CLASSIC LIVE RECORDING FROM CHICAGO S EARLY DAYS The group now known as Chicago began on February 15, 1967, at a meeting involving saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm. While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs and invited Peter Cetera to join as bass player. Initially working as The Big Three, in June 1968, the group moved to LA, signed with Columbia Records and changed its name to Chicago Transit Authority. It was while performing on a regular basis at the Whisky a Go Go that the band got exposure to more famous musical artists of the time. Subsequently, they were the opening act for Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix once told Parazaider; 'Jeez, your horn players are like one set of lungs and your guitar player is better than me.' Their debut LP sold over one million copies by 1970, and was awarded a platinum disc. For this inaugural recording effort the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1969 Best New Artist of the Year. Following its release the band's name was shortened to Chicago to avoid legal action being threatened by the actual mass-transit company of the same name. Regulars at Bill Graham s Fillmore West by now, in 1970, when he needed to replace headliner Joe Cocker, and then Cocker's intended replacement, Jimi Hendrix, Graham booked Chicago to perform at Tanglewood, a venue in Lennox, MA, near Boston, for a show still considered by many fans to be the pinnacle Chicago performance from this era. Released here for the first time, the full show Chicago performed there on 20th July 1970 is featured on this CD in sterling audio quality, recorded as it was for live FM Radio Broadcast, from which this recording is sourced.
