Reviews

BIG STAR
KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY
RHINO

When I was recently in Eugene, Oregon, to see Bob Dylan, I happened to find myself next to the parents of Jon Auer from The Posies – a fact I eked out after a conversation about Australia and how their son had been here. I tell the story because the odds of this happening seem to be astronomical.

Apart from his work with The Posies, Auer and Ken Stringfellow have also been members of a recent version of Big Star. Jon’s parents were surprised when I told that I not only knew The Posies but had seen them. (“He always told us they were better known outside the USA,” said his father.)

They were doubly surprised when I told them that Big Star was one of my favourite bands of all time and that it was a legendary outfit. “That’s what Jon said!” his mother exclaimed. It was almost as, with the recognition of a stranger from across the seas, they realised that their son was involved in
something special.

And make no mistake; despite its obscurity Big Star was a very special outfit, influencing R.E.M, Wilco, Teenage Fanclub and others. The Replacements recorded the song ‘Alex Chilton’ as a tribute to the band and included the line, “I never travel without a little Big Star.”

While it has remained a cult band for the past 35 years or so, there is no doubt that Big Star’s legacy and influence has been considerable, though its story was almost over as soon as it started.

Formed at Ardent Studios by Chris Bell and former lead singer with the Box Tops, Alex Chilton (who quit that band when he was only 17), the line-up also included drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel. Both Bell and Chilton were fans of The Beatles but in emulating their heroes they managed to create something of their own, in much the same way that Lennon and McCartney were emulating the Everly Brothers. The Big Star sound – ‘power pop’, if you will – kept alive The Beatles’ early penchant for concise, catchy pop songs, harmonies and strident guitars, without the polish of
an Abbey Road.

The debut album #1 Record arrived in 1972 but was not a success. Apparently, Bell was so devastated that he left the band to pursue a solo career (he later tragically died in a road accident). The remaining members continued with Radio City and, finally, 3rd (aka Sister Lovers produced by Jim Dickinson and unreleased for four years after its recording).

This four-disc box set spans the band’s history from 1968 to its break up in 1975. The 98 tracks cover Big Star’s origins – with tracks from early Bell and Chilton recordings including precursor bands Rock City and Icewater – then winds its way through the band’s recording history across the three studio albums. There are several tracks from Bell’s solo work after he left the band (including his mighty ‘I Am The Cosmos’).

There are alternate mixes, demos (including a version of Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘Motel Blues’), and an entire live disc recorded at Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis in January, 1973 (after Bell’s departure). There is also a rendition of Lou Reed’s ‘Femme Fatale’ and there is also a reference to the Velvets in Chilton and Hummel’s song title ‘What’s Going Ahn’.

The concert recordings are a bit rough but they are one of the rare live snapshots of the band, with originals and covers from The Kinks (’Come On Now’), Todd Rundgren (‘Slut’), the Flying Burrito Brothers (‘Hot Burrito #2’), T. Rex (‘Baby Strange’). Also included on the final disc is what is claimed to be the only video footage of the band – a clip they made for the song ‘Thirteen’.

The box set is packaged in the shape of a seven-inch single with a 102-page booklet that contains essays on the band’s history, including one from Robert Gordon. There are also many excellent photographs that represent a band history in themselves.

One of the most striking things about this collection is just how good the songs sound all these decades later. Perhaps this is because of the sparkling production at Ardent, thanks to Jim Dickinson on the third album. It is also because these are songs that have not been on high rotation on radio, though many of them certainly deserve to be. Save the money you were going to spend on The Beatles re-releases, buy this box on import and set out on a journey of discovery.

It was always said of the Velvet Underground that hardly anyone bought the albums but everyone who did formed a band as a result. Almost the same might be said of Big Star, although it still remains much more obscure than Lou Reed and his cohorts. This comprehensive box set might go someway to rectifying that inequity and perhaps bring Big Star to the wider attention that the band certainly deserves.

Big Star might just be the best band you have never heard.