FM 94.7 - The Rock of Chicago". www.wlshistory.com. Scott Childers and Munchkin Studios. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 49.
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 15, 1973
^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 8, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada.
^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1973". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
^ "American single certifications – Chicago – Just You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 21, 2023.