The Chicago Transit Authority (album)
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Transit Authority is the eponym
ous debut album by the Chicago
-based rock
band The Chicago Transit Authority, who would later be known as Chicago
. It was recorded and released in 1969.
on an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard
devoted to the making of the album) changed its name to "The Big Thing" (occasionally performed in areas outside Chicago and Milwaukee as "The Big Sounds" due to some venues complaining about the double entendre that the name "The Big Thing" also alluded to), before adopting the moniker The Chicago Transit Authority when producer James William Guercio took them on in 1968. Fusing brass and jazz
with a soulful rock and roll feel was their trademark and Guercio instinctively felt that their sound would prove successful, lobbying for his label to give them a shot.
The Chicago Transit Authority were signed to Columbia Records
late that year and recorded their debut in late January. 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 Authoritys sessions, it was clear that the album would have to be a double
. Very skeptical, seeing 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 Parazaider
handled all brass and woodwinds and Danny Seraphine
played drums. Lamm, Kath and Pankow were the band's main composers at this juncture. Kath's prowess as a guitarist was so strong that even Jimi Hendrix
became a major 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, The Chicago Transit Authority (sometimes informally referred to simply as "CTA") proved to be 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).
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, The 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.
Chicago Transit Authority is the only Chicago album listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
.
Album
Singles
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous debut album by the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band The Chicago Transit Authority, who would later be known as Chicago
Chicago (band)
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, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
. It was recorded and released in 1969.
History
Upon the band's 1967 inception, they were initially called "The Missing Links". Then (according to Robert LammRobert Lamm
Robert William Lamm is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock band Chicago...
on an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard
In the Studio with Redbeard
In the Studio with Redbeard is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas based rock and roll disc jockey Redbeard....
devoted to the making of the album) changed its name to "The Big Thing" (occasionally performed in areas outside Chicago and Milwaukee as "The Big Sounds" due to some venues complaining about the double entendre that the name "The Big Thing" also alluded to), before adopting the moniker The Chicago Transit Authority when producer James William Guercio took them on in 1968. Fusing brass and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
with a soulful rock and roll feel was their trademark and Guercio instinctively felt that their sound would prove successful, lobbying for his label to give them a shot.
The Chicago Transit Authority were signed to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
late that year and recorded their debut in late January. While Guercio had recently produced Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
' 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 Authoritys sessions, it was clear that the album would have to be a double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
. Very skeptical, seeing 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
Robert Lamm
Robert William Lamm is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock band Chicago...
, guitarist Terry Kath
Terry Kath
Terry Alan Kath , born in Chicago, Illinois, was the original guitarist and founding member of the rock band Chicago...
and bassist Peter Cetera
Peter Cetera
Peter Paul Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bassist and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career...
all shared lead vocals, while James Pankow
James Pankow
James Carter "Jimmy" Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument arranger best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.-Early life:...
, Lee Loughnane
Lee Loughnane
Lee Loughnane , born 21 October 1946 in Elmwood Park, Illinois to Juanita Wall and Philip Louis Loughnane, is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago.- Biography :...
and Walter Parazaider
Walter Parazaider
Walter Parazaider is best known for being a founding member and saxophone player for the rock band Chicago. He also plays the flute and other woodwind instruments in the band, including clarinet. On the hit "You're Not Alone," he played backing rhythm guitar.Parazaider began playing the clarinet...
handled all brass and woodwinds and Danny Seraphine
Danny Seraphine
Daniel Peter "Danny" Seraphine is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer, best known for being the original drummer and founding member of the rock group Chicago, a tenure which lasted from February 1967 to May 1990.-Early life:Danny Seraphine was born in...
played drums. Lamm, Kath and Pankow were the band's main composers at this juncture. Kath's prowess as a guitarist was so strong that even Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
became a major 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
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
.
Released in April 1969, The Chicago Transit Authority (sometimes informally referred to simply as "CTA") proved to be 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?
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" is a song written and sung by Robert Lamm while in the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority ....
" (#7), "Beginnings
Beginnings (song)
"Beginnings" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority, released in 1969. Lamm also provided lead vocals...
" (#7) and "Questions 67 and 68
Questions 67 and 68
"Questions 67 and 68" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago and recorded for their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority , with Peter Cetera and Lamm singing lead vocals...
" (#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).
While the band toured the album, legal action was threatened by the actual Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
, forcing the group to reduce their name to, simply, Chicago.
In 2002, The 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.
Chicago Transit Authority is the only Chicago album listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...
.
Track listing
The band
- Peter CeteraPeter CeteraPeter Paul Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bassist and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Terry KathTerry KathTerry Alan Kath , born in Chicago, Illinois, was the original guitarist and founding member of the rock band Chicago...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals - Robert LammRobert LammRobert William Lamm is an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter who came to fame as a founding member of the pop rock band Chicago...
- keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals - Lee LoughnaneLee LoughnaneLee Loughnane , born 21 October 1946 in Elmwood Park, Illinois to Juanita Wall and Philip Louis Loughnane, is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago.- Biography :...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - James PankowJames PankowJames Carter "Jimmy" Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument arranger best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.-Early life:...
- tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Walter ParazaiderWalter ParazaiderWalter Parazaider is best known for being a founding member and saxophone player for the rock band Chicago. He also plays the flute and other woodwind instruments in the band, including clarinet. On the hit "You're Not Alone," he played backing rhythm guitar.Parazaider began playing the clarinet...
- woodwindsWoodwind instrumentA woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Danny SeraphineDanny SeraphineDaniel Peter "Danny" Seraphine is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer, best known for being the original drummer and founding member of the rock group Chicago, a tenure which lasted from February 1967 to May 1990.-Early life:Danny Seraphine was born in...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Charts
The Chicago Transit Authority (Columbia 8) reached #17 in the US during a chart stay of 171 weeks. It also peaked at #9 in the UK.Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop Albums |
17 |
| 1969 | UK Pop Albums | 9 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | "Questions 67 and 68" | Billboard Pop Singles Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
71 |
| 1970 | "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" | Billboard Pop Singles | 7 |
| 1971 | "Beginnings" | Billboard Pop Singles | 7 |
| 1971 | "Questions 67 and 68" | Billboard Pop Singles | 24 |
| 1971 | "I'm a Man" | Billboard Pop Singles | 49 |