Big Star

So all I've ever had is the #1 Record/Radio City twofer, never managed to get ahold of Third/Sister Lovers. If I pick up the box, will I still be needing to track that down?

i actually found a CD copy of third/sister lovers at a sale a couple months ago. buried in a pile of garbage so i was shocked/pleased to find it. it's probably not all that rare tho

the box set has all the stuff on the Ryko CD reissue of 3rd/Sister Lovers with a couple extra/extended things so I would say no, you don't need to track down any other versions.

and yeah, there's no "official" running order really for the album - the box set has a completely different (and imho mostly better) running order than the Ryko reissue.

Thanks, thats exactly what I was wondering.

what is the tracklist for the boxset? i wonder if it's the same that's on my italian bootleg from the 80s that i reprogrammed my ryko CD to.

^^^for sister lovers^^^

Here's the tracklist for the disc its on in the box:

1. Lovely Day (demo)
2. Downs (demo)
3. Jesus Christ (demo)
4. Holocaust (demo)
5. Big Black Car (alternate demo)
6. Manana
7. Jesus Christ
8. Femme Fatale
9. O, Dana
10. Kizza Me
11. You Can't Have Me
12. Nightime
13. Dream Lover
14. Big Black Car
15. Blue Moon
16. Holocaust
17. Stroke It Noel
18. For You
19. Downs
20. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
21. Kanga Roo
22. Thank You Friends
23. Take Care
24. Lovely Day
25. Till the End of the Day (alternate mix)
26. Nature Boy (alternate mix)

it is not the same

(btw mo-in-law also got me the bio ref'd upthread so I am gonna be deep in Big Star country for a few weeks methinks)

So I did end up grabbing Keep An Eye on the Sky a couple nights ago and finished my first listen on the ride in this morning. Fantastic, such a revelation for me. But after reading some comments in this thread about the live disc, I'm wondering if anyone could point me to some good bootlegs. Because if that is a lackluster Big Star set, I'd certainly love to hear what is considered a great set.

yeah love the covers on the live set. T Rex! "Slut"!

i dont really know what album to buy by them, but i love thirteen, and was it alex chilton or cheap trick who sang the that 70's show theme song?

Cheap Trick covered the Big Star song "In the Street" for the That 70s Show themesong and appended a refrain from "Surrender" to the end

From wikipedia: "In a Rolling Stone magazine article in 2000, Chilton thought it was ironic that he is paid $70 in royalties each time the show is aired." (Dunno what's "ironic" about it, but kind of cool anyway. Alex deserves to make some money so he can keep on doing ... whatever it is he does with his time these days.)

being a dirty old man, I imagine

I think he referred to it as "That $70 Show"

the ironing is delicious

But srsly, is the Big Star "In Space" record the only thing he's done this decade? That's, um, not very much. I know Big Star has played maybe a handful of live shows ...

surely its no surprise that he's super lazy? post Big Star his output is totally sporadic

hey he's done some Box Tops reunion shows, too!

hey, how do i attack "keep an eye on the sky"? just listen all the way through or where should i start

Disk 3 is pretty inessential if you already have Sister Lovers, so I wouldn't say there...unless you're already in a Sister Lovers mood (which I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I love the album; I gather you know what I mean). Disks 1 and 2 are great, though the opening pre-Big Star songs are only good. But the alt takes of songs from the first two albums are great. I'd start there.

kind of am in a Sister Lovers mood to be honest, but i'll take your advice

After replying this morning I found myself in a Sister Lovers mood too and I listened to that 1975 radio session boot that Tyler made available, and that shit burns: like straight through Sister Lovers into an even darker place, if that's possible. There's an evil, dissolved vibe to the proceedings; Chilton tosses out the line "I'd rather shoot a woman than a man" so lazily that it's kinda shocking, the casualness of its violence mirroring the casualness of Chilton tossing his pop future away. The recording is shitty but some of the fuzz seems to be distortion on the guitar. It's well worth a listen.

interesting facts gleaned Jovanovic book: piano on Nature Boy is played by William Eggleston. You can hear one of Eggleston's young sons fiddling around with an organ in the background. Eggleston had hurt his leg recently and was on crutches. At 2:03 you can hear one of his crutches fall off the piano and hit the ground; Chilton stifles a giggle

I love that "Nature Boy" -- weirdly, it's the first version of that song I ever heard! Does Eggleston appear on anyone else's records?

I was totally oblivious to his involvement with Big Star, I only knew him from his photography. don't think he was much involved with music

his photos appear on other peoples records

well yeah I know but I mean I don't think he played music much

http://blakeandrews.blogspot.com/2009/07/william-egglestons-album-cover-guide.html

weird that that list omits Primal Scream's Dixie Narco EP

(half of which is clearly in the mode of Big Star's 3rd)

also lolz I never knew there was a connection between Chilton and Dennis Wilson, altho that explains a lot

apparently after the Box Tops broke up he and Dennis spent a weekend kicking it with Charlie Manson & the Fam.

and good times were had by all

Speaking of Chilton + Beach Boys, that fragment of "Don't Worry Baby" on the Thank You Friends comp is gorgeous -- wish there was a whole take of the song!

there's alex playing 'wouldn't it be nice' on some live acoustic release or boot. and doing jesus christ and stuff.

apparently the family's attempt to get to LX ended when he hit charlie. goodtimes.

& hearing the stifled smile in nature boy is so beautiful

apparently the family's attempt to get to LX ended when he hit charlie. goodtimes.

!!!! did not know this. is there a link somewhere with a comprehensive account? I just got a third-hand telling from one of the engineers who worked on In Space.

i totally can't remember where i heard it :/
i would guess the rob jovanovic book, and if not dumb angel, the dennis wilson book - probably the former. i think it's only referred to in passing, so there's no comprehensive account, just the idea that alex wasn't easily persuadable and so ... hit charlie.

got the Jovanovic bio for xmas (though not the box set grrr). Seems good, except the pukeworthy Ryan Adams quote on the back, and the first line of the book! "Unlike many US cities, Memphis has a rich and varied history ..." Uhhhh. What?

<3 <3 big star

yeah they're the best. also, just looking at the photos in the book, an extremely good looking band! How come they weren't huge? they had it all!

"Unlike many US cities, Memphis has a rich and varied history ..." Uhhhh. What?

lol yeah you're gonna LOVE the footnotes haha. its not a bad book once it gets going, lots of crazy stories. Chilton seems like kinda a dick (big surprise)

yeah, re: chilton's dickishness, this article, covering the late 70s/early 80s is great: http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2009/11/12/alex-chilton-1975-1981/
He does seem like a weird guy! Even though I think he's the element that makes Big Star brilliant and not just really good power pop, he sure doesn't seem interested in that sort of music.

still reading the bio -- while there are some great stories/quotes/etc., man, this guy is not strong when it comes to writing about the actual music. is the 33 1/3 Radio City book better?

yikes, based on my exp with the 33 1/3 books, writing about the actual music is the worst ime.

yeah, i don't know, it's just this writer chokes whenever he actually discusses songs/albums. Like with Sister Lovers all he can say is "this album is an enigma, made for listening to late at night" or something similarly insightful.

the 33 1/3 book for radio city is actually done by a guy that played with alex chilton awhile back. he manages to get actual words out of chilton, so it does have that going for it. although, no real surprise, chilton's comes off as pretty indifferent or dismissive about some of the material on the album.

yeah, i looked at the 33 1/3 guy's blog and he seemed to have a better handle on music-writing thatn Jovanovic ... Will probably pick that up once I have the new box set ...

this is nothing to do with any of the above but i hope LX starts playing some more solo shows sometime. he seems to get such a bang out of standards and rattling through rock n roll numbers with pickup groups, and that's where he's at now.