Review of Chicago Transit Authority

Released 1969

"Listen. If you think we're here for the money; you could be right, you know. But the bread is not too good here"

On spotting this in the same market where I found The Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus, just a week or two later, I stumbled across a very battered copy of the eponymous album by Chicago Transit Authority. This was a double album, being offered for £1. Checking the vinyl quality, I was surprised to see that it was more or less immaculate. Yes, the outside of the gatefold sleeve was illegible in places, with coffee cup rings and other oily stains. But the inside was fine with unmarked black and white photographs. A bargain.

Whilst the name Chicago Transit Authority meant nothing to me, I was familiar with Chicago, who, at the time in the mid eighties were at their commercial peak. They were in the midst of a long run of AOR radio friendly ballads, astonishingly popular, especially in the States and considered by most serious rock fans to be phenomenally 'wet'. Their contemporary guise as formulaic large haired balladmongers, distinctive for their middle-eight horn sections, was hugely incongruous with their presentation in this, their first outing.

As this was the same line up, I wasn't surprised to hear the horn section and nor the mainstream vocals of Peter Cetera. However the similarities between the two incarnations stopped there. For a start, this album felt as though it could have been recorded live in one session, incorporating a high level of improvisation. There was a real sense of urgency and of purpose with the drums and percussion very much to the fore, totally at odds with the modern band I was familiar with; utilising motifs from rock and jazz. There were also at least two other singers contributing lead vocals.

The real surprise, regarding the musicians, was Terry Kath, the lead guitarist. I had read that he had accidentally perished during a 'pretend' game of russian roulette in the mid seventies, still a young man. What I was unprepared for was the uniqueness of his contribution, providing very heavily distorted and feedback driven solos of incredible quality and dexterity. I had also read that his bandmates believed he was second only to Hendrix in terms of his virtuosity, also that Hendrix himself was seriously impressed by Kath's dedication to his art. Having listened to this album several hundreds of times in the intervening years, I am still amazed that he never appears in lists of great guitarists.

Another large surprise on the first listen was the close association the band and it's music had with the social unrest prevalent in Europe and the States as the sixties drew to a close. There is the inclusion of chants from the student riots in Chicago in 1968 and a clear political emphasis in songs like Liberation, a 15 minute largely improvised instrumental jam with some of the finest indications of a group all playing as one in perfect accord that I have come across.

To further the separation from the Top of The Pops friendly guise of the band, there was a track, Free Form Guitar, which was just that: eight minutes of cleverly controlled feedback. Very daring and, as far as I'm aware, unheard of at the time.

My own favourite track was a cover, I'm a Man. Again, this was essentially a jam. Massively exciting for the listener and, by all accounts the group at the time.

But was it prog? Long instrumental tracks, truly inspirational muscianship, a political theme or concept all contrive to make it borderline prog, although, for me there are two or three minutes in the last third of the aforementioned Liberation, which is so dark and angular that it would make Robert Fripp of King Crimson's eyes bleed.

Twenty five years on, this is still one of my top five all time albums.