Album
Chicago Transit Authority
1969 · Jazz, Rock
61 collectors on Gatefold own this

Chicago Transit Authority is a Jazz album by Chicago Transit Authority, originally released in 1969. On Gatefold: 170 pressings tracked, owned by 61 collectors.
About
Nowadays, Chicago (the band) seems almost as much a part of the American landscape as Chicago (the city). At the dawn of their career, though, the group had a lot to prove. Long before they became reliable hit-makers, the Chicago Transit Authority (the septet’s original name) served up genre-crossing jams with a daring disregard for convention. CTA’s 1969 debut testifies to the band’s initial brilliance, matching a Stan Kenton-like brass attack with gutsy blues-rock. Though the two-disc album was meant to be a total-immersion experience, certain tracks especially shine. “Listen,” for instance, moves to a funky strut, with Terry Kath’s guitar pyrotechnics framed by punchy horn riffs. “Liberation” shows off the ensemble in full improvisational mode, bursting into cacophonous free jazz before descending into more subdued passages. The band acknowledges their city’s infamous 1968 riots with the ominous “Someday.” But for the most part, engaging tunes like “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and “Beginnings” are more philosophical than confrontational. It’s the music here that speaks the loudest – and, overall, the “authority” part of the band’s name is appropriate. CTA convincingly asserts itself on this still-impressive first effort.
via Apple Music
The Clerk says
The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
Side A
- A1Introduction6:35
- A2Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is4:33
- A3Beginnings7:58
Side B
- B1Questions 67 And 685:04
- B2Listen3:22
- B3Poem 588:37
Side C
- C1Free Form Guitar6:53
- C2South California Purples6:10
- C3I'm A Man7:40
Side D
- D1Prologue, August 29, 19680:57
- D2Someday (August 29, 1968)4:13
- D3Liberation15:41
Sound DNA
- Jazz
- Jazz Fusion
- dense
- swaggering
- funky
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Daniel SeraphineARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , DRUMS BAND , DRUMS
- James PankowARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , TROMBONE BAND , TROMBONE
- Lee LoughnaneARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , TRUMPET, BACKING VOCALS BAND , VOCALS, TRUMPET
- Peter CeteraARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , BASS, LEAD VOCALS BAND , VOCALS, BASS
- Robert LammARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , KEYBOARDS, LEAD VOCALS BAND , VOCALS, KEYBOARDS
- Terry KathARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , GUITAR, LEAD VOCALS BAND , VOCALS, GUITAR
- Walter ParazaiderARRANGED BY ARRANGED BY , WOODWIND, BACKING VOCALS BACKING VOCALS, SAXOPHONE, FLUTE, TAMBOURINE, CLARINET
61 collectors on Gatefold own this · 170 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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