Chicago were formed in 1966 as "the Missing Links", then "the Big Thing", then Chicago Transit Authority when producer
James William Guercio took them on in 1968. Their trademark was fusing brass and
jazz with a soulful
rock and roll feel and Guercio felt that this would prove successful, lobbying for his label to give them a try.
Chicago Transit Authority were signed to
Columbia Records late in 1968 and recorded their first album in late January 1969. While Guercio had recently produced
Blood, Sweat & Tears'
second album (which proved to be a huge smash), he did so to raise capital for his band. By the end of
The Chicago Transit Authority's sessions, it was clear that the album would have to be a
double. Skeptical, as the band had no track record, Columbia only agreed to the concept if the group would take a royalty cut.
In their original incarnation, keyboardist
Robert Lamm, guitarist
Terry Kath and bassist
Peter Cetera all shared lead vocals, while
James Pankow,
Lee Loughnane and
Walter Parazaiderhandled all brass and woodwinds (
trombone,
trumpet and
saxophone,
clarinet and
flute respectively) and
Danny Seraphine played drums and likely doubled on percussion. Lamm, Kath and Pankow were the band's main composers at this time. Kath's prowess as a guitarist was so strong that
Jimi Hendrix became an avowed fan of Kath's playing. According to the album's original liner notes, the solo performance of Kath on "Free Form Guitar" was created without the use of any pedals. In a nod to Hendrix's guitar expressionism (Hendrix most notably used wah and fuzz pedals), Kath instead plugged directly into his studio amplifier and improvised the entire track in one take for the purpose of pure tone. "Free Form Guitar" is also noted as being another influence on the genre of
noise music.
Released in April 1969,
Chicago Transit Authority (sometimes informally referred to simply as "CTA") was an immediate hit, reaching #17 in the US and #9 in the UK. While critical reaction was also strong, the album initially failed to produce any hit singles, with the group seen as an album-oriented collective. In 1970 and 1971, "
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (#7), "
Beginnings" (#7) and "
Questions 67 and 68" (#71/#24 re-release) would all prove to be belated hits. Buoyed by the success of their later albums, the album stayed on the charts for a then-record 171 weeks, and was certified gold (and later platinum and double platinum). It is one of two albums not to have any songwriting contributions from Cetera during his tenure in the band, the other being
Chicago V, but he started writing songs with the second album
Chicago.
While the band toured the album, legal action was threatened by the actual
Chicago Transit Authority, forcing the group to reduce their name to simply Chicago.
In 2002,
Chicago Transit Authority was remastered and reissued on one
CD by
Rhino Records. However, Rhino Records trimmed some of the songs, noticeably the fadeouts on "Questions #67 and #68" (six seconds longer on the LP) and "Free Form Guitar" (five seconds longer), and the 10 second gap between "Someday" and "Liberation".
In 1974, the album was also mixed in quadraphonic sound and released on SQ encoded LP (GQ-33255) and Dolby Quadraphonic 8-Track (QCA-33255).
In 2010, Rhino Handmade re-released the original quadraphonic mix of the album on a limited edition DTS DVD, and in 2016, in DTS-HD Master Audio, as part of Chicago Quadio Box Set.
Neil Diamond has announced the immediate end of his touring career as the effects of Parkinson’s disease have begun to take hold. It follows the 76-year-old’s cancellation of part of his 50th anniversary tour last year, when doctors ordered him to rest. However, he’s aiming to continue writing and recording.
In October 2017, legendary singer-songwriter Tom Petty passed away at the age of 66 after being found unconscious and in cardiac arrest in his Malibu, CA, home, and now the coroner in charge of examining Petty’s cause of death has confirmed the musician succumbed to an accidental drug overdose, The New York Times reports.
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul, or simply Otis Blue, released September 15, 1965 on Stax Records, is the third studio album by soul singer Otis Redding. The album mainly consists of cover songs by popular R&B and soul artists, and, bar one track, was recorded in a 24-hour period over July 9/10 1965 at the Stax Recording Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Otis Bluewas critically acclaimed upon release and became one of Redding's most successful albums; it reached number 6 on the UK Albums Chart, and was his first to reach the top spot of the Billboard R&B chart. Furthermore, it produced three popular singles, all charting at least in the top 50 on both the Billboard R&B and the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is considered by many critics to be Redding's first fully realized album.
