''Chicago III'' is the third studio album by American rock band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and was released in 1971. It was the band's third consecutive

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

of new studio material in less than two years.

Background

In the wake of the enormous worldwide success of their second album, Chicago spent almost all of 1970 on the road, an exhausting undertaking. Former drummer

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from ...

, described the members of the band as "fatigued and road-weary" when they went into the studio to record the album. Released in January 1971, initially on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

, ''Chicago III'' — the band's first album to sport a

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

in its title — sold well upon its release and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

a month later. It provided Chicago with its highest charting disc yet in the US, going to No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200. "Free", written by

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", "Does ...

, made it into the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and "Lowdown", co-written by

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His ...

and

, reached the top 40. ''Chicago III'' marked a dwindling in UK fortunes in comparison to the band's first two albums, ''

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...

'' and ''Chicago'', reaching No. 9 in a brief chart run. In 1974, jazz bandleader

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

added a suite of songs from the album ("Canon", "Mother", "Once Upon a Time" and "Free") to his band's repertoire, releasing it on the album '' Stan Kenton Plays Chicago.''

Musical style, writing, composition

The band had used up its storehouse of original material on its first two albums. It needed new material for ''Chicago III'', and the songwriters worked "nonstop" Danny Seraphine said the band "took the opportunity to experiment with instrumentals and showcase our skills as musicians." Their long hours on the road gave the principal songwriters,

Terry Kath Terry Alan Kath (January 31, 1946 – January 23, 1978) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He played guitar and sang lead vocals on many of the band's early hit singl ...

and James Pankow, much food for thought, resulting in more serious subject matter, which contrasted with the positivity of their first two sets. In his retrospective review of the album, Jeff Giles writes that Lamm's "Travel Suite" was "inspired by the boredom, loneliness, and beauty of the road," and characterizes Pankow's "Elegy" suite is an "ecologically minded composition", (an issue Lamm also touches upon in "Mother"). While Kath's multi-part "An Hour in the Shower" provides a reprieve from the sobering explorations elsewhere, ''Chicago III'' was undeniably the result of a band who had seen the flip side of the world over the last several months. " Lowdown", co-written by Peter Cetera and Danny Seraphine, was Seraphine's first co-writing credit, and he was appreciative of the support Cetera gave him during the writing process. ''Chicago III'' incorporates a variety of musical styles. "Sing a Mean Tune Kid" features the influence of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

, "What Else Can I Say" and "Flight 602" have a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

feel, while abstract qualities are found in "Free Country" and "Progress?"

Recording and production

The album was produced by James William Guercio, who was Chicago's producer for its first eleven albums. This album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. In 2002, ''Chicago III'' was remastered and reissued on one CD by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

Artwork and packaging

The album cover design is titled "Tattered Flag" on the band's web site. Included with the album was a poster of the band dressed in the uniforms of America's wars, standing in front of a field of crosses, representing those who had died in the still ongoing

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. It also gave the number of casualties from each war up until the time of the album's release.

Track listing

Personnel

Chicago

– bass, lead and backing vocals *

– guitars, lead and backing vocals *

– keyboards, lead and backing vocals, spoken word on "When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow". *

Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life and education Lee David Loughna ...

– trumpet * James Pankow – trombone * Walter Parazaider – saxophone,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

– drums, percussion

Production

* Producer – James William Guercio * Engineering – Don Puluse and Sy Mitchell * Recording – Lou Waxman and Willie Greer * Logo design – Nick Fasciano * Album design – John Berg * Flag design – Natalie Williams * Photography – Sandy Speiser * Poster photo – Steve Horn and Norm Griner * Lettering – Annette Kawecki and Melanie Marder for Poseidon Productions

Charts

''Chicago III'' (Columbia 30110) reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US during a chart stay of 63 weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago 03 Chicago (band) albums 1971 albums Albums produced by James William Guercio Columbia Records albums Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio