Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
Track List:
Introduction
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is
Beginnings
Questions 67 and 68
Listen
Poem 58
Free Form Guitar
South California Purples
I’m A Man
Prologue August 29, 1968
Someday (August 29, 1968)
Liberation
Songs I have heard before this listening:
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is - I believe the version that I am familiar with is an abridged version for radio play as I don’t recall ever hearing the intro from the album.
I’m a Man - I recognize the chorus. I don’t know I’ve heard the full song before.
Notes on the music:
Because it will annoy people I will declare that Chicago is now my favorite ska band. I know they are not ska-punk but certainly a precursor of it. The album as a whole is enjoyable albeit with some experimentation. I am aware that this is a debut album but can understand why they have released nearly 40 albums now.
Notes on individual songs
Introduction
This is a really jazzy jam that I hope sets the tone for the album, if so I would anticipate the next hour of music will be very pleasing to me.
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
I know this song, or a version of this song. I don't recognize the intro, I am not sure how much it really adds to be honest. But I also noticed some vocals behind the music that I don't recall previously. It could be that I've never paid that much attention however.
Beginnings
Well this is awkward...I am running into a situation where this feels so very familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. So this is ska...or proto ska. We are missing the more reggae feel that I associate with ska and have a notedly more rock feel but the horn fills and interplay between the vocals and the horns I feel are replicated in ska. The percussion cadence at the end gives me nostalgic marching band feel. I do think that this could have easily been the first song on the album as it's titled and would have worked well.
Questions 67 and 68
This sounds very familiar as well. I am beginning to suspect I am going to have a feeling of deja vu over the entirety of this listen and I don't like that. We get a little more guitar fills with horn fills on this one.
Listen
This one starts with a vocal intro and then back to the horns. A really weird musical choice which just sticks out to me is the 2nd note the guitar plays is held for almost 40 seconds until the vocals come in. The song builds around it and it works but seems weird. I think the bass line played by both the bass and the horns are my favorite part of the song, it really helps keep the song moving forward.
Poem 58
We start this song with a guitar solo. It's the same sounding guitar heard playing with the fills I noted on Questions 67 and 68, however this time it's being played up front and not hidden in the background wash. We have a trio playing guitar, bass and drum. The solo section lasts nearly 5 minutes then there is a huge change in feel to a much more anxious sounding environment, this is also where the horns come back. In the instrumental break between the verses the guitar and bass are playing a descending call and the horns response is an ascending lick. It plays really neatly together. From looking over the lyrics it looks like this is a confession of love and the tone the song ends on makes me think that the song is still waiting for a response from the person who is being courted.
Free Form Guitar
Pre-listen expectations: Experimental guitar stuff, feedback, distortion, delay, reverb, grit, and dainty solos that seem out of place.
Starts with a growl and then distortion and feedback...some of the growls have a rhythmic quality. Nearly 3 minutes in and there is a digital sounding decay. This is very, very experimental.
Post listen thoughts: This is not ska. If this were to be audio in a video with subtitles I think it would say [Guitar noises intensify]. I may have heard this track when listening to Grateful Dead bootlegs now that I think about it.
South California Purples
I like that they included some parts of the band talking between songs. Now this is a blues song. I also notice an organ on this track. I've not noticed it before, it may have been there but I am not sure. I like the title being a play on the blues and the uncertainty present in the lyrics. The narrator is lost without his lover and is feeling lost and unsure about even where he is. Maybe he has the blues...or purples...There is also a reference to I am the Walrus. I want to try to come up with a reason as to why they would include the reference, but I am coming up with a blank.
I'm A Man
I have heard the chorus to this song before but I don't think I've heard the song in full. The percussion solo or section is a really nice change from the norm.
Prologue August 29, 1968
So when I start writing these my workflow is to put the album on and then start copying all track titles into my format and then keep notes as I listen. Most of this is written with a single listen I type as I go and then can go back and relisten later if needed. For this album I had a difficult time not starting with this song because its name and the penultimate song's title intrigued me.
Someday (August 29, 1968)
The Whole World Is Watching chant to start, I understand this is from an anti-vietnam war protest. It's a brilliant idea to pull the chant back in mid song. There is a pretty powerful message in this song about police brutality. The lyrics are pretty graphic. Now it's now more than 55 years since the date that inspired this song and it feels like little has changed.
Liberation
Another instrumental and it's a jam and it's a lengthy banger of a song too. This song is a decent representation of the album including the experimental part.
