BIG STAR
All Music and Lyrics by Chris Bell and Alex Chilton
except "The India Song" Music and Lyrics by Andy Hummel
Produced by John Fry
Released April 1972
BIG STAR:
Alex Chilton: Lead vocals, background vocals, guitars
Chris Bell: Lead vocals, background vocals, guitars, keyboards
Andy Hummel: Bass guitar, backing vocals
Jody Stephens: Drums and percussion
For reasons that will always remain unbeknownst to me, I tend to find myself looking for the sounds of power pop music once the warmth of Spring arrives. I think I first noticed this specific personal trend sometime during the 1990s when I became infatuated with the music of Badfinger and how their Beatle-esque melodicism combined with an even greater rock punch spoke to my spirit in a way that no other style of music happened to do during that stage of my life. From that point, I remembered how I had latched onto the debut album from Jellyfish entitled "Bellybutton" (released August 7, 1990), during my final semester of college in the Spring of 1991, and how I strengthened my hold onto them just two years later with their elaborate, rainbow colored album "Spilt Milk" (released February 9, 1993).
With each year since that time, as I have only grown older, I have somehow found myself musically traveling backwards to gather those similar soundscapes of rock and roll guitars, sing-a-long choruses and powerhouse drums merged with choirboy harmonies and that bittersweet melancholy that tends to house itself so firmly within pop music.There was the year when I found Dwight Twilley's compilation album "XXI" (released March 19, 1996) or the years I spent obsessively listening to "Utopia Parkway" (released April 6, 1999) and "Welcome Interstate Managers (released June 10, 2003), both by Fountains Of Wayne. Even just last month, I reacquainted myself with Nick Lowe's classic "Jesus Of Cool" (released March 1978). And frankly, nearly all of the music of XTC deserves its own specific Synesthesia posting, most definitely and by now, I think that you get the full picture and besides...look at the release dates for all of those albums in relation to the time of year. Coincidence? At this time, I turn my attention to what I consider to be one of the finest power pop albums ever released, "#1 Record," the criminally low selling debut but eventual power pop landmark album by Big Star.
Now, Big Star was indeed a band that I had heard the name of but really had no idea of any music they recorded and released. Additionally, the name of the band guitarist/lead singer/songwriter "Alex Chilton" also rang some bells as being a musical figure that was written about and referenced by other musicians in near reverential tones as well but, as with the band, I really did not have any idea of who he was. The legend of the album is as follows:
Big Star was formed in Memphis, Tennessee by Chris Bell and the aforementioned Alex Chilton, who had already received early critical and commercial success as the teenaged lead singer for The Box Tops, most notable for their hit singles "The Letter" (released August 1967) and "Cry Like A Baby" (released February 1968). Deeply inspired by The Beatles and desiring to form a songwriting partnership like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the twosome, along with bassist Andy Hummel and drummer Jody Stephens, formed Big Star and began recording their first album. "#1 Record" was released to critical acclaim in April 1972 but unfortunately, sales sank like a stone as the album initially sold a tiny 10,000 copies due to label mismanagement and a lack of promotion, a source of frustration extreme enough that both Bell and Hummel exited the band, leaving Chilton as the primary creative force.
What has given "#1 Record" its long-lasting life is unquestionably due to the musicians who embraced the album and became major musicians themselves. Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, and R.E.M. have all cited the album and band as key influences. The Replacements offered their praises via the roof raising song "Alex Chilton" from their now classic album "Pleased To Meet Me" (released July 7, 1987). Cheap Trick even re-made the album's third track "In The Street" as the theme song for the hit televisions series "That '70's Show." But enough history. What of the album itself?
I don't remember exactly what year it was when I discovered "#1 Record" but it was long after college, and long after my love affair with Badfinger. But, when I did hear it, the music connected instantly, powerfully and has become the album I reach for over and over and over again and I hope that i am able to inspire you to seek it out for yourselves.
While not a concept album by any means, "#1 Record" feels conceptual to me as if we are hearing a day in the life from sunrise to the dawn of a new day. The album opens with "Feel," which itself beings with a lightly strummed electric guitar that soon blasts into sun soaked glory as ethereal backing vocals phase through the speakers as vibrantly as a crisp early morning breeze on your face. From here, the album slides though energetic explorations of teenage ennui (the aforementioned "In The Street"), the roars and rage of "Don't Lie To Me," the soulfully high flying love story of "When My Baby's Beside Me," the romantic despair of "Give Me Another Chance," inner pleas for the healing and maintenance of self-esteem in "My Life Is Right" and "Try Again," with its gorgeous George Harrison influenced slide guitar and the pastoral fantasia of "The India Song," complete with those dreamworld Mellotrons which sound as if this India is down the path from Strawberry Fields.
For me, the album's standout tracks are truly ones for the ages. For the millions upon millions of songs that are about the heartache of the teenage experience, the stunning and gorgeously fragile "Thirteen," for my ears and my heart, is one of the finest. When I hear the very first line, "Won't you let me walk you home from school?" the song just transports me, in memory and emotion, to those romantic beginnings which were so awkward, so confusing, so painful. To think that in about two and a half minutes, Big Star takes you completely through the first pangs of teen love, from courtship to break up, and the effect is truthful and filled with an ache that is completely honest and unforgettable.
"Watch The Sunrise" is an acoustic masterpiece of such warm spiritual deliverance and is presented simply, directly and with an unforced elegance whose beauty I think would be impossible to resist. And then, there's the oddly titled "The Ballad Of El Goodo," which is nothing less than a manifesto of the ongoing spirit and commitment to living life by a certain creed, code and integrity, especially when the world conspires against you, ridicules you and defies that you even have a sense of integrity to begin with. It is a message to the soul to endure when it is being crushed. To maintain when your heart is failing. To just keep moving forwards, when your spirit is ready to fail and fall. As the harmony vocals soar through the speakers and the song implores you to "hold on," Big Star surprisingly and most confidently approaches a level of grace that is akin to gospel music but executed through the shimmering, crystalline choir of electric guitars. Almost 37 minutes after the album began, we are treated to "ST 100/6," a bittersweet dollop of an album closer that serves as a "see you next time."
As I previously stated, the Big Star that released this album never functioned as the same unit again. While the second album "Radio City" (released February 1974) contained more than its share of terrific selections, including "Daisy Glaze," "I'm In Love With A Girl" and the superior "September Gurls," and the more experimental third album "Third/Sister Lovers" (recorded in 1974 yet released in 1978) has long been considered to be more of a harrowing visit into Chilton's deteriorating mental state, "#1 Record," for me, remains the band's brilliantly, brightly shining jewel.
Sadly, neither Chris Bell or Alex Chilton or Andy Hummel are here with us in the material world anymore. Bell, was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 27 in 1978 and both Chilton and Hummel passed away in 2010. But, I do urge you to not allow their legacy to fade into the ether and allow their music to live onwards and onwards. Do seek out this excellent album, dear faithful listeners and allow the glorious sun soaked vistas of Big Star to shine and shower you in outstanding power pop riches.
It will reward you handsomely.
No comments:
Post a Comment