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Chicago
May 26, 2020 13:52:05 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on May 26, 2020 13:52:05 GMT -8
I do have some material by the Spinners, the familiar songs being "The Rubberband Man" and "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love?". I assume KFZ was referring to the band pulling out what were supposed to be giant rubber bands and pulling them.
I mainly know Harry Chapin from "Cat's in the Cradle", one of those songs ("Leader of the Pack" is another example) that actually traverses a lengthy time. I do have one collection, which includes that "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" but not "Mr. Tanner". I'm not familiar with either.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 14:34:06 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 14:34:06 GMT -8
I’m up to track six on Chicago I (Chicago Transit Authority). It’s got at least two FM hits on it so far, “Does Anybody Really Know Where Biden Is?” and “Beginnings.” “Beginnings” is, far and away, the best track so far. I’m stalling right now on “Poem 58.” Skipped forward. “Free Form Guitar” lost me as well. Skipped forward. But certainly Chicago had their style and polish down early.
“South Carolina Purples.” Okay. I can see where they’re going with that. But I never particularly like Fleetwood Mac either (their early stuff) when Jeremy Spencer would go all bluesy. Skipped ahead. And you’re going to do that kind of bluesy/jungle/halfway-house music, I think they do it well in the next track, “I’m a man.”
"Someday" is clearly the best track on what would be the second album. I think the album suffers from not having more Cetera on lead vocals. But that's just me. Yes, I know they won a Grammy for Best New Artist of the Year and were on the charts forever with this album. But just my after-the-fact observations.
I skipped the last track. Not my cup of tea. But there's a lot on this album that I like.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 14:44:45 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 14:44:45 GMT -8
An outstanding song and theme, while noting that it is so ironic that these grand thoughts come out of people who tend to virtue-signal through their songs but don’t live real life with much fidelity. I don’t know much about Harry Chapin. He seemed to be a good guy. But that happens a lot.
So before we get all teary-eyed for this song, it’s worth nothing that most of these artists are hypocrites. That said, I had this song playing while I was doing something at home and my dad overheard it and really liked it. Artists (not necessarily Chapin) can be scumbags but that doesn’t mean they can’t be good observers of human nature.
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kungfuzu
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 14:59:51 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 14:59:51 GMT -8
Cute. 
I am not and never have been a Fleetwood Mac fan. I am not sure where to see the similarity with Chicago.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 15:04:00 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 15:04:00 GMT -8
I believe Mrs. Kung would agree with you and not only because I used to sing like him. That was one of the things which was in my favor.
Seriously though, I recall that Lamm and Kath were the ones who wrote much of the music for the first albums. It took awhile for Cetera and the others to give their input and expand the group's sound.
If you like Cetera you should go to XVI and XVII.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 15:14:41 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 15:14:41 GMT -8
I believe this seeming contradiction holds true for most of humanity. Just because someone is a great painter does not mean he is bright. Just because someone is a great guitarist doesn't mean he understands gardening. Just because someone has a PhD. in physics doesn't mean he is qualified to create accurate epidemiology models.
Too many people are rather easily impressed with someone because he can do something they can't or has some letters behind his name. By all means praise and honor the man's craft and his opinion as regards his area of knowledge, but don't cede your own good sense. especially when looking at life as a whole.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 15:23:24 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on May 26, 2020 15:23:24 GMT -8
"Does Anyone Really Know Where Biden Is?" would probably be better than the actual song. On the other hand, I will note that Louisville did some local pride ads decades ago using the music of "Saturday in the Park". (And they pronounced it, quite properly, Louie-ville, not Lewis-ville or Louah-ville. Elizabeth says Louie-v'l, but that's something of an upper South version of "ville" in general. Similarly, Tom Dula became Tom Dooley because of the upper South tendency to convert such endings that way. Hence the Grand Ole Opry.)
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 15:29:31 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 15:29:31 GMT -8
Way way back to one of their first two albums which most people would not recognize as Fleetwood Mac. It was mainly Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green. Stevie Nicks was only a gleam in their eye. But Christine McVie does go back quite a ways. A more recognizable Fleetwood Mac begin to appear on their fifth studio album, Future Games which included Christine McVie on a couple good tracks and Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch doing some interesting stuff. I would call their sixth album, Bare Trees the start of a decidedlly more mainstream and pop-ish Fleetwood Mac. Christine McView has two good, but probably underrated, tracks. And this might be Kirwin's best material, including "Bare Trees," although he was fired during the supporting tour. Welch anchors it with "Sentimental Lady." For people interested in pre-mega-star Fleetwood Mac, this is the album to start with. Skip forward to Mystery to Me (I was never a big fan of Penguin). Nor am I a huge fan of Heroes are Hard to Find. But I'm there for the McVie songs. She's clearly the best of the bunch, no disrespect to Bob Welch who penned some great tracks as well.
And then you enter the mega-era, again, anchored and inspired by the pop sensibility of Christine McView...if you ask me.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 15:39:06 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on May 26, 2020 15:39:06 GMT -8
My music collection includes 5 Fleetwood Macs, including 3 (one a 2-volume set) best hits compendia. None of the titles are familiar, but of course titles of familiar songs can be totally unfamiliar. Grant and I had a real struggle finding out the name to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". And I recall some months back tracking down a song I recognized but knew neither the performer nor the title. (It was the BeeGees' "New York Mining Disaster 1941", which it turns out I have.)
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 16:13:33 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 16:13:33 GMT -8
This one by the Russkies isn’t chopped liver either:
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kungfuzu
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 17:55:14 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 17:55:14 GMT -8
They are excellent musicians. That drummer is hitting every lick that Danny Seraphine played on the original.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 18:01:47 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 18:01:47 GMT -8
I finished Chicago 17. I must say, I think I'll stick to the early stuff. Although the first album was much too Sly and the Family Stone for my taste on some of the songs, I think by XVII that a lot of the soul had been lost. Gonna go to II next. Wish me luck.
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May 26, 2020 18:03:41 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 18:03:41 GMT -8
I am sure that I have heard anything from this period. But Peter Green rings a bell.
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May 26, 2020 18:11:28 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 18:11:28 GMT -8
That soul started leaving the band big-time after Terry Kath's death. The band made a significant change in direction, especially with David Foster taking over as producer. Cetera's voice and writing played an increasingly large part of the band's production and in fact, they started hitting the top of the charts with Cetera's songs. These were generally light and short as compared to the jazz and blues type of material they started off with. But as one of them said once this started, "You live by the hit song and die by the hit song." He felt that they were under pressure to constantly turn out simple ballads lest they disappear from the charts. Other than one hit after Cetera left, they pretty well did disappear except as a live band for those of a certain age. I bought one or two albums after XVII and didn't like either.
You won't need any luck. You will find a good number of excellent songs, but no album is perfect so there will be disappointments as well.
Many consider II to be their best album and this their most sophisticated/best piece.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 19:20:37 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:20:37 GMT -8
Six songs into it, II has been relatively rock-solid compared to the first. The first (for me) either had fantastic stuff or stuff that grated on me. I don't mind album rock but I didn't find some of their excursions on CTA to be as listenable, if listenable at all sometimes. But the little excursion they're taking on West Virginia Fantasies is rather nice.
For what it's worth, II is a version remixed by Seven Wilson. The only other version was the expanded version. Jesus, that's one band that does not need expanded version albums. |
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 19:25:37 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:25:37 GMT -8
Yes, I can see why this interesting extended/integrated mix of songs would be considered so.
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May 26, 2020 19:27:35 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:27:35 GMT -8
Had I heard that on the radio, I honestly would not have known the difference.
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May 26, 2020 19:34:40 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:34:40 GMT -8
Vast improvement in II regarding being an EPLE (extended pleasant listening experience).
Not all EPLEs are created equal. I mean, even if it holds together for only the first album of the double album set (plus two into side 3, which is where I'm at), it will be a success.
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May 26, 2020 19:36:41 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:36:41 GMT -8
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May 26, 2020 19:47:18 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 19:47:18 GMT -8
Okay, it has successfully made it through side 3. That's my artistic paranoia. You have no idea how many very good movies I've seen that might self-destruct about 3/4 of the way through or even later. But if you can produce 3 good sides to a double album, I'm not really worried about what that 4th side has to offer. Of course, what the world wants to know is, Will it hold up? Side Four: Starting out: Very CSNY (or just CSN) sounding. Déjà Vu came out in 1970 so it seems there was some psychic cross-pollination going on just a tad.
Minus the horns, of course.
Made it to the second movement. It's very hard to describe why some jazz seems pointless and other seems to be painting some kind of psychic/artistic beat. This one is doing the latter so far.
But, good god, I've listened to some jazz that made me want to puncture my eardrums. It sounds like people aping what jazz is supposed to be instead of playing something with some style and meaning. And I suspect there is a lot of that going on. People ape a popular form and that's all they get is ape. Rap music is little but that. But at least with jazz there is intrinsic merit to that style of music, even played blandly.
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