Big Star

ebb i surmise u r eddh and i would just like to say that you are my favorite poster on ilm and one day i wish to write with as much ease and beauty as you dawg. <3

seconded re. edd; so rich with ideas worth expressing.

I'd like to read more about why you think Third articulates something about how "the past and present fight each other in the struggle to create pop". The limits of pop part, I think I can see that, or at least how to go about trying to argue that. But where's the part about the past in Third? And I'm sympathetic, don't worry: I've spent my pop life trying to think backwards with enough grace to understand, say, Elvis Country.

Hi,

I did get a 'best of' but apart from a few tracks, I 'liked' rather than 'loved' it.

Possibly because of all that Teenage Fanclub / etc phase we all went through. Which is not their fault, obviously, but it all seemed like old news in a way.

OK, shoot me now.

i got into big star when i was a devout seventeen year old posies fan, and initially had a similar 'old news' response, but those three albums kept drawing me back, and only became more intriguing and enigmatic with each further listen. don't write 'em off yet, mark!

Well, put it this way, I had a similar (but different) reaction when i first heard "Odessey and Oracle", but our Alice insisted I play it again (and again), and she was right. (Alice is my daughter, she was eight then)

look at this guy
http://sexandfury.tumblr.com/post/323568501/alex-chilton

guys, the alex chilton solo demos on the box set ... holy moley.

I know!!!

which songs do you mean? this set is on emusic now, but since i have all the studio albums i ignored it.

mainly the sister lovers solo 12-string demos (end of disc two, beginning of disc three), but also the handful of radio city solo demos (end of disc 1, beginning of disc 2) ... kind of amazing performances, and esp. with the sister lovers ones, they cast the songs in a whole new light. and jesus, i love his voice.

i've also been digging the live set (disc 4) quite a bit. pretty rough in parts, but i love hearing chilton's guitar playing ... also, anyone who's played a show to an uncaring audience can take heart in listening to it -- one of the greatest bands of the 70s playing to a crowd that couldn't care less.

just listened to samples of demos for holocaust and nighttime. not sure i hear much of a difference (obv., can't tell much from :30 samples). it seems clearer/cleaner.

after years of being familiar with the basketball-as-snare-drum+steel drums and drunken piano version of Downs its truly revelatory to hear him play it crystal clear on a 12-string like its just some pretty ditty. the sound of the demos is just fabulous, I agree with Tyler there... the other demo stuff made me hunt down his 1970 album, which is hit-or-miss but has a few tunes that are drop-dead gorgeous AM radio Big Star pop template sort of stuff ("Every Day As We Grow Closer", "EMI Song (Smile)" in particular)

I think its just striking to hear the songs-as-written with all the space and fragility already built into them - they're integral parts of the structure. whereas you hear 'em on Third and its easy to think all that stuff was a studio-trick afterthought.

i agree with you on some of the songs, now that i'm listening to more. esp. blue moon

yeah, i mean, i like that you can hear the craft that went into the songs a little clearer, rather than being carried away by the overall destructo mood of Sister Lovers. Like on "Holocaust" it *doesn't* sound that different -- it's a solo piano thing on the demo, but the structure is pretty similar, even the weird dissonant "free" part. You kind of imagine that being something that just "happened" in the studio as the result of drugged out performers, but it's clear that's how Chilton envisioned the song from the start. and there's something pleasing/relieving (and typically chilton-esque) about the comically doomy chord he hits right at the end. "man, what a sad song, right?"

booklet has some sick photos, too -- like the outtakes from the radio city shoot at TGI Friday's! TGI Friday's in Memphis in 1973 was where the party was!

actually i mostly wish they had more from chris bell's solo stuff, but i guess that all made it's way into the i am the cosmos disc/reissue

title song and especially you and your sister are breathtaking tracks.

yeah, i haven't gotten that ... has anyone else (the double disc i am the cosmos thing)? worth it?

the very FIRST TGIF, if I recall correctly

x-post

I only have the Ryko I Am the Cosmos, can't imagine there's all that much more...?

Big Star film stuff (ref'd in the Jovanovic book)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC0Wa3P_dO0

not sure there is more. wasn't even a proper album, was it? just singles and scattered stuff assembled after bell's death

xp

I AM THE COSMOS - DELUXE EDITION contains a remastered version of the original 1992 Ryko compilation on one disc, plus a second disc of rare and unreleased music recorded between 1970 and 1976. On the second disc, all but two of the 15 tracks are previously unreleased. Among the wealth of unissued recordings are eight alternate versions and mixes of album tracks, including "You And Your Sister" with Mellotron in place of the original's string arrangement, and a later version of "Get Away" featuring Big Star's Alex Chilton on guitar, Ken Woodley on bass and Richard Rosebrough on drums.

i'd probably get it if it wasn't so much $$$ -- as with all rhino handmade products. why is it that they can charge $40 for 2 discs?

the ryko discs on emusic are "deals," i.e., sale priced. that deluxe edition isn't available, tho.

as for the rest of the box set -- totally good. the alt mixes of #1 Record are not an improvement overall, but what the hell, I know that record inside and out, I may as well hear some different backing vocals. random note: Steve Cropper on "Femme Fatale" is soooo good. One take apparently? And he didn't even know the song? Haha. Dude is amazing.

the different mixes/versions of Watch the Sunrise are the best of the lot imho

is that chilton singing backing vox on "you & your sister", or am i just hearing things?

yeah, that's him

How many songs on the box set are the exactly same as previously released on the three albums (as on common CDs)? All the 3rd stuff I've heard now sounds remixed.

not too many are exactly the same, though the 3rd stuff is mostly the same (or at least it says it's the same). Dunno about remixing -- I know the Ryko release was "remixed" when it was released, so I don't know if Rhino is just using those versions or if they did their own remixing. Sounds *better* for sure, not sure if it sounds different.

Some intro's/outros are longer, 'You Can't Have Me' and the 'Manana' intro of 'Jesus Chist' is longer given it's own track. Certainly sounds like different mixes to me, but there's no annotated information up on Spotify for these tracks.

gonna have to listen to the Sister Lovers stuff on the box again. I thought the 1st and Radio City alt takes were breathtaking. But I wasn't really in a mood where Sister Lovers made sense at the time and so it kinda washed over me that listen through.

1970 is great---and great sounding thanks to Terry Manning. The cover of "Jumpin Jack Flash" is better than the original b/c Alex finds the funk Jagger/Richards sensed but didn't fully articulate.

apart from the extended stuff already mentioned 3rd/Sister Lovers tracks sound the same as the previous Ryko reissue to me. I'm sure its been remastered, but that's different.

TGI Friday's was indeed born in Memphis.

just looking at those pictures makes me feel a little bit drunk

and speaking of those pics, pretty awesome that it's eggleston playing piano on "nature boy" ... really beautiful recording -- chilton and him should've done a whole album of standards together.

The "Cheshire Cat smile" of Alex's mentioned in the Crawdaddy article, I have experienced it and indeed it is not pleasant.

yeah, from everything i've read, chilton is at the top of my list of artists i love who i'd never want to meet. him and lou reed, i guess.

TGI Friday's was indeed born in Memphis.

― Trip Maker, Friday, January 29, 2010 11:25 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not according to wikipedia
The Friday's restaurant chain was founded in 1965 in New York City,
Their second location was established in 1970 in Memphis, Tennessee's Overton Square district; that location has since closed.

Shoot I don't know nothing. I always thought the Overton Square one was the OG.

http://www.bigstarstory.com/
Seems like a recipe for a lot of panning over photographs and talking heads, but, who knows, maybe they've unearthed some cool stuff ...

so wow uh RIP Andy Hummel:

http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/07/19/andy-hummel-dies-big-star/

see here: Alex Chilton RIP 2010

what the fuck

sad

r.i.p.

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