Having morphed--some would argue devolved--into a predictable ballad machine by the '80s, it's good to be reminded of Chicago's original artistic ethos and vibrant promise. And what better place to start than their spectacular 1969 debut? This digitally remastered edition compiles the double album on a single disc that retains the original LP artwork and features a 16-page booklet with a retrospective essay (based on new band member interviews) by David Wild. Chicago weren't yet the '70s hit-singles factory they would shortly become, and CTA showcases a band whose muscular musicianship and creative restlessness fostered two LPs worth of music that was as aggressive and far-ranging as its singles were friendly and inviting. Tellingly, the hits showcased here--"Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?" "Beginnings," "Questions 67 and 68," and their rhythmically pumped cover of the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man"--were often edited down from the original collection's suite-heavy structure. But those familiar cuts belie the downright progressive and angular nature of much of the rest, which fuses Terry Kath's neo-psychedelic guitar (which careens to noisy, feedback-laden Hendrixesque extremes on "Free Form Guitar") to one of rock's pioneering horn sections with enough experimentalism ("Poem 58") that it frequently overwhelms their undeniable genius with a pop song. Chicago would seldom sound so adventurous after this, one of rock's greatest debut albums. --Jerry McCulley
Product Description
Remastered and repackaged edition of their 1969 album. Features 'Beginnings', 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is', 'Questions 67 And 68', 'I'm A Man', 'South California Purples' and more. Digipak in a slipcase with a 16-page booklet featuring complete lyrics and detailed liner notes by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild. 2002.
Chicago Transit Authority,Chicago,Rhino / Wea,Adult Contemporary,Jazz-Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop,Soft Rock
Chicago Transit Authority [Box set] [Original recording remastered]
Average customer rating:
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Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000069KGM Release Date: 2002-07-16 |
Tracks:
- Introduction
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- Beginnings
- Questions 67 And 68
- Listen
- Poem 58
- Free Form Guitar
- South California Purples
- I'm A Man
- Prologue, August 29, 1968
- Someday (August 29, 1968)
- Liberation
Amazon.com
Having morphed--some would argue devolved--into a predictable ballad machine by the '80s, it's good to be reminded of Chicago's original artistic ethos and vibrant promise. And what better place to start than their spectacular 1969 debut? This digitally remastered edition compiles the double album on a single disc that retains the original LP artwork and features a 16-page booklet with a retrospective essay (based on new band member interviews) by David Wild. Chicago weren't yet the '70s hit-singles factory they would shortly become, and CTA showcases a band whose muscular musicianship and creative restlessness fostered two LPs worth of music that was as aggressive and far-ranging as its singles were friendly and inviting. Tellingly, the hits showcased here--"Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?" "Beginnings," "Questions 67 and 68," and their rhythmically pumped cover of the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man"--were often edited down from the original collection's suite-heavy structure. But those familiar cuts belie the downright progressive and angular nature of much of the rest, which fuses Terry Kath's neo-psychedelic guitar (which careens to noisy, feedback-laden Hendrixesque extremes on "Free Form Guitar") to one of rock's pioneering horn sections with enough experimentalism ("Poem 58") that it frequently overwhelms their undeniable genius with a pop song. Chicago would seldom sound so adventurous after this, one of rock's greatest debut albums. --Jerry McCulleyAlbum Description
Remastered and repackaged edition of their 1969 album. Features 'Beginnings', 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is', 'Questions 67 And 68', 'I'm A Man', 'South California Purples' and more. Digipak in a slipcase with a 16-page booklet featuring complete lyrics and detailed liner notes by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild. 2002.Customer Reviews:
Upgrade to old LP record.......2007-05-30
CTA Review.......2007-05-24
When Chicago was electrifying...........2007-04-13
Don't buy from CDNOW Preferred Buyer's Club.......2007-03-29
Excellent.......2007-03-09
Very satisfied customer in Ohio.
Average customer rating:
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Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Manufacturer: Chicago Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000021RB Release Date: 1995-02-28 |
Tracks:
- Introduction
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- Beginnings
- Questions 67 And 68
- Listen
- Poem
- Free Form Guitar
- South Californica Purples
- I'm A Man
- Prologue, August 29, 1968
- Someday (August 29, 1968)
- Liberation
Amazon.com
Formed in 1967, the Chicago Transit Authority echoed the concepts of Blood, Sweat & Tears by adding a jazzy horn section to their rock sound. Before shortening their name due to pressure in their hometown, the CTA released this impressive debut album. Featuring the vocals of keyboard player Robert Lamm, guitarist Terry Kath, and bassist Peter Cetera, Chicago's sound was smoothly orchestrated one minute and overtly raucous the next. The late Terry Kath indulged himself in "Free Form Guitar" and wailed aggressively in the cover of the Spencer Davis Group's hit, "I'm a Man." Robert Lamm wrote most of the original material, including the successful "Beginnings" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is." This record shows Chicago fully formed and sounding great. --Mitch MyersCustomer Reviews:
Hendrix with a horn section!.......2007-05-06
But it looks like in the beginning, Chicago was largely a "guitar-based" band, centering around Terry Kath, who also shared a lot of the singing in the early days. It didn't seem to be Peter Cetera's band, as it seemed to come to be known many years later. The singing was shared a lot between Terry Kath, and organist Robert Lamm--who in my opinion, has one of the classiest singing voices in rock, especially on one of Chicago's most beautiful ballads--"Beginnings". As Chicago and Santana both played many of the same rock festivals during this period, it was easy to see a lot of similarities between Lamm and Gregg Rolie from Santana, as both men, similar in appearance, seemed to be the singing organists who stoked the engines of their repsective large bands--but Lamm was much less the organist than Rolie was for Santana. Perhaps, however, he was a better songwriter.
But again, I see this as largely a guitar player's album. Every aspiring guitar player should give this one a listen. Pay close attention to Terry Kath's techniques, feel, tone, distortion, and choice of amplification, because it is "smokin'" hot, and some of the best of 1969. In fact, I would register this among the best guitar albums of 1969--I know that sounds strange for a group known mostly for horns, but Terry Kath's contributions to rock guitar can simply not go ignored!
Don't believe the hype.......2006-08-06
For the unitiated, Chicago Transit Authority (the band shortened their name after a legal threat from the Windy City subway system) married horn charts and a jazz sensibility to rock guitar at this point. (They would later evolve into adult contemporary pap merchants in the 80s with Cetera at the helm.)
HIGHLIGHTS:
The still popular "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" continues to be one of the band's nicest combinations of melody, a bit of somewhat jazzy improv, and a memorable hook: in the AM radio "single edit" anyhow. Here you also get a meandering piano prelude that doesn't really progress into the melody properly. The epic "Beginnings" is probably the best synthesis of the band's chops and a good tune. It runs long but doesn't overstay its welcome unlike others on here. When Pankow's trombone blast cuts in, the moment is ebullient rapture rather than the lazy wandering that mars other cuts on the disc. Somewhat bluesy "South California Purples" is a decent mid-tempo chugger. A charging cover of Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man" nearly stands up to the original's power.
LOWS:
"Free Form Guitar" is wankery of the first order. All "check out my technique" and no "dig the melody". What differentiates Kath and other guitar luminaries like Hendrix or Clapton is the ability to know when to STOP. Kath doesn't seem to find that line here. The self-important politics of "Prologue, August 29th, 1968" (a soundbite of protests before that year's Chicago Democratic Convention that led to riots) may have made this album "relevant" at the time but now it renders the disc more dated than Kath's prominent wah-wah. "Poem 58" and "Liberation" begin promisingly enough but my attention's wandering about 2 minutes in.
BOTTOM LINE:
Chicago at their best continues to be as a singles band. Only 'jam-band' fans should find the whole CD essential, otherwise you can get the best bits here on the 2CD anthology or the single CD set Chicago IX: Greatest Hits. Average 70s effort overall.
Fantastic music from a golden era !!.......2006-05-30
Progressive Rock with a Jazz Twist.......2006-04-07
An amazing six of the twelve tracks from this CD were released as singles during the three years the album was on the Billboard top 100. Of the six, five had to be edited because of their excessive length. In those days, when FM was considered somewhat "underground" because of the paucity of FM stations and receivers, FM was the only place to hear these cuts in their unedited entirety.
Ardent fans of Chicago will recognize most if not all these hits by their titles: "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?," "Beginnings," "Questions 67 and 68," "Listen," "Poem 58," and "I'm a Man." I admit that while I recognize most of these songs when I hear them, the titles often do not match well to the lyrics. Even casual fans of Chicago would likely recognize most of these songs from the airplay they received in the late 60s and early 70s, and the airplay they continue to receive on classic rock stations.
Some of the songs in their unedited album versions are unfamiliar. The extensive piano introduction to "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" gives the song an even stronger jazz influence than the song proper. "Beginnings" starts out like the version released for radio, but it is nearly eight minutes long on the CD, adding an extended instrumental exit that adds jazz and Hispanic elements.
While the term jazz-rock does seem to classify much of this music, this first effort was experimenting with a variety of genres. "Free Form Guitar" uses heavy feedback in a style strongly reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix. Music such as "Free Form Guitar" make "Chicago Transit Authority" as experimental in some ways as the contemporary "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson, considered one of the key milestones in progressive rock.
The last selection on this CD, "Liberation," has riffs that feel like some of the heavier music of the 60s, and manages to be sufficiently free-form that you might wonder whether this recording was the first time that Chicago played this music in exactly this way. While there is a jazz influence in this song, it is a very psychedelic rock song.
The music in this album is all over the map in a way, from pop influenced songs like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" to the bizarre guitar instrumental of "Free Form Guitar." Every cut shows the breadth of talent and ability of a group that should be considered progressive in its first incarnation. Even the pop influenced songs generally have only pop portions, with incredible layered instrumentals surrounding the pop portions. This album contains absolutely phenomenal, ground-breaking rock music, a must-have for any fan of progressive rock and cutting edge music of all eras.
Breathtaking beginning for a brilliant, brassy band.......2005-08-30
I first heard this album in the early seventies as I started high school. Back then, I was fascinated by the big hits - "Questions 67 and 68," "Beginnings," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" But now I find myself enjoying the rest of the album as well or even more. The long guitar solos and clockwork jamming of "Listen" and "Poem," and even (but only occasionally) the very free-form guitar of "Free Form Guitar." Given that shortness of Terry Kath's career, this album is an eerily prescient memorial to his phenomenal skill.
I love everything about the album - it's big pop sound, its complexity ("Introduction" is one of the tightest and most complicated rock compositions I have ever heard), its energy, and its politics. "Liberation," seamlessly incorporating the chant "The Whole World is Watching" from the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, still has the power to roil this old radical's blood. Listen to the album over and over, focusing on Danny Seraphine's kaleidoscopic drumming, or Peter Cetera's melodic bass lines, or Terry's ornamental guitar lines. There is so much going on here that a cursory listen just will not do.
An incredible beginning for a band that is still filling halls with audiences eager to relive old standards.
Average customer rating:
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Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000DRV7 Release Date: 1990-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Introduction
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- Beginnings
- Questions 67 and 68
- Listen
- Poem 58
- Free Form Guitar
- South California Purples
- I'm a Man
- Prologue, August 29, 1968
- Someday (August 29, 1968)
- Liberation
Customer Reviews:
Progressive Rock with a Jazz Twist.......2006-06-16
An amazing six of the twelve tracks from this CD were released as singles during the three years the album was on the Billboard top 100. Of the six, five had to be edited because of their length. In those days, when FM was considered somewhat "underground" because of the paucity of FM stations and receivers, FM was the only place to hear these cuts in their unedited entirety.
Ardent fans of Chicago will recognize most, if not all, of these hits by their titles: "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?," "Beginnings," "Questions 67 and 68," "Listen," "Poem 58," and "I'm a Man." I admit that while I recognize most of these songs when I hear them, the titles often do not match well to the lyrics. Even casual fans of Chicago would likely recognize most of these songs from the airplay they received in the late 60s and early 70s, and the airplay they continue to receive on classic rock stations.
Some of the songs in their unedited album versions are unfamiliar. The extensive piano introduction to "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" gives the song an even stronger jazz influence than the song proper. "Beginnings" starts out like the version released for radio, but it is nearly eight minutes long on the CD, adding an extended instrumental exit that adds jazz and Hispanic elements.
While the term jazz-rock does seem to classify much of this music, this first effort by Chicago involved experimenting with a variety of genres. "Free Form Guitar" uses heavy feedback in a style strongly reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix. Music such as "Free Form Guitar" make "Chicago Transit Authority" as experimental in some ways as the contemporary "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson, considered one of the key milestones in progressive rock.
The last selection on this CD, "Liberation," has riffs that feel like some of the heavier music of the 60s, and manages to be sufficiently free-form that you might wonder whether this recording was the first time that Chicago played this music in exactly this way. While there is a jazz influence in this song, it is a very psychedelic rock song.
There are at least six versions of this CD available. The prices vary slightly with the exception of the phenomenally expensive gold version. You may wish to survey the versions available and their price before buying.
The music in this album is all over the map in a way, from pop influenced songs like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" to the bizarre guitar instrumental of "Free Form Guitar." Every cut shows the breadth of talent and ability of a group that should be considered progressive in its first incarnation. Even the pop influenced songs generally have only pop portions, with incredible layered instrumentals surrounding the pop portions. This album contains absolutely phenomenal, ground-breaking rock music, a must-have for any fan of progressive rock and cutting edge music of all eras.
Average customer rating:
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Transit Authority,Live Concert
Chicago Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Visi ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00000E1SQ Release Date: 1996-11-21 |
Album Description
Budget-priced 1978 release on Bellaphon featuring eightearly recordings from when they went by Chicago TransitAuthority, including 'Questions 67 & 68', '25 Or 6 To 4','Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is', 'I'm A Man' and'Beginnings'.Customer Reviews:
Chicago as a Bar Band.......2005-04-06
Average customer rating: |
The Box Sampler
Chicago Manufacturer: Rhino Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000OHQJWW |
Product Description
2003 15-track Rhino Records/Warner Strategic Marketing sampler from THE BOX, a 6-disc comprehensive look at the entire 36-year career of one of America's most innovative groups. Housed in tri-fold cardboard digipak case. Track listing: 1. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?; 2. 25 or 6 to 4; 3. Colour My World; 4. Lowdown; 5. Free; 6. Just You 'N' Me; 7. Old Days; 8. Wishing You Were Here; 9. Baby, What a Big Surprise; 10. Alive Again; 11. Thunder and Lightning; 12. You're the Inspiration; 13. Look Away; 14. Bigger Than Elvis (previously unissued); and 15. Saturday in the Park (live at The Aerie Crown Theatre, 1972 -- previously unissued).
Average customer rating: |
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000DSL6 Release Date: 1993-08-24 |
Tracks:
- Introduction
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- Beginnings
- Questions 67 and 68
- Listen
- Poem 58
- Free Form Guitar
- South California Purples
- I'm a Man
- Prologue, August 29, 1968
- Someday (August 29, 1968)
- Liberation
Average customer rating: |
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000008E6R Release Date: 1994-01-01 |
Tracks:
- Introduction
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- Beginnings
- Questions 67 and 68
- Listen
- Poem 58
- Free Form Guitar
- South California Purples
- I'm a Man
- Prologue, August 29, 1968
- Someday (August 29, 1968)
- Liberation
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