Liberation
Composer: Pankow
Key: B-flat
Meter: 4/4
Time: 14:39
Lead Vocal: Kath (just a quick line near the end)
Form: Melody, guitar solo, freakout section, long slow build, fast ending
Instrumentation: trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, electric guitar, organ, bass, drums, one voice
Overall form and style: "Liberation" is Chicago Transit Authority's closer, a loose jam with a cheerful melody played by the horn section that quickly turns into an extended jam for the rhythm section and a long guitar solo for Terry Kath. The solo begins fast and continues when the tune slows down. After some time, the rhythm section stops completely and Terry's solo gets weirder, roaming into free-form territory. The bizarre, atonal guitar noises are joined by other instruments one by one until the whole band is atonally and arhythmically shrieking. Finally the cacophony stops and a long, slow build of alternating suspended and major triads (much like "Questions 67 & 68") leads into a sudden tempo change for a furious ending. If you prefer charts, see below:
Opening melody: until 1:24
Fast part of guitar jam: 1:24 - 7:48
Slow part of guitar jam: 7:48 - 9:35
Freakout section: 9:35 - 11:23
Long, slow build: 11:23 - 13:19
Fast ending: 13:19 - end
Melody: There's not a whole lot of composed melody in "Liberation", but the horn section spot at the beginning is a lively, active melody using the key of B-flat major with bluesy inflections, including a lowered third and some lines that descend to end on E natural, the raised 4th scale degree. It's the kind of melody you could imagine a jazz musician coming up with by improvising it, and it's quite possible that that's exactly what Mr. Pankow did. When the chords change after the first melody statement, the horn simply play pads. This area is somewhat like the opening of "Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home" from the third album.
When the horn section comes back in with the written part near then end, it's just a repeated riff in G minor.
Harmony: "Liberation" is in a bluesy B-flat major, without a lot of harmonic motion. For the guitar solo sections (most of the piece), the harmony stays in B-flat without changes. The long, slow buildup after the freakout section alternates between B-flat suspended and B-flat major, the same relationship that was all over "Questions" earlier in the album. The horn melody at the start stays mostly on B-flat as well, but does turn around by using V/V (C) and V (F). The use of V/V instead of ii allows the melody to use that nasty E natural. The pads halfway through the horn melody have some more active harmony, as the F chord resolves deceptively to G minor. The progression is G- Eb C Eb and repeat. Here, G sounds like the tonal center, and the progression would be i VI IV VI. This exact progression returns when the horn come back in with once the piece speeds way back up just before the end, and is the foundation under the repeated horn riff there. The piece ends with two long fermatas, the first a G dominant 7th chord and the second the same chord with a ninth as well. After so much establishment of B-flat as the tonic, the last chords don't resonate as I chords, but rather dissonant big-band style shouts.
Arrangement: "Liberation" is loosely arranged in several big sections. After a quick rhythm section intro, the horns play their melody, sending off the guitar solo. The tempo slows down partway through the solo, then stops all together. The long, cacophonous build stores an enormous amount of tension, which finally releases in silence. A quiet, calm section begins another long build, this one contrasted to the last by being serene, tonal, and pretty. This build, topped by Terry's joyful shout, suddenly leads into the exhilarating conclusion.
Other notes: As noted in the album's liner notes, "Liberation" was recorded as a totally live performance in the studio, with no edits or overdubs.
A few of Danny Seraphine's solo drum fills, most noticeably the first one (at about :54) have this neat tempo-bending effect. The tempo stays totally steady throughout, but by metric modulation (switching from triplets to sixteenths) and by careful control of the time, he manages to make those fills sound like they are speeding up!
Terry Kath's vocal shout near the end stumped me for a long time as to what he was saying. I always thought it might be, after the "whoa-oa-oa", "find you bein' home". I then thought to look it up on this new internet thing the kids are talking about and turns out it's "Thank you, people" which makes a lot more sense.
This is a hell of a long track, and one of the very few complaints I have about this album is that this one goes on for an awfully long time. I'm no opponent of long pieces - I love "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" and "The Gates of Delirium" and more - but 14:39 is awfully long for how few things happen in this one. Strangely enough, while I am a huge fan of the early Chicago albums I generally don't like the way any of them, with the exception of Chicago III, end.
PM
Key: B-flat
Meter: 4/4
Time: 14:39
Lead Vocal: Kath (just a quick line near the end)
Form: Melody, guitar solo, freakout section, long slow build, fast ending
Instrumentation: trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, electric guitar, organ, bass, drums, one voice
Overall form and style: "Liberation" is Chicago Transit Authority's closer, a loose jam with a cheerful melody played by the horn section that quickly turns into an extended jam for the rhythm section and a long guitar solo for Terry Kath. The solo begins fast and continues when the tune slows down. After some time, the rhythm section stops completely and Terry's solo gets weirder, roaming into free-form territory. The bizarre, atonal guitar noises are joined by other instruments one by one until the whole band is atonally and arhythmically shrieking. Finally the cacophony stops and a long, slow build of alternating suspended and major triads (much like "Questions 67 & 68") leads into a sudden tempo change for a furious ending. If you prefer charts, see below:
Opening melody: until 1:24
Fast part of guitar jam: 1:24 - 7:48
Slow part of guitar jam: 7:48 - 9:35
Freakout section: 9:35 - 11:23
Long, slow build: 11:23 - 13:19
Fast ending: 13:19 - end
Melody: There's not a whole lot of composed melody in "Liberation", but the horn section spot at the beginning is a lively, active melody using the key of B-flat major with bluesy inflections, including a lowered third and some lines that descend to end on E natural, the raised 4th scale degree. It's the kind of melody you could imagine a jazz musician coming up with by improvising it, and it's quite possible that that's exactly what Mr. Pankow did. When the chords change after the first melody statement, the horn simply play pads. This area is somewhat like the opening of "Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home" from the third album.
When the horn section comes back in with the written part near then end, it's just a repeated riff in G minor.
Harmony: "Liberation" is in a bluesy B-flat major, without a lot of harmonic motion. For the guitar solo sections (most of the piece), the harmony stays in B-flat without changes. The long, slow buildup after the freakout section alternates between B-flat suspended and B-flat major, the same relationship that was all over "Questions" earlier in the album. The horn melody at the start stays mostly on B-flat as well, but does turn around by using V/V (C) and V (F). The use of V/V instead of ii allows the melody to use that nasty E natural. The pads halfway through the horn melody have some more active harmony, as the F chord resolves deceptively to G minor. The progression is G- Eb C Eb and repeat. Here, G sounds like the tonal center, and the progression would be i VI IV VI. This exact progression returns when the horn come back in with once the piece speeds way back up just before the end, and is the foundation under the repeated horn riff there. The piece ends with two long fermatas, the first a G dominant 7th chord and the second the same chord with a ninth as well. After so much establishment of B-flat as the tonic, the last chords don't resonate as I chords, but rather dissonant big-band style shouts.
Arrangement: "Liberation" is loosely arranged in several big sections. After a quick rhythm section intro, the horns play their melody, sending off the guitar solo. The tempo slows down partway through the solo, then stops all together. The long, cacophonous build stores an enormous amount of tension, which finally releases in silence. A quiet, calm section begins another long build, this one contrasted to the last by being serene, tonal, and pretty. This build, topped by Terry's joyful shout, suddenly leads into the exhilarating conclusion.
Other notes: As noted in the album's liner notes, "Liberation" was recorded as a totally live performance in the studio, with no edits or overdubs.
A few of Danny Seraphine's solo drum fills, most noticeably the first one (at about :54) have this neat tempo-bending effect. The tempo stays totally steady throughout, but by metric modulation (switching from triplets to sixteenths) and by careful control of the time, he manages to make those fills sound like they are speeding up!
Terry Kath's vocal shout near the end stumped me for a long time as to what he was saying. I always thought it might be, after the "whoa-oa-oa", "find you bein' home". I then thought to look it up on this new internet thing the kids are talking about and turns out it's "Thank you, people" which makes a lot more sense.
This is a hell of a long track, and one of the very few complaints I have about this album is that this one goes on for an awfully long time. I'm no opponent of long pieces - I love "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" and "The Gates of Delirium" and more - but 14:39 is awfully long for how few things happen in this one. Strangely enough, while I am a huge fan of the early Chicago albums I generally don't like the way any of them, with the exception of Chicago III, end.
PM
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