Chicago VII was released in march 1974, certified gold March 18, 1974, and reached a peak Billboard chart position of #1 ( the group’s third of five #1 albums). This RIAA White Matte celebrates its success…
This authentic award is presented to Laudir de Oliveira, a Brazilian percussionist who started working with the band as a sideman, playing on the albums Chicago VI and Chicago VII before officially joining the band in 1975.
It’s a good example of a Third-State award. Where First-State awards are unopened and contain all original parts, and Second-State awards have been repaired with original period parts, a Third-State award has been repaired with non-period parts. Here’s what I look at…
Above you see a replaced matte (it’s too white and tight for a forty year old award). In the pictures below, you see a new wire hanging, a manufacturer sticker that looks like it was taken off and reattached, and some missing small nails that hold the backing board to the frame. Looking closer, at the bottom of the backing board (with the torn paper held up), there is a large water stain which probably came through on the original matte as well, creating the reason to open and change the award.
In my opinion, if this award was restored with original parts, by cannibalizing another White Matte from the same period, it could be considered a Second-State award, and ascribed a higher value.
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