''Chicago at Carnegie Hall'' (also known as ''Chicago IV'') is the first live

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

, and fourth album overall, by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

. It was initially released on October 25, 1971 by

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 ...

as a four- LP vinyl

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

, and was also available for a time as two separate two-record sets. A

Quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for t ...

mix of the album was proposed, but was never made, possibly due to the band's objection to the album being released in the first place. This is the only Chicago album of the group's first ten releases not to have a Quadraphonic release in any format. The album reached No. 3 on the

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. It was certified gold by the

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(RIAA) two weeks after its release, and was certified platinum in 1986.

Background

While touring in support of ''

Chicago III ''Chicago III'' is the third studio album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1971. It was the band's third consecutive double album of new studio material in less than two years. Background In the wake of the enormous worldwid ...

'', Chicago played

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

for a week in April 1971 and recorded all of their shows. A four-LP

collection for release as Chicago's fourth album (that distinction being responsible for the album's nickname of ''Chicago IV'') was the result.

Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician best known for being a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He plays a wide variety of wind instruments, including saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He also occasionall ...

told writer William James Ruhlmann that The reason behind the live record for Carnegie Hall is, we were the first rock 'n' roll group to sell out a week at Carnegie Hall, and that was worth rolling up the trucks for, putting the mikes up there, and really chronicling what happened in 1971. Columbia were very skeptical on the risk the extended set posed, and with a decrease in royalties to counter that fear (a similar situation befell their 1969 debut ''

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 , ...

''), Chicago released ''Chicago at Carnegie Hall'' that October to a mixed reaction. While the set sold very well, reaching No. 3 in the US (but failing to chart at all in the UK), the critics found the album too long—and even indulgent with its inclusions of tune-ups. The band themselves have remained divided through the years over the merits of the album.

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 ...

and Walter Parazaider defended the album to William James Ruhlmann, while

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

and

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 ...

were not happy with the result. Pankow told Ruhlmann, I hate it. ... The acoustics of Carnegie Hall were never meant for amplified music, ...the sound of the brass after being miked came out sounding like

kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifie ...

s.Chicagotheband.com: "History, Section VII"

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 ...

said that although he thinks the album is good, there were many things he didn't like about it and that he didn't think the album should have been released. In recognition of setting Carnegie Hall records and the ensuing four LP live recordings, the group was awarded a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' 1972 Trendsetter Award. Despite poor sound quality, ''Chicago at Carnegie Hall'', according to William James Ruhlmann, went on to become "perhaps" the best-selling box set by a rock act until the release of the '' Live/1975-85'' five-LP live box set by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

& the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

in 1986. It is still the best-selling four-LP set. In 2005, ''Chicago at Carnegie Hall'' was remastered and re-issued on three CDs 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 ...

with much improved sound quality, a bonus disc of eight tracks of alternate takes and songs not on the 1971 edition, plus recreations of nearly all the original posters and packaging. On Monday April 5th, 2021, 50 years to the day of their first Carnegie Hall show, Rhino Records announced a 50th Anniversary 16-CD box set called "Chicago Live At Carnegie Hall Complete". The collection includes all six shows in their entirety which were performed from April 5th through April 10th, 1971, plus two matinee performances. The set was produced by engineer Tim Jessup along with band member Lee Loughnane, and was released on September 10, 2021.

Artwork and packaging

The original LP release of this set contained two giant posters of the band, a poster of Carnegie Hall's exterior, an insert about voting information, and a 20-page softcover booklet; this last contained photos of the band members playing during the concert, and on the back bore a full touring schedule from their first tour through their 1971 US tour. The band's official web site labels the cover design "white tile".

Track listing

Personnel

– keyboards, lead and backing vocals *

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 ...

– guitar, lead and backing vocals *

– bass, lead and backing vocals *

– trombone, percussion *

– woodwinds, percussion *

– trumpet, percussion, guitar on tracks 13 and 16 *

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 ...

– drums

Production

* Produced by James William Guercio * Engineers – Don Puluse, Bud Graham, Hank Altman, Aaron Baron and Larry Dahlstrom. * Recorded at

, New York, NY (by Location Recorders). * Mixed at Columbia Recording Studios, New York, NY. * Art Direction – John Berg/Virginia Team * Artwork – Fuding Cheng * Poster Design – Ron Coro * Photography – Allen Goldblatt and Fred Lombardi * Poster Photo – Frank Laffire * Lettering – Beverly Scott

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago At Carnegie Hall Albums produced by James William Guercio Albums recorded at Carnegie Hall Chicago (band) live albums 1971 live albums Columbia Records live albums