Hi, Clark!  8)
Thus, on 8 Sep 96 at 3:45 PM, that Clark Ray said to Chris Smith:
CS> Awesome album!  Such diversity and progressiveness.  For those of you
CS> familiar with the hits from this 1969 classic ("Does Anybody Really Know
CS> What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 & 68"), this album
CS> also features a most excellent cover of Spencer Davis Group's "I'm A 
an",
CS> with Terry Kath, Peter Cetera, _and_ Robert Lamm doing the lead vocals,
CS> alternating verses.  Lamm's performance on B-3 rivals that of Winwood on
CS> the original...
CR> It gets more radio play than the original too, which is pretty cool, 
'cause
CR> it's got that cool instrumental middle section.
Quite true!  I think I've heard the original SDG version _twice_, which goes
to show that some cover versions are just plain better than the originals.
  "I'm A Man" was very well suited for Chicago's core of musicians.
CR> _CTA_ is quite a good album, alright.  My favorites are, besides the 
its,
CR> "South California Purples," "Listen," and "Poem 58."  Many of Chicago's
CR> songs were cut-up horribly for single release.  You get to hear the whole
CR> songs on this album.
Quite true, again; a fact that was mentioned in the _Group Portrait_ booklet.
CR> Speaking of Chicago, any word of any remastered CDs coming out for them?  
I
CR> bought _Chicago II_ about 5 or so years ago on CD and the sound is quite
CR> bad.
AFAIK, Joe Gastwirt remastered all of them [_CTA_ through _GH II_] before
Columbia issued them on CD.  My copy of _II_, purchased about 3.5 years
ago, mentions "Digitally remastered for Compact Disc by Joe Gastwirt at
CBS Records Studios."
Some of that poor quality you mention had to do with the original analog
master.  Unless you're a genius, like Alan Parsons , you're not
going to recover that much more sonic quality from ancient master tapes.
[Of course, in the case of the "Ballet For A Girl In Buchanon" suite, the
lower quality intro. of "Make Me Smile" may have been intentional, since the
quality picks up dramatically when Kath comes in on the track following
the horns/drums/bass lead-in, and remains good throughout the rest of it.]
That's really the only _bad_ sound quality old Chicago tune on CD.
[Except, maybe, for a few of the tracks on _13_, which caused the following
warning to appear on the jewel box insert:  "This CD reveals the limitations
of the original analog source tapes."]
BTW, Chicago Records 3012 [_Hot Streets_] is finally on the shelf...
                      >>>>
... Now Playing:   "Ballet For A Girl In Buchanon" -- _Chicago II_, 1970.
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#80)
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