Unless you are a music aficionado, you may have never heard of a band named Chicago Transit Authority. But take a listen to the first 30 seconds of this disc and you will immediately recognize that this is the debut of the band Chicago. Now most people will say, “Chicago?? Aren’t they that band that did all those crappy love songs and ballads in the 80′s?” and the answer to that question would be a resounding, “YES!!!”, but the Chicago of the 80′s and the Chicago of the early 70′s were polar opposites. Chicago in the early 70′s was a unique formation of a fully realized jazz-rock and roll band, something extremely uncommon for that or really any period of time. As a typical 4 piece band, Chicago would have been characterized as your run of the mill early 70′s rock band, not unlike The Guess Who or The Doobie Brothers. But with the addition of a 3 piece horn section, Chicago developed a sound that could simply be referred to as the “Chicago Sound”.
The unquestioned force in early Chicago was its guitarist Terry Kath. An extremely underrated guitarist in rock music, the man produced guitarwork that was easily rival that of Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix was once asked in 1969 after a gig at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, if there was any single guitarist that was better than him and he simply responded, “I am a pretty good guitar player, but Terry Kath is. That cat is a better guitar player than me”. Kath, like Hendrix, also contributed vocals to many of Chicago’s earlier material. With a deeper baritone rasp, Kath’s vocals took on a soulful tone. Sadly, Kath’s influence on Chicago’s early sound was cut short in 1978 with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Chicago’s other 2 most recognizable figures were Bill Lamm (who manned piano/keyboards and also contributed vocals) and Peter Cetera, yes that Peter Cetera, Karate Kid theme music (who played Bass guitar and was the 3rd main vocalist in the band).
Chicago Transit Authority was recorded entirely live in the studio, many of the songs in one take. This is almost completely unheard of now and it was the only time the band would record in this fashion. It is even more impressive considering there were 7 members in the band playing 7 different instruments in a studio setting. There were no singles released from this album, but there are many recognizable songs on the album. “Beginnings” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” are 2 songs from this album that are widely played and covered. These 2 tracks while classic songs, are not anywhere close to the best on the album. “Poem 58″ opens with a nearly 6 minute guitar solo from Terry Kath that absolutely shreds and was the height of his guitar prowess as recorded in the studio. The other 2 and a 1/2 minutes of the song is typical Chicago, but the guitar solo makes it the best song on the album. Other highlights on the album include “Question 67 & 68″ and “South California Purples”.
This album documents Chicago in their rawest pure form as a rock band that incorporated soul, jazz and funk into their sound and was able to combine that into a raw and at the same time crisp powerful sound. As debut rock albums go, it is one of the best to come from that generation, on par with Led Zeppelin I and Are You Experienced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Chicago would maintain this sound thru their first 5 albums until musical preferences of the public pushed the band towards a more synthesized pop sound (read boring, uninspired). Highly recommended if you appreciate fantastic guitar work and jazz (horns).
Rating: 9/10
