Big Star

Ry Cooder on the Mandoguitar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2FrFBceLuY

Digging Nothing Can Hurt Me, which is alternative takes and re-mixes, as seen in the movie of the same name apparently.

I thought it was just a capo-ed Strat put through the same kind of massive tube compressor that the Beatles favored on stuff like the "Nowhere Man" solo.

Maybe it is, maybe it's not-- but like I said, you can get a sound that is pretty damn close without a Mandocaster (which I'd never even heard of).

Went through the vinyl section of the one remaining centre of town record/cd shop today and found they had both #1 Record and Radio City in there. Not sure if I should be as surprised as I was. Good to see, but does leave me wondering how well known they are these days.
Are they something every semi aware indie kid has known about since Teenage Fanclub were popular?

There are some odd semi obscure cd titles that appear in that record shop on a regular basis . That is to say odd titles appear regularly not individual titles reappear I don't think. Not sure if there's one semi informed cd buyer in the place or if there is a directive of what to buy from elsewhere. Somehow still not got around to really ask after several years.

You can get new audiophile pressings of the first two fairly cheaply ($25-30 for the pair).

And the SACD twofer if you are into niche digital formats. Plays on ordinary players too. It sounds BRIGHT but I think those controls were turned up at Ardent Studios rather than at the mastering plant.

I'm a wasted face, I'm a sad-eyed lie, I'm a holocaust.

Documentary is on Netflix now.

Watching now. Really well done. "When I said Ardent, people thought I had said Argent!"

TGIFs?

great documentary. wish it discussed the making of third a little bit more but can't really complain

Looks like Stranded In Canton is on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1eDzz5fKio&list=PL0FEC235144290819

And just in case you've never heard Elliott Smith sing "Thirteen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZZWtLch1g0

was posted over in the netflix thread but this panther burns clip is a must watch, so good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U-k32L0KCc

Really enjoyed the movie, and not just as a band bio -- along the way it hits on interesting things about Memphis, the music biz, the weird world of rock crit, how pop culture myths are made and sustained, and the central mystery of how art happens. I almost think it's better that they didn't get to interview Alex. It lets the film revolve around the absence of him and Chris.

otm, every word.

thanks JR for Stranded in Canton, that was fucking great

I like how TGI Friday's was THE place to be. How times have changed.

lol "Axel Chitlin"

I like how TGI Friday's was THE place to be. How times have changed.

Totally agree. It took such a huge mental leap for me to see TGI Fridays as anything other than what it is now.

was it the first TGI Fridays?

second after nyc according to google

Yeah, that part cracked me up. It was so subtle like finding out the Stone's hung out at the first Applebees while recording Exile.

What was the new statute that changed Memphis nightlife? Liquor by the drink? Will never understand Southern alcohol legislation

doc had some nice/funny stuff in it, a bit overlong and hindered by lack of any footage of the band which is a real bummer but not surprising. skirting of Bell's gayness a bit odd.

It helped that there are such great supporting characters in the Big Star story like Jim Dickinson and Wm. Eggleston. Dickinson's widow was great in the doc.

yeah my favorite parts were probably the bits with Eggleston and Dickinson

skirting of Bell's gayness a bit odd.

anything more essentially vetoed by his family

yeah I get that. and man did his sister look uncomfortable on camera.

Guys, one of the Box Tops posted on our borad once, for realz:So it's called _When Pigs Fly_...

Hadn't really dawned on me that some of those other Box Tops also had careers in music.

i didn't think much of the big star doc, but that tav falco clip is just pure unadulterated boss. "well, the best of the worst."

chris bell's sister may have been uncomfortable on camera, but the evident rawness of her brother's death for her came through very clearly and powerfully.

in re. chris's gayness i think the film managed to get across what it needed to.

i bought one of the lesser box tops albums recently, it had the little cut out mark in the //middle// of the jacket! what foolishness is that?

also am impressed with the effeminate quality of alex chilton's voice. tav falco has something of that, too. do you think it was part of their attempt to set themselves apart from conservative suburban west TN or something? or was it just in the water?

best thing on the big star doc DVD is that mini-feature where john fry talked about how the first two big star records were made. that was pure gold. wish there was a whole 2 hours about that.

also why do i get kind of angry when a bunch of british alt.rock mofos show up in these docs to retroactively "validate" their cult heroes? i don't need the guy from hot chip to tell me big star were the best.

I haven't seen the doc yet but there may be some kind of sense to that as the early 90s Big Star revival was mostly inspired by British bands dropping the band's name in interviews.

at least Bono wasn't in it

needed more posies

I haven't seen the doc yet but there may be some kind of sense to that as the early 90s Big Star revival was mostly inspired by British bands dropping the band's name in interviews.

― Position Position, Saturday, January 11, 2014 5:58 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sure, but... who gives a fuck?

Suppose it makes a change from Thurston Moore and Henry Rollins

also am impressed with the effeminate quality of alex chilton's voice. tav falco has something of that, too.

A lot of times IME that's just how some southern men talk. It sometimes codes as effeminate or "gay" but it's just a particular combination of dialect and lilt that I've heard IRL from a lot of men from Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia.

My uncle has the same accent. You can especially tell when he says something like "well I don't know."

Carolinas for sure. I used to find it really distracting in certain men because it had a way of increasing their appeal by roughly 1/3 even when they were not particularly appealing people.

i.e. Lindsey Graham

wait that's a different accent than the one i'm talking about

It's still that kinda sing-songy, rounded and somewhat feminine way of speaking.

No, not the same one, but along those lines.

Somehow this discussion is reminding me of this story Arthur Alexander: Classic or Dud/S & D?

sure, but... who gives a fuck?

ok, but without these talking head dudes the documentary probably doesn't come to be made - their interest and where they took the stuff they found in big star records is kinda part of the story. I actually agree with you, for the most part when one of them comes on I'm like "eh, you're probably just gonna say how much you like the music, not super-interesting" but at the same time, the people who got their minds blown by big star and who made music informed by their take on big star seem like part of the story to me that should somehow be included...to me it's more like, the interviewer should make those dudes dig a little deeper when they're talking

Otm. I'd rather those dudes weren't there or had something more interesting to say but it's kind of the price of entry and if it is kept to a minimum I can live with it.

in the Rob Jovanovic bk on Big Star, p much chris bell's happiest time is when he's hanging out in london w/ glyn johns etc. at some point somebody says, "never underestimate the influence of the beatles on chris bell" - so that musical dialogue with britain is inscribed into big star's music right from the start, and is worth including in a documentary abt them, and showing that it is a living dialogue, even when the ppl engaged in the conversation aren't always esp inspiring