Write on, brother

Who remembers the first Chicago Transit Authority LP? Well, maybe we should start with Who remembers LPs? I sure do. From the first few I owned and carefully chose as money was limited to the over 6,000 I amassed from 20 years working in the music biz. I’ll tell ya, it’s those first few that I paid for myself that I know and love the best. In fact, I remember a Beatles song with a skip in it that never sounded right at anyone else’s house without that skip. Back to CTA. Best known for ‘Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?’ and ‘Question 67 And 68’ their first album also had a killer version of ‘I’m A Man ‘ made famous by The Yardbirds but originally by Bo Diddley. But it was the songs that weren’t as well known  such as ‘Beginnings’ and ‘South California Purples’ and the over the top psychedelic ramblings and rumblings of ‘Free Form Guitar’ that I’m remembering. I had the most fortunate experience of knowing people that owned a set of Voice of the Theater speakers which were about half the size of a refrigerator if not as heavy. They got hauled around quite a bit for parties. They spent some time at a home in Topanga Canyon, occasionally set just a few feet apart and pointed right at each other. Enough room for one person to sit in between them. You must understand that these are speakers usually hung from the sides of stages in concert halls. And later stacked in piles at each side of the stages as concerts got bigger. Can you imagine sitting in between with an appropriately powerful amp and the right recreationals? One friend was convinced that a John Mayall cut called ‘Driving Sideways’ from the Crusade LP was the best thing you could listen to at outrageous volume. Good call, Mike.

Oh, by the way, does anyone remember the Yardbirds? A British Invasion group that spawned a few guys named Clapton, Page and Beck and some excellent tunes as well. Maybe we’ll talk about them next time.