Chicago Transit Authority

[The Pagemeister]

http://youtu.be/MLV5xuoktDo

[redrum]

I saw them in the late 60's in SF.

Didn't care for Electra Glide In Blue.

[The Pagemeister]

[Ddladner]

May 1, 2015 New Orleans Jazz Fest. Love early CTA / Chicago. They are still rocking those great songs! Thank you, Jimmy, for the trombone, always my favorite part of the song. Thank you, Keith, for jamming on 25 or 6 to 4. And for the guitar pick. ❤️❤️❤️

[Electrophile]

Love, love, love Chicago, and not just because we come from the same hometown. Once Peter Cetera took over full-time lead singing duties, they got a bit schmaltzy, but prior to that, when Terry Kath and Robert Lamm were doing most of the heavy lifting, they were phenomenal. I love a nice, loud horn section in a rock band. If I had to choose just one song from the pre-schmaltz period that I really, really, really love, it would have to be either Beginnings or Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is.

[Ddladner]

I love a nice, loud horn section in a rock band.

Hi Electrophile. I'm with you on loving a nice, loud horn section in a rock band!! Beginnings is one of my most favorites, never tire of it! I also love 25 or 6 to 4...and Feelin' Stronger Every Day which has the title of 'My first favorite song'. All of these still sound great to me.

[The Pagemeister]

[The Pagemeister]

 

[The Rover]

On 4/27/2010 at 12:55 PM, ledzep45 said:

Anybody else love early chicago before they turned all pop?

 

On 4/27/2010 at 1:06 PM, ally said:

Love CTA. Terry Kath was amazing . Thought they completely lost the plot after his untimely death

 

On 4/27/2010 at 1:08 PM, ledzep45 said:

Yeh, Kath was (still is) one of the best. I still can't get over the sustain he gets on 'Listen', i'ts too amazing! I remember reading somewhere Hendrix was a big fan.

 

On 4/27/2010 at 1:15 PM, ally said:

I was lucky enough to see them live a couple of times ( 71/72 ). Free Form Guitar/ California Purples , I'm A Man, 25 or 6 to 4 were all Kath trademarks. However, It wasn't just about TK, the whole band was great !

 

On 4/27/2010 at 4:13 PM, Steve Z(oso) said:

The first 5 albums are fantastic, the first 2 & Carnegie Hall are some of my favorite albums of all time. Truly groundbreaking stuff. Too bad they got sucked into the pop hits routine. And of course, Terry Kath was a huge loss to the music world. I never got to see them in the 70's, and once he was gone, I had no interest. Great band for a topic!

 

On 4/27/2010 at 4:36 PM, ledzep45 said:

just listening to the live version of South Californian Purples from carniegie hall blows my mind. Introduction sounds freakin awesome too.

 

On 5/1/2010 at 4:43 AM, ledzep45 said:

Your right, (SCP) it's such a cool track, me and my friend sometimes have a little jam to it lol.

i would give anything to see them at that period. It's such a shame not more of their shows at that time were recorded on audio or video. I don't think theres ever been an official release of CTA-Chicago 3 area. Well, apart from Live At Carnegie Hall

 

On 5/9/2015 at 8:10 AM, Electrophile said:

Love, love, love Chicago, and not just because we come from the same hometown. Once Peter Cetera took over full-time lead singing duties, they got a bit schmaltzy, but prior to that, when Terry Kath and Robert Lamm were doing most of the heavy lifting, they were phenomenal. I love a nice, loud horn section in a rock band. If I had to choose just one song from the pre-schmaltz period that I really, really, really love, it would have to be either Beginnings or Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is.

Why Terry Kath Was Vital to the Band Chicago

Edited March 25, 2018 by The Rover

[The Rover]

Chicago VI Decades Live Boxed Set ~  April 6, 2018

http://bestclassicbands.com/chicago-goodbye-premiere-3-15-18/

Track Listing

Disc 1 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
Introduction
South California Purples
Beginnings
In The Country
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Free Form Intro)
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Mother

Disc 2 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
It Better End Soon
Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon
25 Or 6 To 4
I’m a Man

Disc 3
Poem For The People (Paris, France 12/8/69)
25 Or 6 To 4 (Paris, France 12/8/69)
Liberation (Paris, France 12/8/69)
Goodbye (John F. Kennedy Center for the Perf. Arts, Washington, DC 9/16/71)
Now That You’ve Gone (Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia 6/26/72)
A Hit By Varese (Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL 8/13/73)
If You Leave Me Now (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)
Takin’ It On Uptown (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)

Disc 4
Hot Streets (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
Little One (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
Forever (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL 3/21/87)
Medley: In the Midnight Hour, Knock on Wood, I’m a Man, Get Away (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL 3/21/87)
You’re Not Alone (Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX 5/30/92)
The Pull (Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, NV 3/20/94)
In The Mood (Caesar’s Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (Caesar’s Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
Look Away (Acoustic) (A&E Network, Live by Request 9/5/02)
America (WHYY, The Grand, Wilmington, DE 5/7/14)

Disc 5 (DVD) (Rockpalast – Grugahalle, Essen, Germany 2/12/77)
Anyway You Want
Saturday in the Park
Skin Tight
Just You ‘N’ Me
Hope For Love
You Are On My Mind
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon
Beginnings
Scrapbook
A Hit By Varese
Call on Me
Takin’ It On Uptown
If You Leave Me Now
Once or Twice
(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long
25 Or 6 To 4
Got to Get You Into My Life
I’m a Man

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by The Rover

[Strider]

18 hours ago, The Rover said:

Chicago VI Decades Live Boxed Set ~  April 6, 2018

http://bestclassicbands.com/chicago-goodbye-premiere-3-15-18/

Track Listing

Disc 1 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
Introduction
South California Purples
Beginnings
In The Country
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Free Form Intro)
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Mother

Disc 2 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
It Better End Soon
Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon
25 Or 6 To 4
I’m a Man

Disc 3
Poem For The People (Paris, France 12/8/69)
25 Or 6 To 4 (Paris, France 12/8/69)
Liberation (Paris, France 12/8/69)
Goodbye (John F. Kennedy Center for the Perf. Arts, Washington, DC 9/16/71)
Now That You’ve Gone (Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia 6/26/72)
A Hit By Varese (Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL 8/13/73)
If You Leave Me Now (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)
Takin’ It On Uptown (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)

Disc 4
Hot Streets (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
Little One (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
Forever (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL 3/21/87)
Medley: In the Midnight Hour, Knock on Wood, I’m a Man, Get Away (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL 3/21/87)
You’re Not Alone (Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX 5/30/92)
The Pull (Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, NV 3/20/94)
In The Mood (Caesar’s Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (Caesar’s Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
Look Away (Acoustic) (A&E Network, Live by Request 9/5/02)
America (WHYY, The Grand, Wilmington, DE 5/7/14)

Disc 5 (DVD) (Rockpalast – Grugahalle, Essen, Germany 2/12/77)
Anyway You Want
Saturday in the Park
Skin Tight
Just You ‘N’ Me
Hope For Love
You Are On My Mind
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon
Beginnings
Scrapbook
A Hit By Varese
Call on Me
Takin’ It On Uptown
If You Leave Me Now
Once or Twice
(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long
25 Or 6 To 4
Got to Get You Into My Life
I’m a Man

 

The first three discs and the dvd are the ones I'll be most interested in hearing. But why is it called Chicago VI? There already is a Chicago VI from 1973.

[luvlz2]

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/chicago-at-carnegie-hall-deluxe-edition/

[The Pagemeister]

 

[BobDobbs]

Early Chicago was just fantastic. I too love a strong, loud horn section and they sure delivered. Between them and Blood, Sweat, & Tears they brought a new dimension to rock. Whereas Chicago were really into the free-form jamming, BS&T brought a funk element.

Peter Cetera was an absolute shithead. While he was just playing bass and singing occasionally everything was fine but once he took over Chicago completely shit the bed with their pop atrocities. On top of that the guy thought HE was Chicago.

[The Pagemeister]

 

[The Pagemeister]

 

[Nutrocker]

I helped liberate this show a few weeks back...killer performance from the 1974 tour (seventh album, which is my favourite), taped from the stage by the band's crew:

 

[Badgeholder Still]

 

[Electrophile]

On 10/16/2021 at 11:40 AM, BobDobbs said:

Early Chicago was just fantastic. I too love a strong, loud horn section and they sure delivered. Between them and Blood, Sweat, & Tears they brought a new dimension to rock. Whereas Chicago were really into the free-form jamming, BS&T brought a funk element.

Peter Cetera was an absolute shithead. While he was just playing bass and singing occasionally everything was fine but once he took over Chicago completely shit the bed with their pop atrocities. On top of that the guy thought HE was Chicago.

The only song I really like from the "Peter Cetera Takes Over" era is If You Leave Me Now. Everything else just got too schlocky for me. The band died when Terry Kath did, and they really should have called it quits at that point. 

[BobDobbs]

50 minutes ago, Electrophile said:

The only song I really like from the "Peter Cetera Takes Over" era is If You Leave Me Now. Everything else just got too schlocky for me. The band died when Terry Kath did, and they really should have called it quits at that point. 

You got that right, Kath kept it all under control until he no longer could. Such a tragedy, such a loss.

[Nutrocker]

On 1/30/2022 at 7:59 AM, Electrophile said:

The only song I really like from the "Peter Cetera Takes Over" era is If You Leave Me Now. Everything else just got too schlocky for me. The band died when Terry Kath did, and they really should have called it quits at that point. 

"If You Leave Me Now" is sort of the song that killed Chicago IMO...Kath hated it, and grudgingly played bass on the live versions (like the horn section he wasn't even in the studio when Cetera cut the track with a lot of help from Jim Guercio). What pissed the rest of the band off about the song was how Cetera and Guercio more or less cut it on their own with minimal input from the others...Walt Parazaider made it sound like the first time he ever heard the song was on the radio, he didn't even know it was his band, let alone a track from the new album...ultimately "If You Leave Me Now" -though a good song, not a good Chicago song IMO- was the tune that pigeonholed them into becoming the ballad band they remained for the next fifteen years. 

I mean, I get it: while most of the rest of the band by the mid seventies were getting increasingly fucked up on drugs and alcohol -particularly Terry Kath and Robert Lamm, who up to that point were the singing/songwriting backbone of the group- Peter Cetera kept his shit together for the most part while Kath and Lamm started sliding down, and started taking a more dominant role (VII was probably the big turning point), for which you really can't blame him, but it all started going to his head just a little too much...my interest in Chicago depends wholly on the involvement of Kath and Lamm (my two favourite members; Robert Lamm is one of my favourite singers of all time as well)

I agree they really should have packed it in after Kath died, and in retrospect at least a couple of members of the group agreed (Lamm chief among them)...but they had to pay for those drug habits and ex wives etc somehow...so together they stayed, and morphed into a completely different band. Oh, it was tough in my house: my wife liked the 80's Chicago stuff and couldn't relate to the Kath era material at all, whereas I was the total opposite😂

[The Pagemeister]

 

[The Pagemeister]

 

[The Pagemeister]

 

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