Chicago "Live In Toronto 1969"

In 1969, Chicago appeared at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, the same one day rock festival that produced John Lennon's Live Peace in Toronto 1969. (Also appearing at the Festival were Alice Cooper, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry - whose performances of the event were also issued on albums.) Since 1978, there have been innumerable unauthorized LP, Cassette and CD releases of the same poor-quality recording of this performance.

There were eight songs recorded at the gig, seven from Chicago Transit Authority plus the then unreleased "25 or 6 to 4." Almost all of these releases include only seven of the songs; "Beginnings" is nearly always omitted, its title often being wrongly given to the first track "Introduction". "South California Purples" is often listed as "Purples," "Purple Song" or "South Carolina Purples", and sometimes given an incorrect writing credit—i.e., to composer Carl Michalski or "John Gunner/J.Marks".

The one song in the set not to appear previously on any official live album is "Liberation", which is frequently edited or faded early and whose correct total runtime is approximately 16:05. On some versions, all the songs are faded early. Some LP versions include talking between songs, most notably Lamm pointing out that "25 or 6 to 4" was a brand new song.

Despite its shortcomings, some reviewers have regarded the recording quite positively. For example, the 1984 LP release Chicago: Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 69 by Design Records is considered by reviewer Doug Stone to be a "choice concert souvenir...captur(ing) the group in its live prime. Supporting the Chicago Transit Authority debut, before mastering wedding material, Chicago was a rock & roll force to be reckoned with." A reviewer of an earlier version of same recording, entitled Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival 1969, Volume 1 (Accord, 1981) considers that "...there's certainly nothing wrong with the performance. In some ways, the at times fuzzy sound works in the album's favor, giving Chicago a garage-y edge rarely found on their studio works."