News on Chicago, Alice Cooper, Pressplay
"Chicago V" and "Chicago VI" are the next albums in line for reissue in Rhino's ongoing Chicago catalog restoration program. Due Aug. 20, the 1972 and 1973 albums have been remastered, expanded, and repackaged with new liner notes by Los Angeles Times jazz critic Don Heckman.
Along with such tunes as "Saturday in the Park" (a No. 3 hit on Billboard's Hot 100), the new version of "Chicago V" features a studio version of "A Song for Richard and His Friends" and an early take of "Mississippi Delta Blues (Early Version)," as well as a single version of "Dialogue (Part I & II)." Likewise, "Chicago VI" -- which included the top-10 Hot 100 hits "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" and "Just You 'N' Me" -- adds a collaboration with Al Green titled "Tired of Being Alone," and guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath's demo of "Beyond All Our Sorrows."
Rhino plans to continue the Chicago reissue campaign early next year with an expanded and remastered version of 1971's "Chicago at Carnegie Hall," also known as "Chicago IV." Meanwhile, the band is out on its 35th anniversary tour -- dubbed Only the Beginning 1967-2002 -- which hits Clarkston, Mich., on Saturday (Aug. 3).
-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.