The Giant Panther

I was thinking about the Jazz Rock genre the other day while listening, gulp, to David Clayton Thomas era Blood, Sweat & Tears and I got to thinking about the market in general. There used to be a band called Johnny Hates Jazz a while back and by rights I should know every note they ever recorded, but I don't. I loved the name though. I remember telling you folks I used to go around saying I hated Country music, but the truth is I really don't. I feel the same way about Jazz. I never liked it, but now I have a tolerance for it. I mean, I have a copy of Kinda Blue and Bitches Brew (Miles Davis for those of you that need it), but I really don't listen to them much. I've got some John Coltrane records and a handful of other Jazz artists, but I've always been curious about what I might be missing musically and these records just kept surfacing on all time critics lists so I bought them. I may circle back to them in the future, tastes do change, but I'm not counting on it. I'd rather go see Jazz in a club than listen to it in my home. I'm pretty sure that stems from me never having learned to play an instrument and that is something I regret. Maybe it's not too late.

When it comes to Jazz Rock I think of the 70's. The all time king of the genre, for me personally, is Steely Dan. I don't care if I ever hear another note of Aja or Gaucho either. I'm a mad Steely Dan fan. I reach for Pretzel Logic, Countdown To Ecstasy and The Royal Scam all the time. It seemed like the genre congregated in the early 70's though doesn't it? Artists like The Average White Band, Tower of Power, Chase, Weather Report, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Manu Dibango, Jeff Beck, Sun Ra, Eddie Harris & Les McCann, Van Morrison, Soft Machine, Return To Forever....even Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa...all spearheaded the Jazz Rock scene way back when. But it all seemed to come and go at once didn't it? Maybe it's my imagination. I will say that an incredibly good band called Morphine excelled under the radar until Mark Sandman's death in 1999. If you have never taken the time to check out Morphine get on the stick. Those guys were flat brilliant.

Arguably the most successful Jazz Rock band of all time is Chicago. Santana and Chicago have something in common and I'll probably catch hell from somebody for saying as much, but they have too many records. Imagine boiling down Santana's catalogue to 15 records? The guy would be even more famous than he is already. Don't get me wrong. Santana has at least 30 phenomenal songs starting with No One To Depend On. I own maybe 12 Santana records, but he must have 30 on the market. I can remember all of my friends just loving his 80's record Zebop!, but Inner Secrets, Abraxas, Shango, Marathon, Santana III, Santana I and Moonflower were all fantastic records just to name a few. I just thought he was more prolific than his market could stand. Then again, who's the multi millionaire and who's the loser in this scenario? Sorry Carlos, I just couldn't buy them all dude.

When it comes to Chicago though I have a bigger complaint; what's with the roman numeral naming scheme? It was later changed to Arabic numerals, but as a record buyer it was hard to buy, say, Chicago V without owning the previous four you know? I know, I'm anal, we've established that already, but I know I'm not the only one. For the longest time I just had the first record and Chicago's Greatest Hits, which is probably still in the top 50 selling records of all time (but I'm definitely guessing). After the first couple I could see making a change couldn't you? No matter, Chicago records sold like hotcakes for decades. Over 120 million worldwide according to our friends at Wikipedia. They say they sold almost as many records as The Beach Boys in the 60's and 70's. They had five number one albums and 21 Top Ten singles. Yikes. Still, if you bought a Chicago record after 1977, or Chicago XI in their terms, it would be kind of surprising. Their leader and lead guitarist, Terry Kath, inadvertently shot himself in 1978 and an argument could be made that they were never the same after that. When bassist and vocalist Peter Cetera left the band in 1985 it definitely changed their sound. Nevertheless I have long loved Chicago.

Formed in 1967 in, amazingly enough, Chicago, IL, the Chicago Transit Authority were first know as The Big Thing. Luckily they changed their name (eventually shortening it to Chicago after their first record) and put out a great self titled double album in 1969 that made everyone sit up and take notice. Many of their compositions were lengthy and had to be edited to get radio airplay. The first record produced "Beginnings, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Questions 67 & 68 and I'm a Man." Nice start out of the chute no? I'm sorry that half of whatever audience I've established here will turn up their nose at this next sentence, but that is what my Guilty Pleasures posts are designed to elicit I guess...I still love the song "Saturday in The Park." There, I said it. Yes I love Nine Inch Nails and listen to Marilyn Manson on occasion, but god I wish I wrote that song. When I hear it at a baseball game on a Saturday afternoon it really moves me. But I've got a massive handful of Chicago tracks I still love. "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" is still a personal favorite as well. Chicago still exists in one form or another and fans still flock to their shows, but they are soft rock fodder these days. That's OK, they've earned the right to do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. I've never seen them and I may never see them, but that won't ever remove them from my Guilty Pleasures list.

I'm leaving you with one of my favorite Chicago tracks from Chicago VII called "Skinny Boy." It's a short track, but I could never figure out why it wasn't up there with all their best hits. If I can turn just one of you onto it my day will be made. They were terrific in my book.