Live In 1971

Chicago was one of the 1st groups to perform at the Kennedy Center after it opened in September 1971. That historic concert has been newly remixed from the original multi track tapes by Chicago founding member and trumpeter Lee Loughnane and engineer Tim Jessup and will debut in an upcoming collection from Rhino Records.

"Chicago At The John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts, Washington DC, 9/16/1971", will be available from Rhino Records and Warner Music on September 27th, 2024 in 4 LP, 3 CD, and digital configurations.

This 26 track live collection was recorded on September 16th, 1971, about a week after the John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts opened in the nation’s capital. For more than 50 years, the concert has remained unreleased except for the performance of “Goodbye”, which debuted in 2018 on "Chicago : VI Decades Live".

The Kennedy Center performance includes more than 2 hours of live music by Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, Peter Cetera, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walt Parazaider.

The show explores all 3 studio albums that Chicago released since their 1969 debut. The songs span a range of styles, underscoring the band’s ability to blend genres seamlessly. There are rockers, ballads, jazz influenced tracks, and extended song suites.

The band would begin recording "Chicago V" a few days after the Kennedy Center performance. Released in July 1972, the album marked a significant evolution in the band’s sound and would become Chicago’s 1st #1 album. To get ready for the studio, Loughnane says the band roadtested some new songs in DC.

“Case in point: we did ‘Saturday In The Park’ for the 1st time at the Kennedy Center show. You’ll notice that we hadn’t yet decided on who would sing the lead vocal. Also, Robert hadn’t written 'Part 2' of ‘Dialogue’ yet”.