Big Star

I’ve been trying hard against unbelievable odds! https://t.co/DyjaOs71kN

— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) January 30, 2021

<3

haha awesome. ken rocks

Champion move, kudos

WATCH: Sadler is joined by @BigStarBand drummer Jody Stephens, Tom Petersson of @cheaptrick and guitar great Audley Freed @SherylCrow for "The Ballad of El Goodo"- Big Star https://t.co/DJwUaHylCg

— Sadler Vaden (@SadlerVaden) February 2, 2021

Wow

HI DERE

Rad. Did they use taped backing vox?

I think that's Sadler, so yeah.

That's what I assumed.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/popturf/original_1388496647big_star_grocery.jpg

namesake (chain grocery store across the st. from Ardent's own storefront)

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585acf7f44024385f58341d7/1484689263117-4NAG2UCG5AJPXF96L0HC/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOTZN6w2ClZCx7E87SfMnYJ7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0p4XabXLlNWpcJMv7FrN_NJJURIssOfu_ahulRAGkKa01TrlHLaDGa9uAYadfdnQhQ/07_Ardent+National+St+Exterior.jpg?format=1500w

Yeah!

Has anyone read that Rich Tupica book about Chris Bell? It looks interesting, has a strong blurb from Bob Mehr among other things.

Hadn't heard of that.
xxp pic of the store reminds me now of recent experience:
GPS voice insists we've take a wrong turn somewhere in very weathered Selma sidestreets--we're vaccine-seeking time travelers, headed into sepia dried blood rust bone-gray Edmund Pettus heyday, still a few(?) blocks from his Bridge--back on track just after passing a battered cube, with its sign painted on concrete over the front door: Big Star Grocery---in small letters made of blessedly bright Kool-Aid Popsicle Vacation Bible School colors.

(Oh yeah, meant to mention AC & Hi Rhythm Section alb coming out in May, details here:
Alex Chilton S&D)

BIG STORE

Big Star drummer Jody Stephens — who often collaborated with the Posies’ Ken Stringfellow on recent iterations of the power-pop legends — announced Friday he would no longer work with Stringfellow following a string of sexual misconduct allegations against the artist....Stringfellow denied “these specific allegations” after several women accused him of sexual misconduct in an investigation by NPR’s Seattle affiliate KUOW. “I am a nonviolent person and I would never intentionally harm someone,” Stringfellow said. “Still, I am taking personal responsibility for the harm my behavior caused these women.” A relatively straightforward mea culpa, as these things so. Also bounced from Posies--- leading to possible musical improvements in Stephens-led Big Star tributes?
ollingstone.com/music/music-news/big-star-jody-stephens-removes-ken-stringfellow-misconduct-allegations-1250594/#recipient_hashed=970f9bb2306cb113cb73fc8b6356ff90c42825af7eda2f3e047

as these things *go*

ody Stephens & Luther Russell are Those Pretty Wrongs...

Those Pretty Wrongs (2016) & Zed For Zulu (2019) were both released to great critical success and the duo toured much of the US, Europe and Australia delighting crowds with Those Pretty Wrongs music. There's an undeniable influence of Stephens’ former band (Big Star) in the breezy melodies, the strong, simple and straightforward arrangements, beautifully built around the duo’s harmonies. Both albums were originally recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis.

Billed as "Double the PRETTINESS for the price of one" and inspired by the classic truck-stop LP two-fers (along with the desire to update the vinyl pressing with premium cutting, and packaging) Curation Records has teamed up with Those Pretty Wrongs to not only put their two LPs back in print, but to also remind the world of the power of "pretty music."

The deluxe reissue of Those Pretty Wrongs / Zed For Zulu will be available as a Limited 2xLP Vinyl Gatefold Set, as well as CD and digital/streaming formats February 2022 via Curation Records. Click here to pre-order. You'll figure it out.
Here's what folks have been saying about Those Pretty Wrongs...

"What shines through this gorgeous collection of tunes is the ease and simplicity of it all... it’s a collection of beautifully structured songs that could have been written any time between 1963 and yesterday." - Ian Rushbury, POPMATTERS

"... some extremely pretty folk." - Collin Robison, STEREOGUM

"These pure popsters contemporize ‘a golden age of rock and roll,’ with nary a whit of self-consciousness." - Doug Collette, GLIDE MAGAZINE

"Fans of Big Star and all the groups that they influenced - from REM to The dBs - will want to check this out immediately!" - Mark Smotroff, AUDIOPHILE REVIEW

"The music Those Pretty Wrongs makes is enjoyable, warm, heart-filling, soulful pop with acoustic flavors and harmonies – and I can ask for nothing better. Actually, here’s the simplest criteria – I love it. And so will you." - Min Read, POPDOSE

"If you like pop songs full of longing and wistfulness sung and performed with a master's touch, then this should be right up your alley. Those Pretty Wrongs have crafted a lovely homage to the softer side of smart pop that are perfect for late at night or a rainy afternoon." - Mark Deming, ALLMUSIC

"... a great LP that reflects the traditions of past acoustic music... overall it’s a solid win for these two veteran musicians." - Ben Rosner, PASTE

Sorry ody!

The guitar on Lucky Guy really does sound exactly like Thirteen

sequence from Sweet Soul Music thread (copied to main Alex Chilton thread

Judging by "Boogie Shoes" on YouTube, most of the appeal of the Alex Chilton/Hi Rhythm live album might be insrumental, which reminds me: here they are with Terry Manning, better known as a producer and engineer at Ardent etc. but his rough-and-ready vocal approach works better with HRS live than Chilton's (comparing just one track to another):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5lyZHzReSk

(Chilton seems a bit cautious by comparison---their set was a one-off, but so was Manning's w HRS---filling in at the last minute for a no-show, and just taking the plunge, what the hell---this is the only live track on his album, and really seemed like the only keeper---according to the press sheet, he did a Box Tops Chilton parody for kicks, and was ordered to create an album around it, which mostly seemed like filler, but I didn't listen much)

However!
So Chilton does okay after all, though yeah of course Hi Rhythm Gang is the main interest, esp. horns and bass, though everybody steps up--most songs go on a little over four minutes and a half minutes; the studio originals were at least a minute shorter, but but we get more solo turns and full Section flexing, comfortably. Fave is the penultimate performance, "Hello Josephine," where a Hi man starts the vocal, Chilton coming in later: a very robust 7:12 work-out, calm as ever. Also: Motown gets the Memphis treatment on "Where Did Our Love Go," with Chilton as okay stand-in for Diana Ross, though this is one of he shorter ones, as it probably should be).Does not sing as high, loud and fast there as on "Lucille" or "Maybelline." Sounds like Pat Boone looking to go rong on "Kansas City." Any of yall heard this one? xgau sez:
On the Loose [Hi, 1976]
In which Al Green's sidemen, perhaps disgruntled at Al's unwillingness to record their material, get together and cut it. Some stickler for detail is sure to point out that the singing on side two is completely out of tune, but that's OK--so is most of the singing on side one, which I prefer to Full of Fire. One of the more carefully thought out tracks features a mildly malicious lyric about Green himself, but it's the eccentricity of the music, which sounds as if it includes a banjo, that does him in. Loose indeed. A-
Anyway, very good music for a holiday weekend, has me looking to go for b-b-q chicken.

― dow, Thursday, July 1, 2021

That's this
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81gT88tp2qL._SL1200_.jpg

Alex Chilton and Hi Rhythm Section:
Boogie Shoes: Live On Beale Street

MAGNET Magazine
@MAGNETMagazineHappy birthday #ChrisBell (@BigStarBand, @chrisbell_story, @ArdentStudios).

You gave us light. Read two exclusive excerpts from “There Was A Light: The Cosmic History Of Chris Bell And The Rise Of Big Star” (@PermutedPress):

https://magnetmagazine.com/2020/10/29/magnet-exclusive-excerpt-from-there-was-a-light-the-cosmic-history-of-chris-bell-and-the-rise-of-big-star-by-rich-tupica/

https://magnetmagazine.com/2019/01/15/magnet-exclusive-excerpt-from-there-was-a-light-the-cosmic-history-of-chris-bell-the-rise-of-big-star-by-rich-tupica/

That book is good, I have it.

good stuff, alex chilton was/is the coolest

how did it take me this long to realize that line from "in the street" is "wish we had a joint so bad" i always just kind of blurred it over for some reason.

What did you think he was singing? Serious question

Wish we'd had/adjoined so bad

Never thought it could be anything else.

i've heard that song a million times and never thought about what he was singing there, haha

i should start listening to words in other songs, see what's there!

Worth a try, what have you got to lose?

I've spent the last 30 years thinking it was "wish we hadda joined some band" and frankly wish I still did.

Never been sure if the joint is a spliff, or a crashpad (cos they're hanging out on the street)

I always like it when this thread is revived because I think mark s's opening comment taught me not to get upset about opinions on a music message board

Karl unfamiliar with joints?
Nope that’s not it

I can see the confusion since the song or album or anything else the band did otherwise doesn't have much of a stoner vibe.

Aside from the entire third/sister lovers album of course

Right I knew that would come up. But is it even a stoner vibe, exactly?

huh? oh sorry man--is stoner vibe about exactly tho?

But is it even a stoner vibe, exactly?

Any downs at all
Any downs at all

alex chilton tilted toward harder drugs, i think. chris bell seems like the most stoner of all stoner guys of all time.

in general big star codes way more with drinking imo

otm
https://popturf.com/locations/music/big-star/tgi-fridays-former

“Play it for me guitarist”

ilxor tylerw:

nearly half of the setlist is made up of covers, including tunes by the Kinks, Loudon Wainwright III and T. Rex. Perhaps the most interesting of these is the only (as far as I know) known Big Star version of the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says.” Remarkable that, along with his later cover of “Femme Fatale,” Chilton was so tuned in to the softer side of Lou Reed’s songwriting at this point in the 70s. Most of the proto-punk/punk scene focused on the other extreme of his stuff, right?

At least once, also covered "The Bed" (but as he says, "no tape has emerged"---has it?)

Started to doubt myself about this factoid but here’s where I got it — holly George warren’s Chilton bio. pic.twitter.com/vktevlinm4

— Tyler Wilcox (@tywilc) March 31, 2022

Here's some anecdotal evidence that he may not even have known about some of the other side of Lou Reed's songwriting:

"Sweet Jane" was already becoming a bit of standard among those 'in the know' in those pre-Rock'n'Roll Animal days: Mott The Hoople recorded it at Bowie's urging as the opening cut on All The Young Dude's, and I was recently reminded the Brownsville Station included it on Yeah! (the album which gave us "Smokin' In The Boy's Room").

Wow at Brownsville Station. Mitch Ryder was apparently into Loaded, believe he covered something off of it, "Rock & Roll" maybe.

Then the Runaways borrowed his arrangement for their version.