For an ensemble who have been around for close to six decades, the ratio of CHICAGO‘s concert albums to their studio platters seems criminally small, especially when the collective’s prowess is taken into account. More so, half of their audience-fronting recordings were preserved for posterity in this millennium, the earliest of those tapes dating back to the band’s shortened set from The Isle Of Wight Festival of 1970, with a few 1969 tracks appearing on the “Live VI Decades Live (This Is What We Do)” box set – yet finally September 27th will see the issue of an entire show surpassing the scope of, “At Carnegie Hall” from 1971 which was the Americans’ first official foray into capturing onstage magic.
Spanning three CDs, or spread across four LPs, “Live 1971: The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts” is a document of the team’s September 16th performance at the then-recently-opened venue – a reflection of the ensemble’s first three albums and preview of “Chicago V” they didn’t take to the studio yet, which is why there’s no second part of “Dialogue” and indecisiveness of who would sing “Saturday In The Park” that was premiered that night. With only one cut making it to the aforementioned box set, this release, freshly mixed from the original multi-track tapes by trumpeter Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup, looks like essential listening.
Live 1971:
The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts
CD 1:
1. Tune Up & Band Introduction *
2. Dialogue *
3. Loneliness Is Just A Word *
4. Poem For The People *
5. A Hit By Varèse *
6. Lowdown *
7. Goodbye
8. Beginnings *
Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon:
9. Make Me Smile *
10. So Much To Say, So Much To Give *
11. Anxiety’s Moment *
12. West Virginia Fantasies *
13. Colour My World *
14. To Be Free *
15. Now More Than Ever *
CD 2:
1. Fancy Colours *
2. It Better End Soon *
3. 1st Movement
4. 2nd Movement (Flute Solo)
5. 3rd Movement (Guitar Solo)
6. 4th Movement (Preach)
7. 5th Movement
8. Saturday In The Park *
9. Mother *
10. In The Country *
CD 3:
1. A Song For Richard And His Friends *
2. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Free Form Intro) *
3. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? *
4. I’m A Man *
5. Free *
6. 25 Or 6 To 4 *
* previously unreleased
