Chicago: "III"

Released in 1971,

the was Chicago's third (3rd) album,

and their third consecutive double album

of new material in less than two years.

Filled with great tracks, of course,

including:

FREE

and

LOWDOWN

Read more about Chicago HERE.

Album Design: John Berg

Flag Sewn by Natalie Williams

Photographed by Sandy Speiser

Lettering by Melanie Marder and Annette Kawecki

Chicago: "...at Carnegie Hall"

Released in 1971,

this was Chicago's first (official) live release.

More about the recording of this LP HERE.

Chicago: "13"

Released in 1979,

this was Chicago's thirteenth (13th) LP 

(duh!)

Being as it was 1979,

the band's producers insisted on

bending their style distinctly

disco-ward.

The results were not as barfy as they could have been,

but still....  really?  

Chicago? Disco?

Kudos to Da Boyz for surviving!

We Are The World

This LP, released in 1985, was irresistible for at least three reasons:

1. All proceeds went to charitable aid for crises in Africa.

2. The song itself was just simply and absolutely HUGE at the time.

3. The one-time only supergroup "USA for Africa" was such a ridiculously stunning gathering of superstars from virtually every genre of music it was a fabulously historical recording.  It is still utterly crazy to look at a list of the artists involved in this project.

For more details go HERE.

Chicago: "Chicago (Chicago II)"

This LP was released in January 1970 after the band had officially changed its name from "The Chicago Transit Authority" to simply "Chicago."

Technically, this album is titled just "Chicago" but it has come to be known retroactively as "Chicago II" although the band did not adopt the Roman Numeral LP naming convention it came to use until the release of "Chicago III."

The naming convention gets a little confusing with compilation, live, and "greatest hits" albums in the mix.  Also they randomly chose to give a few albums "normal" names; e.g., "Hot Streets" (LP #12) and "Night & Day Big Band" (#22).  In the '80s they strayed mostly from the Roman Numerals to regular arabic numbers for albums 13 - 19 (except for XIV), and #21 was named "Twenty 1."

At any rate, this second album was an immediate hit including such memorable tunes as "25 or 6 to 4" "Colour My World" and "Make Me Smile." 

The inner sleeve offers an interesting peek at the era.

And the LP included this photo poster for adorning teen bedroom walls (mine stayed in the jacket).

This LP was sent to a collector in Maryland.

Chicago: "Chicago Transit Authority" (First LP)

There is no way to express how influential this album was on the music appreciation developing in my young ears, head, and heart.  I cherish the amazing energy, sonic clarity, and musical brilliance of this LP to this day.  I could listen to it - all of both of its disks - repeatedly.

I am still an avid Chicago fan.

One of my copies of this LP went to a fan in New York.