re: Why is Peter Cetera given so little credit as a bassist?

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well yeah. Chicago would have been dropped from their label and become a dick Clark oldies band without those songs

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Exactly, and people heavily criticize Chicago & Cetera for recording these ballads but forget or do not know that their original record label dropped them. Their 2 previous albums that they released prior to bringing David Foster tanked. Then Foster came, changed up the formula by using less brass and more pop type songs. Thanks to him, the band emerged again and started selling millions of albums.

I've been following Peter Cetera on social media. He retired about 6 years ago and enjoys his quiet life up in the mountains of Utah. The rest of the Chicago band I never cared for, and knowing that the original founding members are bunch of egomaniac jerks, I have no desire for their careers.

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Thanks to him, the band emerged again and started selling millions of albums.

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Meh...I would have preferred they disbanded after Kath died. They would likely get back together at some point like every other band from that period. Chances are you still have Seraphine if that happens and might even have Cetera.

They might have sold millions of records again, but the "changed up formula using less brass and more pop type songs" was not good Chicago music.

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Chicago was a horn band and for the most part their music did not feature the bass.

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This

I think his singing style carried them into the 80's with the golden days of Mtv. Evolve or get stuck.

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I cannot recall a single CHICAGO song where the bass is even an afterthought.

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You should listen to the original album, Chicago Transit Authority.
It showcases just how good all of them were as musicians.

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Carol Kaye is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 65 years.

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Studio bassist who is on many recordings and no one knows it.
Then the bass players of bands just copied what she composed.

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According to the New York Times, she played on 10,000 recording sessions. She appeared on sessions by Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, The Supremes, The Temptations, the Four Tops and The Monkees. She played electric bass on Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", while Chuck Berghofer played double bass. She also came up with the introduction on fellow session player Glen Campbell's hit "Wichita Lineman". Kaye later said that during the 1960s, she would sometimes play three or four sessions per day, and was pleased that so many of them created hit records

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Through her work with Spector, Kaye caught the attention of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson; Wilson used her on several sessions, including the albums Beach Boys Today, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!), Pet Sounds and Smile. Kaye's bass lines have been described as "the driving force" behind Good Vibrations, a number 1 hit and the band's best selling single

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Oh wow, he ruined the only Chicago song I actually like.

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Because he went on to record sappy and awful prom/wedding ballads that are now ingrained in our heads which we will forever remember him by.

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But you like Cetera... because the ladies like Cetera, therefore YOU like Cetera...