Those guys were frigging geniuses- they could do long form jazz-type suites (as you show here) and create a seemingly endless number of hit singles with considerable ease. I admire what they did ever more with each listen of my copies of their records.
You have a real talent for describing songs, Robert. It's something I have no facility for doing.
I have loved Chicago from the very beginning until they went more pop - the Terry Kath era. I remember running down the street with high school friends at night singing Chicago because it brought us so much joy. This music just never goes out of style.
I really enjoyed (and recommend) the documentary by Terry's daughter and Danny Seraphine's autobiography. Learned so much from both.
Robert, I always mean to look into this album and I appreciate the case you've made for it, in particular as being part of and not an outlier for its times. It's now on my list to hunt down.
I simply loved Chicago in their early days, and can recommend to anyone their first five studio albums. After that, they gradually began sliding downhill.
Their debut album - simply brilliant. It has to be one of the strongest debuts ever by what became a major act. When you compare what they became with this, it is easy to forget the rousing beginnings, but anybody willing to go back to the beginnings, especially for people who only knew them when they fell into the clutches of David Foster and Diane Warren, will get a revelation as to how real this band was.
In some respects, they were something of an enigma. Really a bundle of contradictions and things hiding in plain sight - they could crank out hits, yet their first three albums were all doubles, and even though they didn't get into the concept album craze, they were as much of an album band as they were a singles band. They were also fairly anonymous - people sort of knew who the members were, but sort of didn't at the same time, but that anonymity somehow contributed to their success - there didn't seem to be, to public perception, any one truly dominant personality overshadowing the others (though behind the scenes, we now know there were). But relating to that - they had three distinctive lead singers, none of whom sounded anything like the other, and for being a horn band, their heart and soul was their guitarist.
I sometimes tend to think that they were to rock what "Peanuts" was to comic strips (and as I'm a cartoonist, it's a handy comparison) - popular, well-followed, yet with all sorts of things under the surface that, for those willing to scratch it, would reveal nuance and richness.
OMG! Nine years old, driving in my big brother’s jacked up 69’ Barracuda listening to this on 8 track! There’s not a single dud on that first album and Poem 58 along with Happy Cause I’m Going Home are two of my most favorite to listen to on repeat. I mean who could write a 7:29 minute kick ass song without any words but a ton of fantastic harmonizing la la la la la la’s. Thanks for reminding me how incredible life was back then as a bell bottomed youngster!
Unbelievable! What a gem! This version is more polished and after looking at the players there’s a reason why. I’m always mesmerized by excellent drummers and listening to this song I couldn’t help but notice the extreme talent. Well it’s friggin Billy Cobham, fusions greatest drummer of all time. And Hubert Laws on flute. How did I not know about this band? Just collected the album on Pandora and plan on listening to it in its entirety. You have a plethora of musical knowledge. Thank you for sharing it with all of us music lovers.
Chicago was my favorite band in high school some fifty years ago. Over the years, the disdain from critics wore away at that. You have given them back to me. Thank you.
I made my first acquaintance with this album only after being exposed to their later radio-friendly hits. The feeling was simultaneously one of pleasant surprise and wistful ‘if-only-ness’, which you nail here, Robert. Lovely stuff.
If I had a dollar for every time I listened to this album during my teen years ... well, I'd probably have spent them all by now, but it would have been a nice pile of money. It's easy to hate on Chicago for the MOR hit factory they became -- and I do hate that part of their career -- but they never actually forgot their roots, and how can you fault them for wanting hits when they knew they could make them?
Fantastic LP! Discovered them in tenth grade and wore the first record out, played it to death! Danny Seraphine is rarely mentioned when people talk about great drummers . No one touches McCartney on bass but Cetera is a strong second, especially on that first lp. Terry Kath, lights out! Trouble is they got SO “poppy” SO fast . . .
Those two first albums are on my iPhone and played regularly. They were a big part of the reason I picked up the saxophone as a young man. I figured it was more versatile than trombone, but it was a close one. I still get excited anytime I see a band has a few horn players. Always had at least one or two in almost every band I’ve been in, although nowadays I’m a bass player.
A mark of Chicago's early work was their flirtation with atonality in the arrangements -- created a lot of tension within the songs before resolving. That had to be exhausting to compose and it's no surprise you heard less of that as time went on. I was part of a horn section in a high school band -- we covered the easier songs.
I am so glad to see someone giving Chicago the love they so richly deserve. In the 70's I remember borrowing the debut album from a friend's older brother and making dubs on my cassette recorder. Then, I featured "Beginnings" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" on my first mix-tape. In my adolescent genius I sequenced the James Gang "Funk 49" after "Beginnings" for maximum car-cruising effect. Long Live Chicago!
only because you mentioned Chicago from 56 years ago i thought I'd relate my story,,When i was 13 my sister told me she would take me to a concert
the concert i asked to see was Chicago ,,would have been 1970
it took more than a year for her to take me to the concert
i think i picked Chicago because while i knew there were amazing concerts at the Electric Factory(both Derek & The Doms & Neil Young played the same month as Chicago)
i thought that one had to be 21 to get into the Electric Factory
(turns out they had a "teen section")
The Chicago concert was at a new venue on Broad St in Philadelphia at what was then called McGonigle Hall on the Campus of Temple Univ
i ended up seeing Chicago 3 more times,,once in Cherry Hill New Jersey and twice at the Spectrum(friends parents took us)
it was definitely my gateway to enjoying jazz,,,i remember thinking that the drummer was excellent and played like a big band drummer
Thanks, David, for sharing this anecdote. From the concerts I have heard of Chicago from the early years, they were raucous events - the band at full tilt and the crowd super into it!
This was so well observed. Thanks for a great write up. I’m so glad you celebrated Terry Kath, one of the all time greats who is under appreciated. What he was doing was Mind blowing at the time.
I was a huge Chicago up through Chicago VII, i.e. one of Terry Kath's last ones. I loved the music, the literaly goosebump virtuosity AND creative imagination of Kath, Seraphine-- and Peter Cetera. It's rarely mentioned these days what a mind-numbing amazing bassist he was. But from the beginning on, there was also that earnestness you referred to, just below the surface, and amplified by lyrics that for the time (Beatles, Dylan, Stones, et al.), to my ears were frequently rather sophomoric, platitudinous. I appreciated their political stance but was relieved when they dropped it. It could be pretty simplistic, preachy, and uninspired, like the Trotskyites who wandered my campus. There were no beautiful surprises in their lyrics, no deeper sense accompanying the great music. Still those first 7 albums are small miracles. The playing, the pure sound of Kath and Lamm's voices. (When the three sang harmony together it was something special.) Every 2 or 3 years, it seems, I pull out one of those albums. And after I listen to it I INVARIABLY listen to the others. (Well, not Chicago IV, I admit) And when I do it's always summer in the early 1970s again.
Those guys were frigging geniuses- they could do long form jazz-type suites (as you show here) and create a seemingly endless number of hit singles with considerable ease. I admire what they did ever more with each listen of my copies of their records.
A lot of it holds up very, very well. By the end of my listen of their debut album for this essay, I was almost speechless - it's staggeringly good.
They did their best work when Terry Kath was alive- his guitar work crashes through the songs like a bull in a china shop.
Absolutely!
You have a real talent for describing songs, Robert. It's something I have no facility for doing.
I have loved Chicago from the very beginning until they went more pop - the Terry Kath era. I remember running down the street with high school friends at night singing Chicago because it brought us so much joy. This music just never goes out of style.
I really enjoyed (and recommend) the documentary by Terry's daughter and Danny Seraphine's autobiography. Learned so much from both.
Thanks, Ellen - that's very kind of you to say! I just try to let my imagination take flight and see where the words land.
Robert, I always mean to look into this album and I appreciate the case you've made for it, in particular as being part of and not an outlier for its times. It's now on my list to hunt down.
I think it will be worth the hunt. It's a monster of an album - holds up majestically well.
I simply loved Chicago in their early days, and can recommend to anyone their first five studio albums. After that, they gradually began sliding downhill.
Their debut album - simply brilliant. It has to be one of the strongest debuts ever by what became a major act. When you compare what they became with this, it is easy to forget the rousing beginnings, but anybody willing to go back to the beginnings, especially for people who only knew them when they fell into the clutches of David Foster and Diane Warren, will get a revelation as to how real this band was.
In some respects, they were something of an enigma. Really a bundle of contradictions and things hiding in plain sight - they could crank out hits, yet their first three albums were all doubles, and even though they didn't get into the concept album craze, they were as much of an album band as they were a singles band. They were also fairly anonymous - people sort of knew who the members were, but sort of didn't at the same time, but that anonymity somehow contributed to their success - there didn't seem to be, to public perception, any one truly dominant personality overshadowing the others (though behind the scenes, we now know there were). But relating to that - they had three distinctive lead singers, none of whom sounded anything like the other, and for being a horn band, their heart and soul was their guitarist.
I sometimes tend to think that they were to rock what "Peanuts" was to comic strips (and as I'm a cartoonist, it's a handy comparison) - popular, well-followed, yet with all sorts of things under the surface that, for those willing to scratch it, would reveal nuance and richness.
I agree with all you write here - very, very well said!
OMG! Nine years old, driving in my big brother’s jacked up 69’ Barracuda listening to this on 8 track! There’s not a single dud on that first album and Poem 58 along with Happy Cause I’m Going Home are two of my most favorite to listen to on repeat. I mean who could write a 7:29 minute kick ass song without any words but a ton of fantastic harmonizing la la la la la la’s. Thanks for reminding me how incredible life was back then as a bell bottomed youngster!
Even though Happy…..was on Chicago III. Meant to add that but got carried away.
That's a great song too. Jazz organist Charles Earland recorded an outstanding version of in 1972: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGKcAHgSE3E
Unbelievable! What a gem! This version is more polished and after looking at the players there’s a reason why. I’m always mesmerized by excellent drummers and listening to this song I couldn’t help but notice the extreme talent. Well it’s friggin Billy Cobham, fusions greatest drummer of all time. And Hubert Laws on flute. How did I not know about this band? Just collected the album on Pandora and plan on listening to it in its entirety. You have a plethora of musical knowledge. Thank you for sharing it with all of us music lovers.
You're welcome, Gina. Also, Lee Morgan on his last session, and Cobham is a monster on it!
Can’t believe he was fired from The Mahavishnu Orchestra! Their loss.
Wow - I did not know that!
Chicago was my favorite band in high school some fifty years ago. Over the years, the disdain from critics wore away at that. You have given them back to me. Thank you.
You're welcome, Chuck - this is such a nice thing to hear!
I made my first acquaintance with this album only after being exposed to their later radio-friendly hits. The feeling was simultaneously one of pleasant surprise and wistful ‘if-only-ness’, which you nail here, Robert. Lovely stuff.
Thanks, Michalis. Appreciate your note!
If I had a dollar for every time I listened to this album during my teen years ... well, I'd probably have spent them all by now, but it would have been a nice pile of money. It's easy to hate on Chicago for the MOR hit factory they became -- and I do hate that part of their career -- but they never actually forgot their roots, and how can you fault them for wanting hits when they knew they could make them?
The first album makes it very clear that they could make hits - no denying that.
Fantastic LP! Discovered them in tenth grade and wore the first record out, played it to death! Danny Seraphine is rarely mentioned when people talk about great drummers . No one touches McCartney on bass but Cetera is a strong second, especially on that first lp. Terry Kath, lights out! Trouble is they got SO “poppy” SO fast . . .
Seraphine is a great drummer!
Heck of a run…
Chicago Transit Authority (1969)
Chicago (1970) (often called Chicago II)
Chicago III (1971)
Chicago V (1972)
Chicago VI (1973)
Chicago VII (1974)
Chicago VIII (1975)
There's great stuff on all of them even as I don't feel the later ones cohere as much as the first three.
Those two first albums are on my iPhone and played regularly. They were a big part of the reason I picked up the saxophone as a young man. I figured it was more versatile than trombone, but it was a close one. I still get excited anytime I see a band has a few horn players. Always had at least one or two in almost every band I’ve been in, although nowadays I’m a bass player.
There's something about horns in rock music that still gets me excited too!
A mark of Chicago's early work was their flirtation with atonality in the arrangements -- created a lot of tension within the songs before resolving. That had to be exhausting to compose and it's no surprise you heard less of that as time went on. I was part of a horn section in a high school band -- we covered the easier songs.
That's an interesting point...
I am so glad to see someone giving Chicago the love they so richly deserve. In the 70's I remember borrowing the debut album from a friend's older brother and making dubs on my cassette recorder. Then, I featured "Beginnings" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" on my first mix-tape. In my adolescent genius I sequenced the James Gang "Funk 49" after "Beginnings" for maximum car-cruising effect. Long Live Chicago!
Thanks, Lance, and long live the mistake!!!!
only because you mentioned Chicago from 56 years ago i thought I'd relate my story,,When i was 13 my sister told me she would take me to a concert
the concert i asked to see was Chicago ,,would have been 1970
it took more than a year for her to take me to the concert
i think i picked Chicago because while i knew there were amazing concerts at the Electric Factory(both Derek & The Doms & Neil Young played the same month as Chicago)
i thought that one had to be 21 to get into the Electric Factory
(turns out they had a "teen section")
The Chicago concert was at a new venue on Broad St in Philadelphia at what was then called McGonigle Hall on the Campus of Temple Univ
i ended up seeing Chicago 3 more times,,once in Cherry Hill New Jersey and twice at the Spectrum(friends parents took us)
it was definitely my gateway to enjoying jazz,,,i remember thinking that the drummer was excellent and played like a big band drummer
(don't know if that was true)
Like Buddy Rich on Johnny Carson
Thanks, David, for sharing this anecdote. From the concerts I have heard of Chicago from the early years, they were raucous events - the band at full tilt and the crowd super into it!
This was so well observed. Thanks for a great write up. I’m so glad you celebrated Terry Kath, one of the all time greats who is under appreciated. What he was doing was Mind blowing at the time.
Thank you, David - appreciate the kind note!
I was a huge Chicago up through Chicago VII, i.e. one of Terry Kath's last ones. I loved the music, the literaly goosebump virtuosity AND creative imagination of Kath, Seraphine-- and Peter Cetera. It's rarely mentioned these days what a mind-numbing amazing bassist he was. But from the beginning on, there was also that earnestness you referred to, just below the surface, and amplified by lyrics that for the time (Beatles, Dylan, Stones, et al.), to my ears were frequently rather sophomoric, platitudinous. I appreciated their political stance but was relieved when they dropped it. It could be pretty simplistic, preachy, and uninspired, like the Trotskyites who wandered my campus. There were no beautiful surprises in their lyrics, no deeper sense accompanying the great music. Still those first 7 albums are small miracles. The playing, the pure sound of Kath and Lamm's voices. (When the three sang harmony together it was something special.) Every 2 or 3 years, it seems, I pull out one of those albums. And after I listen to it I INVARIABLY listen to the others. (Well, not Chicago IV, I admit) And when I do it's always summer in the early 1970s again.
Cetera was a great bassist. He really powers some of those early songs.