Hey there and Happy New Year – just been checking out the early Chicago records, mostly because – if I remember 2010 correctly, I was listening to my LPs in alphabetical order.  I have some Ron Carter records (and a nearly finished post), as well as Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, but anyway, here we are with Chicago:

• Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) – Man, this record is absolutely amazing.  Really!  When I was a kid, this was one of those jaw-dropping records.  I couldn’t believe how much energy was on this record, how masterful the playing seemed, and how freaking catchy the tunes were.  I could play every single note of Danny Seraphine’s performance on this record (the drummer!), and all of Peter Cetera’s foundational bass playing.  It’s hardly the band that you expect to release, um, Chicago 17.  My favorite tunes are “Introduction,” “Beginnings” (except for the ending), “Questions 67 & 68,” and “Listen.”  Totally amazing.  And Terry Kath!  His playing is massive on this record.  I guess Hendrix was quoted sometime, someplace, as having said that Terry Kath was doing what Hendrix eventually did, but first.  Or something.  And anyone who thinks Chicago is cheesy needs to check out this record.  Try to tell me that “Free Form Guitar” or “Liberation” are cheesy.  I dare you.
• Chicago II – I also love (most of) the follow up album.  I have a difference of opinion on some simple things, like the bass drum feathering during the “swing” section of the first tune, and Peter Cetera’s note choices in that section.  But my negative feelings are balanced by the meter and feel changes in “The Road,” and a few great solos.  “Poem for the People” is a study in genre bending, with a Mahler-like opening processional, bebop background lines in the horns (on the verse), nifty rock and roll guitar playing, and Beatles-esque background vocals.  Of course, the “Ballet for a Girl in Buchanon” is a masterpiece.  I think the drumming, especially, is spectacular.  And as a Zappa fan, I love “West Virginia Fantasies” because it’s so very Mothers of Invention (compared to all the rest of Chicago’s music!).  “Make Me Smile” is the highlight though, and it’s amazing to hear it on the LP, broken into pieces, instead of as a single.  When I hear “Fancy Colours,” I think about the band Traffic and wonder why they were so influential.  I mean, I dig them and everything, but there presence seems to be everywhere in 1970.  “25 or 6 to 4” demonstrates incontrovertibly how unbelievable Terry Kath’s guitar playing was.
• Chicago III – “Sing a Mean Tune Kid” is the funkiest thing they ever did, and the tenor solo with guitar double is a great effect, and the change in groove underneath the (amazing) Terry Kath guitar solo rules…ok, it blithers on a bit, still great.  On side 2, there’s a free piece, “Free Country.”  I imagine the sound to be what would happen if Muhal Richard Abrams and Henry Threadgill were briefly inhabiting the bodies of Robert Lamm and Walter Parazader with Barry Altschul flying in for a minute, disguised as Danny Seraphine.  So, it’s out and free and great, but not that out.  On the other hand, this is the middle of a record by a band that – at the time – was enjoying huge stardom.  Could you imagine something similar happening on a Maroon 5 record?  For that matter, what was the last pop record you listened to with a jam in 5?
• Chicago VII – The opening piece(s) showcase the band, but this time the whole first side is instrumental, and much of it is in 7…guitar solo in 10; liner notes thank Jo Jones and Elvin Jones.  Side two starts in 10, again.  10!  But the truth is that I find this album…uh…perplexing.  I mean, where else, after a side of fusion jams will you find a tune like “Happy Man” – a smooth, quiet little ditty that is the opposite of everything that just happened.  Or, on “Song of the Evergreens” the repeated chant of the word “Snow”…?  And farm animals on the cover – not like the Pink Floyd record Animals, but more like a leather coat – and the band sitting on a ranch in like Montana or someplace, wearing overalls and such?  It’s so out!  But for me, this one is not exactly a winner.
• Chicago XI – This is the second recording of Chicago I ever heard.  It’s packed with early hits, and an obvious way to enter the domain of Chicago.  Of course, my favorite stuff – all the weird stuff – is omitted, but hey, this is a Greatest Hits record, so…  Oh, wait, I almost forgot to mention the album cover.  Maybe it was cool in 1975.
• Chicago’s Greatest Hits Vol. II – So, this is 1981, and my memory is fuzzy but what I know is that this was the first cassette I ever got.  For my 10th or 11th birthday, my parents bought me this totally rocking cassette player/recorder – you know, the old style with a single speaker and a handle…
  Anyway, I also got this cassette for my birthday.  Can’t really remember what else I got that day, but probably a Beatles greatest hits or two.  Anyway, I wore this cassette out, made it all warbly.  I couldn’t believe it!  Rock music with horns and jazz stuff – what could be better?  Funny how perceptions change after a few decades.  The tunes are mostly later 1970s ballads, although there is the rocking “Questions 67 & 68” from CTA.  Honestly, “Take Me Back to Chicago” has always been a stand out for me, maybe because it’s great, maybe because it asks for a simpler time (Hello, Middle Age, nice to meet you…), or maybe it’s because guest singer Chaka Khan is just unbelievable.

Onward!

Best, R.