{{About|the album released by the band Chicago||Chicago Transit Authority (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Chicago Transit Authority | type = studio | artist = Chicago Transit Authority | cover = Chicago Transit Authority.png | caption = Front cover of LP releases. | alt = | released = {{Start date|1969|04|28}} | recorded = January 27–30, 1969 | venue = | studio = CBS 30th Street, New York City | genre = {{hlist|Jazz rock|progressive rock<ref name="Hoffmann2004">{{cite book |author=Frank Hoffmann |title=Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FOSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA374 |date=12 November 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94950-1 |pages=374– }}</ref>|blues rock}} | length = 76:32 | label = Columbia | producer = James William Guercio | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Chicago | next_year = 1970 | misc = {{Singles | name = Chicago Transit Authority | type = studio | single1 = Questions 67 and 68 | single1date = July 1969 (US) | single3 = I’m a Man | single3date = January 1970 (UK & Ireland)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/i'm-a-man/ |title=I'm a man | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company |website=Official Charts |access-date=2019-05-31 |archive-date=2019-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601013849/https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/i%27m-a-man/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | single2 = Beginnings | single2date = October 1969 | single4 = Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? | single4date = October 1970 }} {{Extra album cover | header = Alternative cover | cover = CTA album.jpg |border=yes | type = studio | alt = | caption = Back cover of LP releases and front cover of CD reissues. }} }}
'''''The Chicago Transit Authority''''' is the debut studio album by the American rock band Chicago, and the only album released under their original name Chicago Transit Authority. The double album was released on April 28, 1969, and became a sleeper hit, reaching number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 by 1971. ''The Chicago Transit Authority'' spawned several successful singles, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Questions 67 and 68" and "Beginnings". The album stayed on the ''Billboard'' chart for 171 weeks,<ref name= "BB200 Jun75" /> beating the previous record for a rock album's longevity of 155 weeks (a record set by the Beatles 'White Album')<ref name=Whitburn /> and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).<ref name=RIAA /> For this inaugural recording effort, the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for 1969 Best New Artist of the Year.<ref name=Grammy1969>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/Chicago-Chuck-Gullens/26644 |title=Grammy Awards: Chicago |date=March 17, 2014 |website=GRAMMY.com |language=en |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=March 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320024210/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/chicago |url-status=live }}</ref> The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.<ref name=GHOF>{{cite web |title=2014 GRAMMY HALL OF FAME® INDUCTEES |url=https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-recording-academy-announces-2014-grammy-hall-of-fame-inductees |website=www.grammy.org |access-date=2017-01-03 |archive-date=2017-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131193846/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-recording-academy-announces-2014-grammy-hall-of-fame-inductees |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2025, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.<ref name="NPR">{{Cite news |title=National Recording Registry adds Tracy Chapman, Hamilton and the Minecraft game soundtrack |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/nx-s1-5352774/national-recording-registry-tracy-chapman-elton-john-hamilton-minecraft |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref>
==History== Chicago was formed in early 1967, first as the Big Thing, then Chicago Transit Authority when producer James William Guercio took them on in 1968.<ref>{{cite book |title=Street Player: My Chicago Story |last=Seraphine |first=Danny |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=9780470416839 |pages=47–72}}</ref> Their trademark was fusing brass and jazz with a soulful rock and roll feel that Guercio thought would prove successful, and lobbied his label to sign the band.<ref name="Ruhlmann">{{cite AV media notes |title= Chicago Group Portrait (Box Set) |year=1991 |url=http://aln3.albumlinernotes.com/Chicago_Box_Set_-_Page_1.html |pages=1–4, 8 |access-date=January 18, 2019 |first=William James |last=Ruhlmann |format=CD booklet archived online |publisher=Columbia Records |location=New York City |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20171112155002/http://aln3.albumlinernotes.com/Chicago_Box_Set_-_Page_4.html |archive-date=November 12, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
Chicago Transit Authority signed to Columbia Records late in 1968 and recorded their first album in late January 1969 at CBS studios on 52nd Street in New York City.<ref name="Seraphine 2011 86">{{cite book |title=Street Player: My Chicago Story |last=Seraphine |first=Danny |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=9780470416839 |page=86}}</ref> While Guercio had recently produced Blood, Sweat & Tears' second album (which proved to be a huge smash), he did so to raise capital for his band, and to secure the contract with Columbia (which was reluctant at first to have two jazz-rock bands since Blood, Sweat & Tears was already on their roster).<ref>{{cite book |title=Street Player: My Chicago Story |last=Seraphine |first=Danny |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=9780470416839 |page=85}}</ref><ref name="Ruhlmann" /><ref name="Chicago Story">{{cite web |url=https://chicagotheband.com/a-chicago-story/ |title=A Chicago Story – Chicago |website=Chicagotheband.com |language=en-US |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030061450/https://chicagotheband.com/a-chicago-story/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the ''Chicago Transit Authority'' sessions, the band had decided they wanted it to be a double album. Skeptical, as the band had no track record, Columbia agreed to the concept only if the group would take a royalty cut.<ref name="Ruhlmann" /><ref name="Chicago Story" />
In addition to the material recorded for the album, "Wake Up Sunshine", "It Better End Soon" (both later released on their second album), "Loneliness is Just a Word" (later released on ''Chicago III''), and an early version of "Mississippi Delta City Blues" (with mostly different music than its eventual versions on ''Live in Japan'' and ''Chicago XI'') all date from this era, and were performed as early as 1968. Other early original songs, such as "Dedicated to Girl Number 1" and "Once Upon a Life", were never released.<ref>As heard on early live recordings, including those from Barnaby's in Chicago IL (June 1968) and Itcheyfoot Mose in Los Angeles CA (September 1968).</ref>
==Musical style, writing, composition== Keyboardist Robert Lamm, guitarist Terry Kath and bassist Peter Cetera shared lead vocals, while James Pankow, Lee Loughnane and Walter Parazaider handled all brass and woodwinds (trombone, trumpet and saxophone, clarinet and flute respectively){{efn|Parazaider's photo in the album package shows him playing flute, but he doesn't actually play it on the album.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.paulmorellimusic.com/chicago-chicago-transit-authority.html|title=Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority|website=Paul Morelli, DMA|language=en|access-date=July 5, 2018|archive-date=July 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705233548/https://www.paulmorellimusic.com/chicago-chicago-transit-authority.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} and Danny Seraphine played drums. Lamm, Kath and Pankow were the band's main composers at this time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ling |first=Dave |date=December 15, 2023 |title="Drugs and alcohol and ego clashes got in the way, but we managed to keep them quiet": the unbelievable story of Chicago, the soft rock kings with steel in their hearts |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/chicago-band-story |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Louder }}</ref> Band members added percussion during sections of a song when they weren't playing their main instrument. For example, on "I'm a Man", Pankow was on cowbell, Parazaider on tambourine, and Loughnane on claves.<ref name="Seraphine 2011 86"/> According to Pankow, the band had included the song in their live set "since the beginning of the group". He added that the rest of the band had a "certain rhythm that we play on our instruments, and we try not to vary from that rhythm".<ref name="Quigley">{{Cite magazine |last=Quigley |first=Mike |date=Summer 1969 |title=Chicago: Interview with Jimmy Pankow |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/chicago-interview-with-jimmy-pankow |access-date=October 15, 2025 |url-access=subscription |magazine=Poppin |via=Rock's Backpages}}</ref>
According to the album's original liner notes, the solo performance of Kath on "Free Form Guitar" was created without the use of any pedals.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Chicago_Transit.html|title=Chicago Transit|website=aln2.albumlinernotes|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119230810/http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Chicago_Transit.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Kath instead plugged his Fender Stratocaster directly into his studio amplifier and improvised the entire track.<ref name=":1" /> The final song on the album, "Liberation" began with a horn part that was later fleshed out with some improvisation. Pankow said that "we stretched it out and put improvisational guitar in the middle and a freak out and an Amen cadence going out in a fast ending. It was just thrown together like that and we've kept it ever since."<ref name="Quigley"/>
The album is one of two not to have any songwriting contributions from Cetera during his tenure in the band, the other being ''Chicago V''. He started writing songs with the second album, ''Chicago''.<ref name="Ruhlmann" />
== Recording and production == Because of dealings between the record company and the group's producer, James William Guercio, the group's studio time was limited by the record company to only five days of basic tracking and five days of overdubbing.<ref name="Ruhlmann" /><ref name="Chicago Story" /> The band recorded their parts from midnight to 8 a.m. as Simon & Garfunkel had been booked for the same recording studio for the remainder of the day.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=April 18, 2026 |title=Chicago's Horn Player Never Thought He'd Outlast His Bandmates |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/chicago-trumpet-player-lee-loughnane-last-member-1235549077/ |access-date=April 22, 2026 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> According to Guercio, the album was done on an 8-track console.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Guercio, James William (interviewee), Sinclair, Michelle Kath (director) |date=2016 |title=The Terry Kath Experience |type=documentary film |time=18:36}}</ref>
According to band member Walter Parazaider, when the group went into the studio to record the album, they "found out we knew very little about what we were doing. ... The first song was "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" We tried to record it as a band, live, all of us in the studio at once."<ref name="Ruhlmann" /><ref name="Chicago Story" /> Finally it was decided that drums, bass, keyboard, and guitars would be recorded first, and then the horns and vocals.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Street Player: My Chicago Story|last=Seraphine|first=Danny|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc.|year=2011|isbn=9780470416839|page=86}}</ref>
== Artwork == The cover design for the album is called "Painted Shingle" on the group's official website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chicagotheband.com/js_albums/chicago-transit-authority/|title=Chicago Transit Authority|website=www.chicagotheband.com|access-date=January 18, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121255/https://chicagotheband.com/js_albums/chicago-transit-authority/|url-status=live}}</ref> The inside jacket features individual photos of each band member, which reviewer Peter Morelli notes, "For a band deliberately constructed to be a leaderless democracy, Robert Lamm (far right, standing) sure stands out in the band photos!"<ref name=":0"/>
==Release== Released in April 1969, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' (sometimes informally referred to simply as "CTA") was not an immediate hit, eventually reaching No. 17 in the US<ref name=BB200>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/chicago/chart-history/tlp/ |title=Chicago Chart History: Billboard 200 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023201309/http://www.billboard.com/music/chicago/chart-history/billboard-200 |url-status=live }}</ref> and No. 9 in the UK.<ref name=UKalbums>{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13861/chicago/ |title=CHICAGO {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company |website=www.officialcharts.com |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=December 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224023924/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/13861/chicago/ |url-status=live }}</ref> While critical reaction was generally favorable, sales were slow at first and the album initially failed to produce any hit singles, with the group seen as an album-oriented collective. Meanwhile, FM radio, with its album-oriented format, helped push sales along.<ref>{{cite book |title=Street Player: My Chicago Story |last=Seraphine |first=Danny |publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=9780470416839 |page=105}}</ref> In 1970 and 1971, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (No. 7),<ref name= BBHot100>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/chicago/chart-history/hsi/|title=Chicago Chart History: Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|access-date=January 17, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812044927/https://www.billboard.com/music/chicago/chart-history/hot-100|url-status=live}}</ref> "Beginnings" (No. 7)<ref name= BBHot100 /> and "Questions 67 and 68" (No. 71 and No. 24 for the 1971 re-release)<ref name= BBHot100 /> all made it into the Billboard Hot 100 belatedly. Buoyed by the success of their later albums, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' had stayed on the charts for 171 weeks as of June 1975,<ref name= "BB200 Jun75">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200 |title=Top 200 Albums {{!}} Billboard 200 chart for week of June 7, 1975 |magazine=Billboard |date=2 January 2013 |access-date=January 18, 2019 |archive-date=January 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130052316/https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2019-02-02 |url-status=live }}</ref> setting the then record for a rock album's chart longevity by October 1974 at 155 weeks,<ref name=Whitburn>{{cite news |title=Joel Whitburn's Record Research Report |date=October 19, 1974 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |newspaper=Billboard |page=10 |url={{Google books|tAcEAAAAMBAJ|page=PT9|plainurl=yes}} |access-date=January 18, 2019 |via=Google Books}}</ref> and was certified gold (and later platinum and double platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).<ref name=RIAA>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Chicago+Transit+Authority#search_section |title=Gold & Platinum: Chicago Transit Authority |website=RIAA |language=en-US |access-date=January 17, 2019 |archive-date=August 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812044942/https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Chicago+Transit+Authority#search_section |url-status=live }}</ref>
While the band toured the album, legal action was threatened by the actual Chicago Transit Authority, forcing the group to truncate their name to simply ''Chicago''.<ref name="Ruhlmann" />
== Reception == {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r3843/review}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Colin|last=Larkin|author-link=Colin Larkin |chapter=Chicago|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=1998|publisher=Groves Dictionaries|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo02lark/page/1054/mode/1up 1054]|isbn=1-561-59237-4}}</ref> | rev3 = ''The Great Rock Discography'' | rev3Score = 7/10<ref>{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin C.|author-link=Martin C. Strong|title=The Great Rock Discography|chapter=Chicago|date=2004|edition=7th|publisher=Canongate Books|page=[https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro_r9o1/page/285/mode/1up 285]|isbn=1-84195-615-5}}</ref> | rev4 = ''MusicHound'' | rev4Score = 3.5/5<ref>{{cite book|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=1999|isbn=1-57859-061-2|editor1-last=Graff|editor1-first=Gary |editor2-last=Durchholz|editor2-first=Daniel|chapter=Chicago/Peter Cetera|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/228/mode/1up 228]}}</ref> | rev5 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev5Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Chicago|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|year=2004|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/162/mode/1up 162]}}</ref> }} ''Chicago Transit Authority'' has received acclaim since its release. Writing for Allmusic, Lindsay Planar wrote, "Few debut albums can boast as consistently solid an effort as the self-titled Chicago Transit Authority (1969). Even fewer can claim to have enough material to fill out a double-disc affair."
=== Awards and Honors ===
In 1970, the group was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/12th-annual-grammy-awards|title=12th Annual GRAMMY Awards}}</ref> though they would lose to Crosby, Stills and Nash.
In 2014, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref name=GHOF />
''Chicago Transit Authority'' is the only Chicago album listed in ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/1001albums.htm|title=Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...1001 Albums|publisher=Rocklistmusic.co.uk|access-date=2012-01-05|archive-date=2012-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130151506/http://rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker//1001albums.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
In 2025, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' was inducted to the National Recording Registry.<ref name="NPR" />
== Reissues == In 1974, the album was also mixed in quadraphonic sound and released on SQ encoded LP (GQ-33255) and Dolby Quadraphonic 8-Track (QCA-33255).
In 2002, ''Chicago Transit Authority'' was remastered and reissued on one CD by Rhino Records, after the rights to Chicago's Columbia Records catalog were assigned to the band themselves.<ref name=Waller>{{Cite news|title=Killer Catalog: Ambitious Rhino Reissues Program Salutes "One of the Great Groups" |date=July 20, 2002|last=Waller|first=Don|newspaper=Billboard|page=42|url={{Google books|_AsEAAAAMBAJ|page=PA42|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=January 18, 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> Rhino Records trimmed some of the songs, noticeably the fadeouts on "Questions #67 and #68" (six seconds longer on the LP) and "Free Form Guitar" (five seconds longer), the 10 second gap between "Someday" and "Liberation", and some studio chatter.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In 2010, Rhino Handmade re-released the original quadraphonic mix of the album on a limited edition DTS DVD,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theseconddisc.com/2010/04/review-chicago-chicago-transit-authority-quadradisc/|title=Review: Chicago – "Chicago Transit Authority" Quadradisc|last=Marchese|first=Joe|date=April 12, 2010|website=The Second Disc|language=en-US|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812045003/https://theseconddisc.com/2010/04/12/review-chicago-chicago-transit-authority-quadradisc/|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2016, in DTS-HD Master Audio, as part of Chicago Quadio Box Set.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rhino.com/article/out-now-chicago-quadio|title=Out Now: Chicago, Quadio {{!}} Rhino|date=June 17, 2016|website=www.rhino.com|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102143020/https://www.rhino.com/article/out-now-chicago-quadio|url-status=live}}</ref>
On June 26, 2019, Rhino Records announced a 50th Anniversary Remix edition of ''Chicago Transit Authority'', offering it in both CD and double LP formats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rhino.com/article/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix|title=Chicago Transit Authority 50th Anniversary Remix|date=June 26, 2019|website=Rhino |access-date=January 26, 2020|archive-date=September 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904024155/https://www.rhino.com/article/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix|url-status=live}}</ref> Although the press release announced an August 30, 2019 release date, the date was pushed back to September 13, 2019 outside of Canada.{{Citation needed|reason=not supported with citation |date=January 2020}} The band worked with engineer Tim Jessup, who also mixed the band’s ''Live at the Isle of Wight Festival.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theseconddisc.com/2019/06/26/beginnings-rhino-remixes-chicago-transit-authority-for-50th-anniversary/|title=Beginnings: Rhino Remixes "Chicago Transit Authority" For 50th Anniversary|last=Marchese|first=Joe|date=June 26, 2019|website=The Second Disc|language=en-US|access-date=January 26, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126153206/https://theseconddisc.com/2019/06/26/beginnings-rhino-remixes-chicago-transit-authority-for-50th-anniversary/|url-status=live}}</ref> Robbie Gerson, reviewing the vinyl release for ''Audiophile Audition'', gave an overall positive review, saying, "Rhino has done an outstanding job in re-mastering ''Chicago Transit Authority'' to 180-gram vinyl."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.audaud.com/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix-rhino-entertainment/|title=Chicago Transit Authority - 50th Anniversary Remix - Rhino Entertainment|last=Gerson|first=AudiophileRobbie|date=October 4, 2019|website=Audiophile Audition|language=en-US|access-date=January 26, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126153233/https://www.audaud.com/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix-rhino-entertainment/|url-status=live}}</ref> In his review for ''All About Jazz'', Doug Colette gave the CD four out of five stars, noting that there's "less precedence for the harmony singing," but that there's "wallop to the drums," "edge to the guitar," and "great care throughout to highlight, without overstatement but with proportionate accuracy and impact, the tightly-fused rhythm work of drummer Danny Seraphine and bassist Peter Cetera: both sound equally vigorous and muscular in their playing."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix-chicago-rhino|title=Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority 50th anniversary Remix album review @ All About Jazz|last=Collette|first=Doug|date=October 12, 2019|website=All About Jazz|language=en|access-date=January 26, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126153205/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/chicago-transit-authority-50th-anniversary-remix-chicago-rhino|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Track listing == {{Track listing | extra_column = Lead vocals | headline = Side one
| title1 = Introduction | writer1 = Terry Kath | extra1 = Kath | length1 = 6:35
| title2 = Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? | writer2 = Robert Lamm | extra2 = Lamm | length2 = 4:35
| title3 = Beginnings | writer3 = Lamm | extra3 = Lamm | length3 = 7:54 }}
{{Track listing | extra_column = Lead vocals | headline = Side two | title1 = Questions 67 and 68 | writer1 = Lamm | extra1 = Peter Cetera, Lamm | length1 = 5:03
| title2 = Listen | writer2 = Lamm | extra2 = Lamm | length2 = 3:22
| title3 = Poem 58 | writer3 = Lamm | extra3 = Lamm | length3 = 8:35 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side three | extra_column = Lead vocals | title1 = Free Form Guitar | writer1 = Kath | extra1 = — | length1 = 6:47
| title2 = South California Purples | writer2 = Lamm | extra2 = Lamm | length2 = 6:11
| title3 = I'm a Man | writer3 = Steve Winwood, Jimmy Miller | extra3 = Lamm, Cetera, Kath | length3 = 7:43 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Side four | extra_column = Lead vocals | title1 = Prologue, August 29, 1968{{efn|Recording from the Democratic Convention in Chicago on August 29, 1968, with demonstrators chanting, "The whole world is watching."<ref>Liner notes from the album.</ref>}} | writer1 = James William Guercio | extra1 = — | length1 = 0:58 | title2 = Someday (August 29, 1968) | writer2 = James Pankow, Lamm | extra2 = Lamm, Cetera | length2 = 4:11 | title3 = Liberation | writer3 = Pankow | extra3 = Kath{{efn|Briefly near the end: "Oh, thank you people" but otherwise an instrumental}} | length3 = 14:38 | all_writing = | total_length = 76:32 }}
== Personnel == * Peter Cetera – bass, lead and backing vocals * Terry Kath – guitars, lead and backing vocals * Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals * Lee Loughnane – trumpet, claves, backing vocals * James Pankow – trombone, cowbell * Walter Parazaider – saxophone, tambourine, backing vocals * Danny Seraphine – drums, percussion
=== Production === * James William Guercio – producer, original liner notes * Fred Catero – engineer * Nick Fasciano – artwork
==== 2002 reissue ==== * Lee Loughnane – A&R, project supervisor * David McLees – A&R, project supervisor * Gary Peterson – A&R, project supervisor * Mike Engstrom – project manager * April Milek – project assistant * Bob O'Neill – project assistant * Ingrid K. Olson – project assistant * Randy Perry – project assistant * Steve Woolard – project assistant * Jeff Magid – audio supervisor * Cory Frye – editorial supervisor * Steven Chean – editorial research * David Donnelly – remastering * Hugh Brown – photography * Maria Villar – art direction, design * David Wild – liner notes
==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (1969–1971) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=62}}</ref> | 23 |- {{album chart|Canada|10|artist=Chicago|album=Chicago Transit Authority|chartid=6040|rowheader=true|access-date=June 20, 2024}} |- {{album chart|Netherlands|6|artist=Chicago|album=Chicago Transit Authority|rowheader=true|access-date=June 20, 2024}} |- {{album chart|Norway|8|artist=Chicago|album=Chicago Transit Authority|rowheader=true|access-date=June 20, 2024}} |- {{album chart|UK2|9|date=19700201|rowheader=true|access-date=June 20, 2024}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|17|artist=Chicago|rowheader=true|access-date=June 20, 2024}} |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (1970) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| US ''Billboard 200''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1970/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1970|magazine=Billboard|date=2 January 2013|access-date=March 24, 2021|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603003348/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1970/top-billboard-200-albums|url-status=live}}</ref> | 23 |}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |- ! scope="col"| Chart (1971) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| US ''Billboard 200''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1971/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1971|magazine=Billboard|date=2 January 2013|access-date=March 24, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604052252/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1971/top-billboard-200-albums|url-status=live}}</ref> | 15 |} {{col-end}}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|type=album|relyear=1969|region=Canada|award=Platinum|certyear=1977|artist=Chicago|title=Transit Authority|access-date=June 21, 2023}} {{Certification Table Entry|type=album|relyear=1969|region=United States|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=1986|artist=Chicago|title=Chicago Transit Authority|access-date=June 21, 2023}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Chicagoband}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Transit Authority, The}} Category:Chicago (band) albums Category:1969 debut albums Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Albums produced by James William Guercio Category:Columbia Records albums Category:Hard rock albums by American artists Category:Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio Category:United States National Recording Registry albums