Chicago - VI Decades Live (This Is What We Do) (2018)

If you've heard Chicago's last two studio albums you would know that they were very unimpressive to say the least. However, when I first heard about the huge live set they released this past April that consisted mostly of songs from the Terry Kath years I was looking forward to it even though - based on what I've read and heard from other devoted fans - I was expecting a very mixed bag of treats. It turns out my expectations were accurate.

As the title suggests, VI Decades Live is a large package of four CDs and one DVD that features performances from every decade of Chicago's career. The first three CDs are from their most artistically productive years and ends in 1977 after Kath's unfortunate passing. The fourth disc spans the rest of their career through 2014 and the DVD covers a single performance from 1977 along with a bonus track.

The Booklet
Let's start with the very colorful 24 page booklet. It contains some great, never-before-seen photos and old newspaper stories including an old interview with trombonist James Pankow. The booklet is only informative if you're not a diehard fan. Nowhere does it discuss who is singing or playing on any of the tracks which is especially frustrating when listening to disc 4 because this is the era when the band became a revolving door of personnel changes. It would have also been nice if there were comments from the band about why a particular track was chosen for inclusion.

CD 1 and CD 2
Chicago's headlining Isle of Wight show from August 1970 is presented in its entirety on the first two CDs just as the band was about to become very famous and very rich. The concert includes much of their best work from their first two outstanding double albums and one unreleased song from their third. The concert reveals the septet to be a real, hard rocking band with blaring horns supported by huge doses of Kath's outstanding lead guitar work. The future hall-of-famers leave us no doubt they were already a well rehearsed but loose ensemble who were creating genuine grooves while having a ton of fun.

Unfortunately, the show is ultimately hindered by less than stellar audio. While the Isle of Wight concert possesses far better sonics than the original Live at Carnegie Hall LP it's still not up to the standard set by the lesser known Live in Japan double album. If you're going to be annoyed because this show won't send you to audiophile heaven you may want to buy a copy of Japan instead.

CD 3
Some of the music on this CD mines the same general period as the two previous discs but it also includes songs from Chicago 5 and later. Much of it is well recorded but a very long "A Hit By Varese" should have been left off because it sounds like it was recorded on a fan's portable cassette player. Disc 3 also doesn't flow as well as the first two do because the performances come from from different concerts. It's incongruous that "Varese" is followed by "If You Leave Me Now." The two tracks don't belong together.

CD 4
Buyer Beware. You may want to skip this disc. It starts out with some nice, early post-Kath performances of "Hot Streets" and "Little One" but from there things go dark. Covers of R & B classics that are not particularly well done, post-Peter Cetera ballads, an awful track, "America," by Lee Louhgnane from their last studio record, and big band arrangements dominate the CD. If the group wanted to showcase the 80s and beyond, their hits from the brief but productive David Foster/Peter Cetera era should have been included instead. It's astonishing that there is nothing from 17, their all time biggest selling record. I've never believed that it was one of their better albums but once Cetera departed most of their music became unlistenable. This disc proves it.

DVD
The DVD is a complete two hour concert from Germany’s Rockpalast television series from February 12, 1977, and with Kath still on board the original seven plus Laudir de'Olivera show that they are still functioning as a well oiled live act. The enjoyable set includes a couple of questionable song choices such as Kath's "Hope for Love" that prove the band began their lengthy decline while the late axeman was still with us but, overall, this concert is a worthy addition to the total package.

TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
1. Introduction
2. South California Purples
3. Beginnings
4. In the Country
5. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Free Form Intro)
6. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
7. Mother

Disc 2 (Isle of Wight Festival 8/28/70)
1. It Better End Soon
2. Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon
3. 25 or 6 to 4
4. I'm a Man

Disc 3
1. Poem for the People (Paris, France 12/8/69)
2. 25 or 6 to 4 (Paris, France 12/8/69)
3. Liberation (Paris, France 12/8/69)
4. Goodbye (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. 9/16/71)
5. Now That You've Gone (Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia, 6/26/72)
6. A Hit by Varèse (Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL 8/13/73)
7. If You Leave Me Now (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)
8. Takin' It on Uptown (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA 12/1/77)

Disc 4
1. Hot Streets (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
2. Little One (Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 8/11/78)
3. Forever (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL 3/21/87)
4. Medley: In the Midnight Hour, Knock on Wood, I'm a Man, Get Away (Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL)
5. You're Not Alone (Starplex Amphitheatre, Dallas, TX 5/30/92)
6. The Pull (Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV 3/20/94)
7. In the Mood (Caesar's Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
8. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Caesar's Palace, Atlantic City, NJ 7/28/94)
9. Look Away (Acoustic) (A&E Network, Live by Request 9/5/02)
10. America (WHYY, the Grand, Wilmington, DE 5/7/14)

Disc: 5 (DVD) (Rockpalast - Grugahalle, Essen, Germany 2/12/77)
1. Anyway You Want
2. Saturday in the Park
3. Skin Tight
4. Just You 'N' Me
5. Hope for Love
6. You Are on My Mind
7. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
8. Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon
9. Beginnings
10. Scrapbook
11. A Hit by Varese
12. Call on Me
13. Takin' It on Uptown
14. If You Leave Me Now
16. (I've Been) Searchin' so Long
17. 25 or 6 to 4
18. Got to Get You into My Life
19. I'm a Man
20. What's This World Comin' To (Bonus track from CHICAGO LIVE IN THE ROCKIES)

Comments

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more