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Chicago
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, generating several hit ballads. They had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Second only to The Beach Boys in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands, Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful rock groups in history.
According to Billboard, Chicago was the leading US singles charting group during the 1970s. They have sold over 38 million units in the US, with 22 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. Over the course of their career they have had five number-one albums and 21 top-ten singles.
The original band membership consisted of saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist Robert Lamm. Parazaider, Kath, Seraphine, Pankow and Loughnane met in 1967 while students at DePaul University. Lamm was recruited from Roosevelt University. The group of six called themselves "The Big Thing", and continued playing top 40 hits. Realizing the need for a tenor to complement baritone Lamm and Kath, they added local tenor and bassist Peter Cetera.
Chicago woodwinds player, Walt Parazaider was told by Jimi Hendrix, “Your horns are one set of lungs, and you know your guitar is better than me.”
While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs. In June 1968, they moved to Los Angeles, California under the guidance of their manager James William Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. After signing with Guercio, The Big Thing changed their name to "Chicago Transit Authority".
Their first record (April 1969), the eponymous The Chicago Transit Authority, was a double album, which is rare for a band's first release. It sold over one million copies by 1970, and was awarded a platinum disc. The album included a number of pop-rock songs – "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "Questions 67 and 68", and "I'm a Man" – which were later released as singles.
When the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened legal action soon after the album's release, the band's name was shortened to Chicago.
The 1970s: 'Chicago'
The band released a second album, titled Chicago (also known as Chicago II), which was another double-LP. The album's centerpiece track was a seven-part, 13-minute suite composed by Pankow called "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". The suite yielded two top ten hits: "Make Me Smile" (No. 9 U.S.) and "Colour My World", both sung by Kath. Among the other tracks on the album: Lamm's dynamic but cryptic "25 or 6 to 4" (Chicago's first Top 5 hit), which was a reference to a songwriter trying to write at 25 or 26 minutes to 4 in the morning, and was sung by Cetera with wah-wah guitar by Kath; the lengthy war-protest song "It Better End Soon"; and, at the end, Cetera's 1969 moon landing-inspired "Where Do We Go from Here?". The double-LP album's inner cover includes—in addition to the playlist—the entire lyrics to "It Better End Soon", and two declarations: "This album should be experienced sequentially", and, "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms."
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Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority 50th anniversary Remix
by Doug Collette
In what is perhaps a tacit admission of limited sales potential (and in turn the low profit margin on music in physical formats), on the 50th Anniversary Remix of Chicago's debut album (often known as CTA, there is no info in any form detailing the technical process of this sound enhancement. A single sentence on the Rhino label's site is identical to that which appears on the band's own web-page, one that might well have appeared somewhere within the replication ...
read moreChicago: The Terry Kath Experience
by Doug Collette
Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience FilmRise 2018 Michelle Kath Sinclair's The Terry Kath Experience is a combination of history and homage to the her late father, the guitarist and one of the founding members of Chicago. The film proceeds with a streamlined logic, not to mention an abiding sense of love and affection, that nonetheless never turns maudlin. In part because director Kath, photographer Jordan Levy and co-editors Micah Levin and Tony Papa refuse ...
read moreChicago: Chicago II
by Doug Collette
Chicago II deserves its stereo remix and mastering by British audiophile extraordinaire Steven Wilson for any number of reasons, the most prominent of which is that, at this early juncture in the band's career, its creativity was at full flower, minus the pedantic tendencies or self-conscious pretension that would arise on later records. Everything was in balance on this sophomore effort, from the composing credits shared by guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath, keyboardist/vocalist Robert Lamm and bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera (who ...
read moreChicago II (Steven Wilson Remix)
by John Kelman
It's rare that an opportunity presents itself to directly compare a high resolution remaster with a high resolution remix, but with last year's Quadio (Rhino) box set containing Blu Ray Audio versions (at 24-bit/192KHz) of its first nine studio recordings (including, curiously, a completely superfluous, early Greatest Hits package) and the recent, single-disc reissue of Chicago II, featuring a brand new stereo mix by remix go-to-guy, Porcupine Tree founder and now-successful solo artist Steven Wilson, there's a chance to do ...
read moreChicago at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion
by C. Michael Bailey
Chicago Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion Rogers, Arkansas May 3, 2015 I saw the Eagles with Yes in 1975 at Barton Coliseum and then saw them both 25 years later at our river amphitheater. I saw Chicago 35 years ago at Barton Coliseum and then recently. While I am not an authority...I do know from where I come. Musical acts from the 1960s and '70s have made a cottage industry and cash ...
read moreChicago Transit Authority / Chicago II / Chicago III
by Marc Davis
Chicago, the rock band, is not what you remember. Well, it is, but it's also more than that. The Chicago you remember is the hit machine of the '70s: 25 or 6 to 4," Beginnings," Make Me Smile," Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and many others. Of course, Chicago is also the wimp rock machine of the '80s: Hard to Say I'm Sorry," Hard Habit to Break," You're the Inspiration" and Will You Still Love ...
read moreSing a Mean Tune, Kid: Chicago for people who hate Chicago
by Mark Lempke
When people rebuff my attempts to share my love of jazz-pop-rock group Chicago with them, I understand their qualms. Really, I do. Few bands went from being quite so inventive to quite so predictable in the long, tough slog between 1968 and 1984. (The political parallels alone are terrifyingly relevant: many of the exact same people who were in SDS went on to become Yuppies by the midpoint of the Reagan years, but I digress.) So, I understand ...
read moreDiscover The Magic Of The New Chicago Jazz Piano Festival
Source:
Jim Luce
Rhapsody in Blue, The Great American Songbook & The Music of McCoy Tyner Launch A Year-Long Celebration of the Rich History and Vibrant Future of Jazz Piano in Chicago March 29 & 30 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago. In the world of jazz piano, all roads lead to Chicago beginning on March 29th, as the Chicago Jazz Piano Festival begins its inaugural spring season at Pianoforte Studios with the centennial performance of the classic 1924 George Gershwin groundbreaking work, “Rhapsody ...
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Chicago-Area Jazz Publicist, Producer And Vocalist Ralph Lampkin, Jr. Passes At 66
Source:
All About Jazz
This article by Carrie Maxwell was originally published on Windy City Times. Music producer, vocalist and business owner Ralph Lampkin, Jr. died June 24 of a heart attack. He was 66. Lampkin was born April 29, 1957, in New York City, where he lived with his parents Ralph Lampkin, Sr. and Betty Jane Lampkin and younger siblings Lisa, Mark and Craig. During Lampkin's childhood, his parents made sure he and his siblings were exposed to the culture in New York ...
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Chicago-Based Saxphonist Michael Hudson-Casanova Releases 'Animus'
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Michael Hudson-Casanova
Saxophonist Michael Hudson-Casanova is releasing his sophomore album with his first Chicago-based band on March 2, 2023. The release show will take place at Hungry Brain Chicago (2319 W. Belmont Ave) on March 3rd. Animus will be available on digital, CD, and limited edition vinyl formats. Hudson-Casanova composed an entirely new book of music for his trio with drummer Gustavo Cortiñas and guitarist Erik Skov. Both of these Chicago jazz veterans have their own unique projects and bring a large ...
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Chicago Trumpeter & Composer Markus Rutz announces new album 'Storybook'
Source:
Lydia Liebman Promotions
JMARQ Records is pleased to announce the February 17, 2023 release of Storybook, celebrated trumpeter and composer Markus Rutz’ sixth studio release as a bandleader. Fresh off the heels of the release of his critically acclaimed albums Blueprints – Figure One, Blueprints – Figure Two, and One Saturday in September, Rutz’ new innovative work takes listeners on a musical journey from past to present, telling the story of Rutz’ early musical inspirations and education while reflecting on the musical vibrancy of modern-day Chicago. Rutz is in great company ...
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Chicago-Based Trumpeter & Composer Markus Rutz Launches New Website
Source:
Markus Rutz
Just this autumn I've refined my website and am very happy about the newest version. It's easy to peruse the content within the pages and some more features have been added. One feature available is a share button. For any tune or album that you may enjoy, the option to send a link directly to any place or person is easy to do whether within a social media space or a personal email or text. There are free music download ...
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Nightfly - Biography of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen Available Now on Chicago Review Press
Source:
All About Jazz
September this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first record by Steely Dan, the band formed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in 1972 that went on to release nine albums over the 30 years that followed. Now Chicago Review Press is publishing Nightfly: the Life of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen by music journalist and author Peter Jones. The book is a warts-and-all account that not only relates the often-untold stories behind one of rock’s most iconic bands, but ...
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Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The band Chicago was one of the most successful jazz-rock bands of the 1970s and '80s. They recorded 36 albums and had 20 Top-10 singles on the Billboard pop chart, including three #1 hits. Seventeen of its first 20 albums were certified platinum (at least 1 million units sold) by the R.I.A.A. Songs like 25 or 6 to 4 and Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? remain a joyous fusion of horns, captivating melodies, rock guitar and vocals. ...
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Joanie Pallatto's 'My Original Plan' To Debut At Venus Cabaret Theater in Chicago
Source:
Lampkin Publicity Service
Direct from her critically acclaimed appearance at New York's Pangea, singer-songwriter, Joanie Pallatto, returns to her home town to continue the My Original Plan celebration. The show will Debut at the newly opened Venus Cabaret Theater on December 5th. 6:30 p.m. Joining the celebrated Artist, is her co-producer/arranger and modern guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque, pianist-composer Sparrow; and special quests, Brazilian Dancer, Dill Costa and Broadway mainstay, actor-singer Bill Nolte. My Original Plan is an acoustic tour-de-force variety hour of song ...
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Ira Sullivan: Modern Music From Chicago
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ira Sullivan's first album as a sideman was on Red Rodney's Modern Music From Chicago. Recorded in June 1955 for the Fantasy label, the album featured Red Rodney (tp,vcl), Ira Sullivan (tp,ts,as), Norman Simmons (p), Victor Sproles (b) and Roy Haynes (d). At the time Rodney was appearing at Chicago's Bee-Hive Club along with the musicians on this record date. It's a bebop session, and what all of these tigers have in common is that they all had played with ...
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Leonid & Friends: Chicago
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The first time I heard Leonid & Friends, I thought for a second they were syncing to Chicago's recordings from the early 1970s. Turns out Leonid & Friends is a Russian-Ukrainian cover band with impeccable ears and talent. Leonid is Leonid Vorobyev (third from left), a Moscow producer, bassist, transcriber and arranger. In concert, the tentet recreates American hits perfectly, but they're probably best known for their precise Chicago covers. What sets them apart is that they work hard to ...
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