Big Star Story

by

Big Star

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While I'll agree that the best place to hear Big Star is on its three original albums, this collection is not as bad as everyone has claimed. First of all, the music on here is fantastic; the songs are great regardless of context. Secondly, while it's true that there are too many live cuts on here, the live tracks themselves are very good. Third, while it would have been preferable in this case to listen to the band's evolution in chronological order, I don't always believe retrospective collection should follow this order. Nonchronological order does not necessarily equal a bad collection. And in this case, I don't find the song order to be that distracting. It's great that some of Chris Bell's solo stuff is here, but overall, the collection could have been better. The new track is not particularly good, but the worst part is that the liner notes give no indication of where these songs come from. To help out everyone, here is that information.

1. September Gurls (Radio City)

2. Thank You Friends (Third/Sister Lovers)

3. Don't Lie to Me live (Nobody Can Dance) orginally on #1 Record

4. Ballad of El Goodo (#1 Record)

5. Holocaust (Third/Sister Lovers)

6. I Am the Cosmos (Chris Bell-I Am the Cosmos)

7. In the Street (#1 Record)

8. You Get What You Deserve live (Nobody Can Dance) originally on Radio City

9. Thirteen live (Big Star Live) originally on #1 Record

10. You and Your Sister (Chris Bell-I Am the Cosmos)

11. Back of a Car (Radio City)

12. Jesus Christ (Third/Sister Lovers)

13. Mod Lang live (Nobody Can Dance) originally on Radio City

14. Baby Strange live (Nobody Can Dance) T. Rex cover

15. O Dana (Third/Sister Lovers)

16. Motel Blues live (Big Star Live) Loudon Wainwright cover

17. Nighttime (Third/Sister Lovers)

18. Hot Thing (previously unreleased)

I've been a Big Star fan since I first heard "Third" back in 1978. Their first two LPs are the best power-pop ever recorded and transcend the genre. "Third" is, in my opinion, Big Star's anti-masterpiece and if anything even better than the first two. I'll avoid the usual they-influenced list; in my opinion, only the dB's came close to Big Star as power-poppers.

As previous reviews point out, this collection is a mess. There are a couple of fairly rare Big Star singles that need to be released on CD. The Ardent 45 of "When My Baby's Beside Me" sports a slightly different vocal mix; the single of "In the Street" is a totally different performance. There's also an edited single of "O My Soul" that would be fun to have.

The first two albums are eminently excerptable; I would have simply gone with chronology. Same with "Third." Throw in the aforementioned 45s, Chilton's blasé interview and "Motel Blues" from "Big Star Live," and you'd have a perfectly serviceable compilation. "Nobody Can Dance" features Big Star at their worst, and the "Live at Missouri University" set is nice but scarcely essential except for their great version of "Baby Strange." There are also a couple of bootlegs floating around out there, one of which, "Beale Street Green" (the one with an Eggleston photo of not Memphis but Nashville on the cover) contains a beautiful instrumental outtake from "# 1 Record" days.

Big Star has been ill-served by history to some extent. I'm not an adherent of the view that Chilton wasted his talent after 1974, as the liner notes to "#1"/"Radio" twofer assert. I also think that the original track order of the first PVC issue of "Third" makes a lot more sense than the Ryko. Having listened to Big Star, Bell and Chilton for years, I admire Chilton's bravery in changing directions after Big Star. Few performers have done such an array of interesting cover versions or shown such an awareness of soul, r&b and general pop-music history. And no other group did the Beatles (and John Lennon, on "Third") one better, even briefly. Alex Chilton is a consummate guitar player and his sound alone makes me happy. Maybe someone should talk to him about these reissues?