CHICAGO was once one of the hippest rock acts signed by Columbia Records in the late 1960's, along with Santana, Janis Joplin and Blood, Sweat & Tears. But a few years ago, the rights to the band's catalog reverted from Sony Music back to the group, and their seminal albums have remained under-represented on CD. This has finally changed with Rhino Records reissuing Deluxe Editions of Chicago's 14 albums originally released on Columbia, from 1969's Chicago Transit Authority up through 1980's.....well, if you know the band, you know it's Chicago XIV.
And now that all 14 Columbia albums are put out, Rhino has released a five-CD and one-DVD box set which spans, for the first time ever, their entire career.
After launching a double-CD Greatest Hits package, The Very Best Of Chicago: Only The Beginning, with a TV ad campaign in 2002, Rhino got down to business with the release of Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago (a.k.a. Chicago II) and Chicago III. The new CDs are mastered from the original master tapes for the first time ever, according to Rhino, and carry new, deluxe 20-page booklets, with full annotation, new liner notes and rare photos from the archives.
The one thing these first three reissues do not have is unreleased bonus tracks, but it wasn't for lack of trying. As old fans remember, one of Chicago's trademarks was releasing multi-LP albums at a time when few rock groups were doing so. Boldly, their first three records were all two-LP sets (and their fourth album was a four-LP set).
Project Supervisor David McLees of Rhino tells Ice, "These were double albums, and they used everything they had at the time. No amount of due diligence would uncover bonus tracks, because they don't exist. There are live things we could've added, but we felt that would've been sort of sacrilegious." Actually, Rhino found a way to slightly embellish one of the albums: the single versions of "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4" have been added to Chicago.
Even without bonus material, Rhino felt comfortable calling these reissues "Deluxe Editions." "On these first three, and the whole catalog, we thought there was huge opportunity to develop packaging," McLees says, pointing out that some of the band's '90s reissues on its own Chicago Records imprint carried only "two-page booklets. We're going to 20-page booklets complete with the lyrics plus liner notes by David Wild, who did new interviews with most of the band members. The original LPs were gatefold records with extra packaging, and we're trying to reproduce those elements. And we're not doing them in jewel boxes initially, but kind of 'digi-smart-paks,' like we did with Tom Waits' Used Songs.
The good news for fans is that all subsequent reissues, from Carnegie Hall onwards, feature unreleased bonus tracks from the vaults...what McLees terms "juicy bonus material."
"But most importantly, the catalog was never mastered from the original master tapes, so this is the first time that will occur." These albums have been issued on CD twice before: in the early '80s by then CBS Records and in the '90s on Chicago Records. Jeff Magid, former production chief for Geffen Records, handled the mastering this time around.
Chicago's next album was the overly ambitious Chicago at Carnegie Hall, and that four-LP set is now reissued on CD. Following that was Chicago V (their biggest album ever), Chicago VI, Chicago VII, and Chicago VIII.
Chicago X was the first of Chicago's albums to be certified platinum, selling 1 million copies in just three months. It includes Chicago's first #1 Billboard single, 'If You Leave Me Now.' Chicago won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and the chocolate-coated artwork also took the Grammy for Best Album Cover. Chicago X now features 2 previously bonus tracks including the first-ever recorded version of 'I'd Rather Be Rich.'
The platinum-plus Chicago XI features the Top 5 power ballad 'Baby, What A Big Surprise,' and the standout single 'Take Me Back to Chicago.' Chicago XI is now expanded with 2 previously unreleased rehearsal takes: 'Paris' and 'Wish I Could Fly.'
The final reissues include: Hot Streets, the first album recorded after the death of Terry Kath (and the first Chicago album to not include a numeral in the title). It includes the bonus track 'Love Was New' with an alternative vocal. Chicago 13 features the bonus tracks 'Closer to You' and an alternate mix of the hit 'Street Player.' Chicago XIV, their final release for Columbia includes the unreleased tracks 'Doin' Business,' 'Live It Up,' and 'Soldier of Fortune.'
Rhino has topped it all off by re-releasing the band's 1998 platinum Christmas album with newly recorded tracks.Chicago: The Box
And now that all 14 Columbia albums are put out, Rhino has released a five-CD/one-DVD box set which spans their entire career. In the early 1980s, Chicago signed to Warner Bros. Records, and the group's previous box set, Group Portrait (from 1991), only covered only their Columbia material.
Chicago ranks as one of the best-loved and most successful rock groups ever. Their career, which continues to interwine artistic innovation and commercial success, spans 36 years and includes worldwide sales exceeding 122 million records, five consecutive #1 albums, and 21 Top 10 and 35 Top 40 singles (the only American rock band to chart in the Top 40 in five consecutive decades). Chicago: The Box is a definitive look at this remarkable band, and the five-CD/one-DVD set features full album versions, single remixes, greatest hits, rare performance footage, band favorites and more.
Produced by Chicago with Rhino's David McLees and Gary Peterson, this collection charts the band's origins in Windy City bars to a powerhouse group playing before sold-out stadiums.
Also included are three previously unreleased tracks from the legendary, fan-requested 'Stone of Sisyphus' project - 'All the Years,' Stone of Sisyphus,' and 'Bigger Than Elvis.' The collection also includes a bonus DVD with incredible rare live performances from the Aerie Crown Theatre in 1972, along with a promotional film made for the release of Chicago 13. Also included is a deluxe book loaded with track-by-track information, archival photos, insightful essays by Phil Gallo and A. Scott Galloway, and testimonials from Paul Shaffer, Phil Ramone, Roy Bittan, Tom Cuddy, and James Newton Howard. The box also includes new variations on the band's signature logo designed by Rhino's Grammy award-winning VP of Creative Services, Hugh Brown.
Simply put, this is THE definitive Chicago collection for the ages, for fans of all ages.
Chicago's high visibility continues to be high from their numerous TV appearances, sold-out tour dates and platinum-selling The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning.
Official Rhino Chicago Reissue Site
with complete info on all the new CDs and Box Set
Robert Lamm (1967--present): vocals, keyboards, percussion
Terry Kath (1967--1978): vocals, guitar, percussion; bass on "Happy Man" & "Wishing You Were Here"
Peter Cetera (1967--1985): vocals, bass; guitar on "Wishing You Were Here"
Danny Seraphine (1967--1990): drums, percussion, drum programming, vocals
Lee Loughnane (1967--present): trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion, vocals
James Pankow (1967--present): trombone, percussion, vocals; most brass arrangements
Walter Parazaider (1967--present): woodwinds, percussion, vocals
Laudir De Oliveira (1973--1980): congas, percussion, vocals
Donnie Dacus (1978--1980): vocals, guitar
Chris Pinnick (1980--1984): guitar
Bill Champlin (1981--present): vocals, keyboards, guitar
Jason Scheff (1985--present): vocals, bass
DaWayne Bailey (1986--1994): guitar, vocals
Tris Imboden (1990--present): drums, harmonica
Bruce Gaitsch (1995): guitar
Keith Howland (1995--present): guitar
The Very Best Of Chicago: Only The Beginning:
Disc 1 - Total Time: 79:12
1. Make Me Smile (New Edit) [4:38]
2. 25 Or 6 To 4 [4:50]
3. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (New Edit) [3:20]
4. Beginnings (Greatest Hits Edit) [6:23]
5. Questions 67 And 68 [4:59]
6. I'm A Man (New Edit) [5:46]
7. Colour My World [2:59]
8. Free [2:15]
9. Lowdown [3:34]
10. Saturday In The Park [3:54]
11. Dialogue (Part I & II) (Single Version) [4:53]
12. Just You 'N' Me [3:44]
13. Feelin' Stronger Every Day [4:14]
14. (I've Been) Searchin' So Long [4:27]
15. Wishing You Were Here [4:33]
16. Call On Me [4:01]
17. Happy Man (Greatest Hits Volume 2 Edit) [3:15]
18. Another Rainy Day In New York City [3:03]
19. If You Leave Me Now [3:56]
Disc 2 - Total Time: 79:16
1. Old Days [3:31]
2. Baby, What A Big Surprise [3:03]
3. Take Me Back To Chicago (Single Version) [2:57]
4. Alive Again [4:08]
5. No Tell Lover [4:12]
6. Love Me Tomorrow (Single Version) [3:55]
7. Hard To Say I'm Sorry/Get Away [5:06]
8. Stay The Night [3:48]
9. Hard Habit To Break [4:43]
10. You're The Inspiration [3:49]
11. Along Comes A Woman (Single Version) [3:47]
12. Will You Still Love Me? (Single Version) [4:10]
13. If She Would Have Been Faithful... [3:53]
14. Look Away (Single Version) [3:59]
15. What Kind Of Man Would I Be? (Single Version) [4:18]
16. I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love [3:53]
17. We Can Last Forever (Single Version) [3:43]
18. You're Not Alone (Single Version) [4:00]
19. Chasin' The Wind [4:17]
20. Sing, Sing, Sing - with The Gipsy Kings [3:21]
Official Rhino Chicago Reissue Site
with complete info on all the new CDs and Box Set
|
Recordings available: Chicago Transit Authority (1969, 2002) |
HK Management David Milman
|
