Chicago Transit Authority - "Chicago Transit Authority" (1969) - Columbia
Hello Friends,
Chicago Transit Authority is the very first album by the band Chicago Transit Authority (after its initial release the band was threatened by legal action by the actual Chicago Transit Authority which lead to them shortening their name to just plain, old "Chicago").
Our reaction to this record could be best described by the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, "surprise, surprise, surprise!"
First off, its a double album which is completely nuts for a debut record! What's even nuttier is how there's really not a stinker among the bunch.
As one might expect from a Chicago record, there's lots of horns & jazzy-stuff going on, but at this early stage in the game, the music is both heavy-sounding and incredibly soulful. It's very bass and guitar heavy with some nice psychedelic touches thrown in for good measure. There's definitely stuff on here to please the stoners in the audience (check out the guitar solo at the beginning of "Poem 58", it sounds like Blue Cheer!)
Of course, there's the head-bobbing hits that helped propel Chicago into one of the 70's most successful bands (songs like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", "Questions 67 and 68" and their cover of The Spencer Davis Group's "I'm A Man"), but there's some mind-meltingly good guitar work courtesy of guitarist and occasional singer, Terry Kath. There's even a feedbacky, experimental guitar noise track ("Free Form Guitar") that, according to legend, features no overdubbing or electronic gimmicks. This sounds a heck of a lot more like the music on "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" than it does "Saturday in the Park".
This is a Chicago record for people (like us) who don't even like Chicago.
Its very 60's in its sound and approach. Its all over the place sonically and we mean that in the best way possible!
In the spirit of the times, there's even an element of social awareness to be found on the record. On Side Four's "Prologue (August 29, 1968)" & "Someday (August 29, 1968)", the band samples the "The Whole World Is Watching" chant from the protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention (in Chicago) who were about to get their skulls knocked in by the local coppers. Goddamned Hipsters!
The album's opener, "Introduction" pretty much sets the stage for the entire album. Heavy and funky with a throbbing organ, a killer guitar solo and a driving (though economical) horn section. There's great drumming, some great bass-playing, and throughout the song several shifts in both time-signatures and mood. Its complex without being complicated. A theme that continues pretty much throughout the record. Who woulda thunk it?
RATING: 4.5 men come up to me and ask me what the time was on my watch out of 5
