Scroll down for a review of Steve Winwood's latest

Chicago: The Box - A Box Set with Big Shoulders

Who would have thought that a five-CD set with more than six-and-a-half hours of music along with a bonus DVD would leave you wanting more but that’s exactly what Chicago has done with their epic The Box (Rhino Records). This is like the Adkins Diet of box sets…it’s all meat and very little filler. Most sets like this one will have a disc of ‘rarities’ but when your name is Chicago and you’ve already sold over 120-million copies of your music, you know your audience well. Except for several tracks from the now-legendary, unreleased Stone of Sisyphus and a couple of other rare tracks, this is solid, familiar Chicago. Unlike the 1993’s 4 CD Group Portrait taken from only their Columbia Records’ years, The Box chronicles the entire C-Town catalog - Warner Brothers and Columbia with a few major exceptions. There is no music here from Live at Carnegie Hall - the massive 4 LP live set from 1971 and 1998 CD of Christmas music, Chicago XXV.

The Box shows that when the band needed a hand, they knew where to find them. From Chicago’s well-known collaboration with the Beach Boys that lead to years of touring together to the likes of The Bee Gees, Al Green, Lenny Kravitz, Maynard Ferguson, Chaka Khan, the Jordanaires and Jerry Garcia all make appearances here.

Disc one is made up of tracks taken from Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago or legitimate single versions from those albums. After years in the middle of the road, you forget what a political band Chicago is. It Better End Soon was an anti-war song with passion.

Disc two is made up of tracks from albums Chicago III - VII. The hits that established the band are here: Saturday in the Park, Dialogue (parts 1 & 2), Just You and Me, Feelin’ Stronger Every Day, Searchin’ So Long, and Wishing You Were Here. There are also some tasty non-single tracks like Terry Kath’s Hour In the Shower suite, Loneliness Is Just a Word, Lowdown and Mongonucleosis.

Disc three chronicles the Chicago VIII - Hot Streets era - 1975-1978. There were fewer hits on this disc as the band struggled to find its place in the ‘disco’ era and cope with the death of guitarist Terry Kath. But there were hits: Harry Truman, Old Days, If You Leave Me Now, Baby What a Big Surprise and Take Me Back to Chicago. One of Kath’s final contributions to the group is one of the highlights of Disc Three. Little One features his powerfully soulful voice on a tender tune of great emotion because of the knowledge his voice would not be heard again.

Disc four looks at the years of greatest sales for the band - 1979 - 1986 (Chicago XIII - Chicago 18) and some of its biggest artistic strive. It hit or not to hit was the question Warner Brothers, their new company, asked. The band answered with a series of David Foster produced tunes that featured the vocals of bassist Peter Cetera and delivered the band the best sales of their careers. Long time followers of the band asked another question: where’s the brass? Indeed, Foster crafted much of the music without the input of some of the musicians. Love Me Tomorrow, Hard To Say I’m Sorry/Get Away, Stay the Night, Hard Habit to Break, Along Comes a Woman, You’re The Inspiration and Will You Still Love Me?, were all Top Ten songs. It is hard to argue with success! But there are other songs on disc four that can still surprise you…Street Player, Song For You and The American Dream have a more ‘traditional’ Chicago sound.

Disc Five encompasses Chicago 19 - Today and includes three tracks from the early 90s back-to-basics, group controlled, never-seen-the-light-of day production, Stone of Sisyphus. The songs (All The Years, the title track and the touching Bigger Than Elvis) make you wonder what the label was thinking. This disc also contains Look Away, I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love, You’re Not Alone and Hearts in Trouble, the final charting songs from the group. There is also a sampling of the big band CD Night and Day in Caravan.

Chicago - The Box is a must for followers of the band. For those that only knew the group from Beginnings and Saturday in the Park, the latter day songs will be a revelation. People that only remember the mid-tempo hits from the 80s and 90s will find some surprises from those early years. Everyone will find music that has lived well for more than 35 years. The liner notes and track rundowns are excellent - just like you expect from Rhino. If there is a complaint, and it’s a small one, it would be there aren’t many of those rare tracks you might want to hear. The early covers of R&B songs when the group was still known as The Big Thing and played for Hendrix and Morrison at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in LA or some of their collaborations with Three Dog Night and others. Hey, you can’t have it all. But with Chicago - The Box after the first couple of plays, you won’t miss those empty carbos and just enjoy the main entrée.

By the way, the Rhino Chicago reissue series will continue. Each of the CDs released up to this point have included bonus tracks and superb mastering. Next up should be the first of the David Foster produced CDs, Chicago 16. In addition, two for the releases (Chicago and V) are now available in DVD-Audio.

_______________________________________________________________

Steve Winwood
About Time

stevewinwood.com

Steve Winwood is 55 and has been in the music business for 40 of those years. He was part of The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith, and Ginger Baker’s Airforce. In that time, he has created an unmistakable sound: Hammond B3, tasteful guitars and THAT voice. On About Time, his first CD since 1997’s Refugees of the Heart, he has created music stripped to its essential melody and rhythm. that would be welcome in your living room with good friends and better wine. Part Santana, part Wailers, all Winwood. Don’t expect remakes of “Gimme Some Lovin’” or “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.” This is relaxed music by a guy that has earned the right to do what he wants. Recorded mostly live with Walfred Reyes Jr. on drums, Jose Piresde Almeida Neto on guitar and Karl Denson with the occasional flute or saxophone, About Time is about the mood. There are few standout cuts (the remake of Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together the main exception) but this CD is meant to be taken as a whole.

Steve Winwood will restart his tour in September. Small shows in intimate settings. I can think of no better way to witness this music. About Time won’t change the world. But in such confusing times, it certainly is a comfort.

__________________________________________________

To reach any other page contained in this month's update on Fufkin.com, read the home page for the appropriate link and click on it. You can also search the site from any page using the search box located at the top of each page. Merely type in the word, phrase, name of the band, recording, name of the Fufkin writer that you are looking for or Whatever in the search box, and then click on "Search". If you would like to e-mail us, go to the About Us page for a list of e-mail addresses.

Go back to the home page by clicking here

__________________________________________________