Big Star

r.i.p.

big star have a few nice songs. am i supposed to be impressed?

no, you're supposed to turn up your nose and post incredibly ill-timed messages on the internet about your failure to be dazzled

OMG! rip.

be impressed if you're impressed. they do have outstanding songs. in any event, the passing of chilton and hummel is rapid succession is very sad.

Magic Ksh:

Maybe it's cos I'm a 21st century lazy twat who's reliant on spotify and doesn't care about the context of a band's music, but I just don't get Big Star. And I want to like them, so I can be cool :(

Ugh I feel like a pretentious twat

Wait, I've only just noticed Hummel has passed away. My own fault for not reading the topic properly. Sorry :(

RIP

haha yeah i mean you're allowed your opinion, the timing was unfortunate was all but if that was totally unintentional don't sweat it

figured out "way out west" on the guitar tonight -- hummel didn't write a lot of songs, but hey, he wrote that one! RIP.

When is ksh coming back?

ksh has come back as user "CaptainLorax"

RIP Andy. What a shocker.

RIP.

It's kinda weird because I've been digging "Way Out West" a lot lately. A few weeks back someone I (sadly) still care too much for decamped for a month in LA. She'll be back in August, but it still made me sad. Our relationship hadn't played out like I hoped and the song captures that whole feeling particularly well.

Anyway, this morning I got an e-mail from her. The first in a few weeks, it was actually a form letter asking for help on a project she's starting once she gets back to Houston. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but you know it's just another chapter in whatever it is between us. And then right after I find out about Andy...news I really didn't want to hear.

Thanks for the music, man.

and though it's no one's (not even Hummel's) fave song on #1 Record, I had come around to really liking the India Song -- kind of adds a unique element to the album as a whole. in the Big Star book, Hummel said he was kinda embarrassed by it, but it's a pretty little thing -- kind of makes me think of the Incredible String Band.

I've always held a soft spot for that song, actually.

India Song is unfairly maligned. I've always liked it.

I didn't used to but it's hard not to now, weird.
I'm gonna play it and Way Out West on my show tomorrow night, for sure.

http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.147007851.jpg

and why don't you come on back from way out west
and love me, we can work out the rest...

r.i.p.

damn, i totally missed the news that andy hummel passed away too last year

rip

I was at a rep theatre in Toronto tonight, and they played "September Gurls" before the film.

guess the box set won a grammy for best liners? it really is an essential box, even if you've got the albums already.

did Jody Stephens post on ILX once or did I just imagine that?

did he? that'd be cool, he seems like a nice guy.
hey i just posted a rare-ish big star bootleg over yonder: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/3297965849/way-out-east-havent-seen-this-show-posted-around

That is awesome.

it really is an essential box, even if you've got the albums already.

Tyler, can you elaborate? I haven't sprung for it, it just didn't feel like alternate versions and a dodgy bootleg (much less than soundboard quality doesn't work for me) justified the investment.

My buddies who recorded at Ardent describe the studio layout as one small central room with surrounding bigger rooms.
The only thing in the central studio is Jody's drums. They heard him rehearsing along with Big Star records (that he had to borrow from someone) getting ready for the SXSW reunion gig.
I've said it on here elsewhere, but the box is definitely the best encapsulation of a band's career that I've ever experienced.
xp well it sounds AMAZING and the booklet is incredible. The live disc in there breaks my heart, though, and I can't listen to it very often. A band at the absolute top of their game playing in a room full of people that seem completely disinterested. But they fucking cook. The choice of cover songs is inspired, as well.

The alternate versions of songs from Third (the acoustic demos) really put that stuff into a different context that is worth hearing.
I didn't like the first album all that much until I listened to it in the box set, but I can't describe why or how. The price of the box is worth the version of the Radio City band doing the Chris Bell song "There Was A Light" alone, in my opinion.

Sorry, I know you didn't ask me, but I listened to Big Star every day for at least six months after buying the box set.
The live disc is pretty poor sounding. It pretty much reveals just how undervalued Big Star was in their lifetime (and in their own environment, even). Heavy listen. And they cover Hot Burrito #2.

re: the box set, the chilton solo demos are really the main draw for me -- just these beautiful solo 12-string versions of radio city/sister lovers tunes. they really highlight how well-crafted those songs really are - and how planned out. the sister lovers stuff has a rep for being "crazy/improv" in the studio kind of stuff, but the demos show that chilton had it pretty well mapped out for the most part. as for other unreleased stuff, like trip maker sez, "there was a light" is essential, as is "got kinda lost." i really like the live disc -- the sound quality seems pretty clear to me, and there is a lot of chilton's fantastic guitar playing. the burrito bros cover is rad. anyway, if you can get it for $40 or so, totally money well spent.

also, yeah, the live disc is amazing in that you can literally count the number of hands clapping. i think it's six.

Add me to the fans of the box. It's a really gorgeous package. My issues with it are sorta minor. The rarities impact was dulled slightly by that Thank You Friends thing on Big Beat from 2008, which scooped the box by offering 19 rare/unissued Chilton/Ice Water/Big Star trax--most of which popped up again on the box, but there still are some exclusives (although Ardent should be dropping expanded editons of 1970 & 3rd/Sister Lovers later this year which may fix that). On the other hand, that set had only a couple of the Chilton solo demos, which are a real revealation as both Tyler & Tripmaker have said.

I've picked up three of the four (now OOP) Box Tops cds from the Sundazed garage sale. It would have been nice to have had some of the Chilton originals on the box, but I imagine space limitations and licensing restrictions kept them off the table. "Together" and a post-break up b-side "Since I Been Gone" would have fit in well on the first disc.

that thank you friends set is essential too! even with the overlap w/ the big star box. haha, maybe i'm not the most reliable source for this stuff, i love it all.

the box set surpasses all previous releases/reissues from the band. I gave away my copies of the other versions I had after I got the box set. the demos/alternate versions are almost all uniformly amazing, the booklet and packaging are gorgeous. it's THE comprehensive document of the band's output.

the box set is totally amazing, though I did a double take on some of the Chris Bell tracks which are sped up a tad from the original CD issue. (The same is true for the Chris Bell remaster.) There are a million ways to screw up that kind of modified track listing plus rarities project, but they didn't screw it up and the result is a whole new perspective on albums that anyone who bought the set has already listened to dozens of times.

huh, hadn't noticed the differences in the chris bell tracks -- wonder if that's more true to chris' intentions, or just a mistake?

i haven't gotten the latest reish of i am the cosmos, though. i like my ryko version ...

hmmm yeah I only have the Ryko version, hadn't noticed the difference either

I've been wanting to get that Ardent comp for awhile, just haven't been able to afford it.

there's one pretty amazing big star thing on the thank you friends set that didn't make the box set -- the radio city version of "big black car" ... at least i think it's the radio city version. earlier, anyway.

IIRC was done to match the speed on the 45, which was different from what was on the album. Definitely for "I am the Cosmos" but I seem to remember it for another track too.

the demo version of Big Black Car with just the 12-string... whooeee

ha, yeah, that song is wasssssssted. also, the "maybe we'll fuck in a holiday inn" line (as opposed to third's "sleep") is wild.

http://omnivorerecordings.com/artists/big-star/

Awe-some.

yeah looks cool, tho the whole record store day thing kinda bums me out. there are so few record stores anywhere near me! ugh. and when i did go to a record store day thing a year or two back, they didn't have any of the "special" releases I wanted!

Big Star’s Third to be Performed Live in NYC

http://ardentstudios.com/2011/03/14/big-stars-third-to-be-performed-live-in-nyc/

One can only imagine the track sequence repercussions.

oh man a real test pressing! that's like the Big Star Golden Ticket

Got the boxset for my birthday! Man this sounds good. Love the piano on "Every Day As We Grow Closer". Listening together with the giver now (only 10 songs into the first disc) - thx love :)