Big Star

Time for a new screenname

Man, everyone in the South goes early. I really need to lay off the brisket.

RIP... the best part of that big star documentary... was not actually in the documentary. it was a "bonus feature" on the DVD where john fry spoke extensively about recording and mixing the first two big star albums. totally endearing and smart and fascinating dude, seems like he was an exceptionally generous personality.

http://static.ow.ly/photos/original/7YQBk.jpg

Fry, Hampton, and---?

I still need to finish the Chilton book. I was obsessed with it for about two weeks and got distracted.

And yes, Fry's passing is totally sad. The guy came off about as unpretentious as possible in that documentary. Way too young.

I still need to finish the Chilton book. I was obsessed with it for about two weeks and got distracted.
― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, December 27, 2014 11:09 PM (Yesterday)

Strike "music."

http://acerecords.co.uk/news/2014/john-fry

Some of that "Stax overflow was pretty impressive. Believe lots of Al Bell productions were recorded or mixed there, partly because he was trying to do something different from Steve Cropper. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan06/articles/classictracks.htm

The first inset of that article is more specifically about Fry. There seems to be something missing in the overall story about where the reggae influence came from, since I have heard in other places it came from the Muscles Shoals guys going on tour with Traffic and thereby being exposed to The Wailers, who were also on Island Records.

Jimmy Cliff recorded in Muscle Shoals in like '70-'71. That's the Swampers on "Sitting In Limbo".

Found it. 1971, Another Cycle, Cliff's last release before The Harder They Come, recorded in Muscle Shoals with backing from The Swampers.

Yes!

Good catch. That definitely came out before "I'll Take You There." Wonder if that was after that Wailers/Traffic tour as well. Nope. That was '72. Seems like the Jimmy Cliff connection gets left out frequently of the story- because Bob Marley is so much more famous?

I need to finish A Man Called Destruction. Was totally enjoying it last summer and got distracted just as he went off the rails in NYC in the late 70s.

has anyone heard of Gimmer Nicholson? he was apparently a major influence on Big Star's acoustic guitar sound. he recorded a solo acoustic album at Ardent Studios shortly before Big Star recorded #1 Record, and while it remained unreleased for over 30 years, Chris Bell was a fan of it at the time, according to producer Terry Manning. I can definitely hear some similarities between his playing and Bell's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT6ZwtLMmM0

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/11295631_910536365654239_2866583916654941842_n.jpg?oh=e1a69deedb3bf1afffd532ee19d089be&oe=55FBAAD6

What's A.C.? You know? Arkansas College?

def looks like a page from a yearbook

xposts but i have to say woww @ that gimmer nicholson clip

xp yeah i don't know -- i think someone over on facebook was saying somewhere in Athens GA

In reading A Man Called Destruction, was curious to learn of their jaunt through north Arkansas--Eureka Springs, elsewhere--circa Number 1 Record. I mean, West Memphis wouldn't be unexpected, but up there? Kinda weird. Circa '95 I bought a first press copy of Radio City from a little record shop in Eureka Springs. Talked him down to $10 cuz that's all I had! Radio City came out after their earlier show there, but it still makes me wonder about how the record ended up there. Perhaps a fan who'd been at the first show kept up with them after that. Who knows.

quick search turns up this, so yeah, A.C. = Athens College

https://archive.org/stream/columns1973athe/columns1973athe_djvu.txt

nice internetting!

i've read that the original quartet's set at the time included "cinnamon girl" which would be awesome to hear. i can almost hear it in my head.

Think that was mentioned in the book. Which I highly recommend for fans. Won't come away with a rosy picture of Alex. Sure was a character, often terrible. But no big surprises there I guess. Great read nonetheless. One thing I did love about him is that he adored Off the Wall and would cover "Rock With You," at least playing around at home with friends.

There's a straggly but cute version here. I love Alex's voice whatever he's doing -- I don't think I realised how much until I saw that terrible all star tribute show a couple of years back

http://youtu.be/DJTpdwpOHxU

O man thank you for that! Ha!

Just finished the Chilton bio and now have some curiosity about his solo stuff, but I suspect I'll be very disappointed. I had a couple of his solo albums a long time ago but quickly dumped them. Is any of his non-Big Star stuff actually good?

I have the Nilsson bio queued up next, but I'm not sure how many books I can make it through about late 60s pop stars who self-destructed in the 70s. Alex's dark moments were pretty tough to get through.

there is not really a ton of non-Big Star stuff tbh and I love it but it is nothing like Big Star, it needs to be taken on its own terms

yeah otm - anyone looking for big star-y things from chilton's solo career (or even that last "Big Star" album) is going to be disappointed. but i don't know, a lot of it sounds better and better to me as the years go by. as chuck noted above, the dude's voice is incredible, no matter what the setting...

I love his standards albums, but if you were looking for the great lost Big Star record....you should probably get Chris Bell's 'I Am The Cosmos'.

solo Chilton is a lot funnier than Big Star, for one thing

Yeah, I've got some entertaining show tapes, mostly from dive bars (also from public radio).
I'd say start with his perkiest, radio-ready sets (where I first got into his solo stuff):Feudalist Tarts [1985?] and the No SexEP, also from the mid-late-ish 80s.
Also, although it repeats tracks from Big Star's Third and some other solo thingies, some of the latter are from EPs and singles you'd pay Paul McCartney white boy money for on eBay (unless you found 'em online). Then---from the least uneven to the most---Bach's Bottom, and (what the hell) Like Flies For Sherbert---both of those are from the early 80s---and even Cliches, and evenHigh Priest. I mean, if you're really hooked. And there's a bunch of live sets (some pretty hot), and boots and legit stuff I haven't heard.
There was a pretty good-size AC stash on Spotify a while back, but I haven't checked lately. Spotify is not too finicky about albums that might be legal somewhere, in my experience.

"Although it"---oops, this refers to Rhino's AC round-up, 19 Years.

Why are you guys talking about Anal Cunt on the Big Star thread?

Yeah, I like all his solo records. Not at all dissapointing. Bach's Bottom is probably the most Big Star sounding, if only because it got remixed in the 1990s to sound more like Big Star -- it's pretty faux but it actually sounds really good. I love Like Flies on Sherbert, but it's the last three, Cliches, Man Called Destruction and, er, Loose Lips Tight Pussy, that I still listen to the most - they're just generic bar band covers and cheesy jazz standards but super eccentric and fun. I

Anyway, if you like this (and I love it), you'll like solo Alex:

http://www.youtube.com/v=ptHlghlmWGM

Oops I mean

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

Loose Lips Tight Pussy

I thought it was Loose Shoes

I'm confusing my four-word loose-containing phrases

AKA Set here in these prudish United States

One thing I did love about him is that he adored Off the Wall "

to be honest — who doesn’t?

count me as someone who loves "like flies on sherbert" and listens to it all the time! i think it’s brilliant!

I got halfway through the Big Star documentary and turned it off because they hadn't played a single song all the way through yet. Or even more than a verse and a chorus tbh. I can't take so much footage of fancy turntables playing records while people blabber away about this or that. Honestly couldn't even focus on who was who. Just play the records and forget this mess.

that's one of the worst music docs ever made. alex made the right choice wanting nothing to do with it.

i was just listening to third right now and the mutron on the bass in "you cant have me" is soooo siqqqq

Both Ardent and Big Star have reported on FB that Richard Rosebrough has passed away.

Ah. R.I.P.

RIP -- definitely one of those things where i'd listened to "mod lang" and "she's a mover" for long time thinking Jody Stephens was such a cool drummer, and then reading the notes to find out that it was rosebrough on those tunes.
(not to say that stephens himself isn't a great drummer)

Who's the drummer on Oh My Soul? Such a good one.