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Does anybody really know what time it is? On September 27, it's time for Rhino to excavate a vintage Chicago concert from the vaults. Chicago at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/16/1971) arrives on 3 CDs, 4 LPs, and digital formats, preserving the band's show in the U.S. capital. The concert was recorded just eight days after the opening of the Kennedy Center. Every track on this set is previously unreleased with the exception of "Goodbye," which premiered in 2018 on Chicago: VI Decades Live.
The album, newly mixed from the original multi-track tapes by founding member Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup, boasts the classic Chicago lineup of Robert Lamm (keyboard, vocals), Terry Kath (guitar, vocals), Peter Cetera (vocals, bass), Danny Seraphine (drums), Lee Loughnane (trumpet, vocals), James Pankow (trombone), and Walt Parazaider (woodwinds, vocals). Lamm, Loughnane, and Pankow are still on the road with the band today, packing amphitheaters across America on a joint tour with Earth, Wind, and Fire.
While a handful of songs played at the Kennedy Center are still heard a typical Chicago setlist today - including Lamm's "Beginnings," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," and "25 or 6 to 4," Pankow's "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" including "Colour My World," and Chicago's cover of The Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man" - the show also emphasizes the early, political side of the band including "It Better End Soon," "A Song for Richard and His Friends," and "Poem for the People." Lamm brought both heart and soul with his socially-conscious, lyrically-pointed songs while Terry Kath upped the hard-rock quotient with his searing guitar. The horn section of Pankow, Loughnane, and Parazaider gave Chicago its distinctive jazz fusion sound, complemented by Seraphine's driving drums and Cetera's melodic bass (and impassioned vocals). There's ample instrumental soloing and stretching out on these expansive performances.
The band would begin recording Chicago V a mere few days after the Kennedy Center performance, and they used the show to test out some of its tunes including opening track "A Hit by Varese," "Dialogue," "Goodbye," and a little song called "Saturday in the Park" (all written by the prolific Lamm). Loughnane comments in the press release, "[We] did 'Saturday in the Park' for the first time at the Kennedy Center show. You'll notice that we hadn't yet decided on who would sing the lead vocal. Also, Robert hadn't written Part 2 of 'Dialogue' yet." You can listen to this loose yet still fully-formed debut of "Saturday in the Park" now on all streaming services including YouTube. Chicago V, released in July 1972, became the band's first No. 1 album, and "Saturday in the Park" climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Chicago at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/16/1971) promises to be a reminder of Chicago's enormous musical legacy. It's due from Rhino on September 27, some 53 years after it was recorded. You'll find pre-order links below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Chicago At the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. 9/16/1971 (Rhino, 2024)
3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Disc 1
- Tune Up & Band Introduction
- Dialogue
- Loneliness is Just a Word
- Poem for the People
- A Hit By Varèse
- Lowdown
- Goodbye
- Beginnings
- Make Me Smile
- So Much to Say, So Much to Give
- Anxiety's Moment
- West Virginia Fantasies
- Colour My World
- To Be Free
- Now More Than Ever
Disc 2
- Fancy Colours
- It Better End Soon
- 1st Movement
- 2nd Movement (Flute Solo)
- 3rd Movement (Guitar Solo)
- 4th Movement (Preach)
- 5th Movement
- Saturday in the Park
- Mother
- In the Country
Disc 3
- A Song For Richard and His Friends
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Free Form Intro)
- Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
- I'm a Man
- Free
- 25 or 6 to 4
All tracks previously unreleased except Disc 1, Track 7 released on VI Decades Live (This is What We Do) - Rhino R2 563779, 2018
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What a wonderful release! I honestly thought it was a bit overkill at first. I still world prefer a latter tour being released, say the VI, VII, or VIII tours. VI would be awesome, with Feeling Stronger Every Day and Just You And Me being fresh and the tunes from V buffed and shined. This III/IV/pre-V is an incredible perspective, with unrecorded highlights sounding remarkably resolute. The mix is nearly perfect, my only critique is perhaps the drums could be a tad more upfront at times. The ride cymbal, when in motion, is perfect though. Terry often steals the show. The flute solo on It Better End Soon is flawless and never gets upstaged. There was a lot of care taken in eliminating unwanted extra ambience. Peter’s vocals do not have the top end sibilance that Terry and Robert possess, but his voice is understandably different in range and timbre. Long story short, this is a well recorded document from 1971 that rivals many other live albums from the 70’s that were endlessly overdubbed and reconstructed. This one is very close to how it was performed, just more clear.