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Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in late 1974, and reorganized with a new lineup 18 years later following a reunion concert at the University of Missouri. In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds. Big Star produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Before they broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", in the words of Rolling Stone, as the "quintessential American power pop band", and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll". Three of Big Star's studio albums are included in Rolling Stone's list of the Top 500 Albums of All-Time.
Power pop is a subgenre of rock music and a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and cheerful sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, despair, or self-empowerment. The sound is primarily rooted in pop and rock traditions of the early-to-mid 1960s, although some artists have occasionally drawn from later styles such as punk, new wave, glam rock, pub rock, college rock, and neo-psychedelia.
Radio City is the second studio album by the American rock group Big Star. Released February 20, 1974, Radio City was recorded during 1973 at Memphis' Ardent Studios. Though not a commercial success at the time, it is now recognized as a milestone album in the history of power pop music. Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record sold poorly, partly due to a lack of promotion and the distribution problems of the band's struggling record label, Ardent Records. The album included "September Gurls" and "Back of a Car", which remain among the most famous Big Star songs; both the Searchers and the Bangles have covered "September Gurls".
Third is the third album by American rock band Big Star. The sessions started at Ardent Studios in September 1974. Though Ardent created promotional, white-label test pressings for the record in 1975, a combination of financial issues, the uncommercial sound of the record, and lack of interest from singer Alex Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens in continuing the project prevented the album from ever being properly finished or released at the time of its recording. It was eventually released in 1978 by PVC Records.
Christopher Branford Bell was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Along with Alex Chilton, he led the power pop band Big Star through its first album #1 Record (1972). He also pursued a solo career throughout the mid-1970s, resulting in the posthumous I Am the Cosmos LP.
#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.
"September Gurls" is a song written by Alex Chilton that was first released by Big Star on their second studio album Radio City in 1974. "September Gurls" was also released as a single.
Jody Stephens is an American drummer, who has played in Big Star and Golden Smog. After the deaths of Chris Bell in 1978, and both Alex Chilton and Andy Hummel in 2010, Stephens is the last surviving original member of Big Star.
John Andrew Hummel was an American bassist and singer-songwriter best known as the bass player of Big Star.
In Space is the fourth and final studio album by American rock group Big Star, released in 2005. It was the first new Big Star studio album since Third/Sister Lovers, recorded in 1974 and released in 1978.
Columbia: Live at Missouri University 4/25/93 is a reunion live album by the American power pop group Big Star, recorded and released in 1993 by the original Big Star members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens together with The Posies' members Jonathan Auer and Ken Stringfellow. It was recorded at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.
Keep an Eye on the Sky is a 4-CD, 98-song career retrospective box set from American rock group Big Star, released in 2009. It features 52 unreleased tracks: demos, alternate takes, and live performances. As well as material from founder member Chris Bell's earlier bands Rock City and Icewater, it includes all titles from Big Star's first three studio albums, #1 Record, Radio City, and Third/Sister Lovers, and a recording of a 1973 Big Star concert. Staged in January at Lafayette's Music Room, the Memphis venue used again in May for the Rock Writers' Convention, the concert took place after Bell's departure and before the remainder of the group began work on Radio City. The box set's liner notes won a 2011 Grammy Award for author Robert Gordon.
Like Flies on Sherbert is the first solo album released by American pop rock musician Alex Chilton. He had previously recorded a collection of songs in 1969 and 1970, ultimately titled 1970, but this was not released until 1996. Released in 1979, Like Flies on Sherbert was recorded at two Memphis studios, Phillips Recording and Ardent Studios, in 1978 and 1979. Chilton had previously been a member of the Box Tops and Big Star.
Alex Chilton was an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was never repeated in later years with Big Star and in his subsequent indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew an intense following among indie and alternative rock musicians. He is frequently cited as a seminal influence by influential rock artists and bands, some of whose testimonials appeared in the 2012 documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.
Bach's Bottom is the second solo album by American pop rock musician Alex Chilton, released in 1981. Bach's Bottom was recorded in September and October 1975 at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.
Third is the second studio album by Cait Brennan, released by Omnivore on April 21, 2017. The follow-up to 2016's critically lauded Debutante, Third was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, in the same studio and using many of the same instruments Big Star used during its Ardent heyday in the early 1970s.
City in the Sky is an album by the American music group the Staple Singers, released in 1974. It was the group's final album for Stax Records. The 1990s reissue appended bonus tracks from the group's set at Wattstax.
Sleeping Star is the second album by the English musician Epic Soundtracks, released in 1994.
"O My Soul" is a song credited to Alex Chilton that was first released by Big Star on their 1974 album Radio City. Chris Bell contributed to the lyrics. The song was also released as a single.
"I'm in Love with a Girl" is a song written by Alex Chilton that was first released by Big Star as the last song on their 1974 album Radio City. It was also released along with another short song, "Morpho Too", as the B-side of the lead single from Radio City, "O My Soul".
References
- 1 2 Eaton, Bruce (2009). Radio City. Continuum. pp. 84, 86. ISBN 9780826428981.
- 1 2 George-Warren, Holly (March 2014). A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, from Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man . Viking. pp. 137, 138, 153. ISBN 978-0-670-02563-3.
- 1 2 Sullivan, John Jerimiah (2008). "Chris Bell". In Smirnoff, Marc (ed.). The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing. University of Arkansas Press. p. 95. ISBN 9781610752992.
- 1 2 3 Sullivan, Denise. "Back of a Car". Allmusic. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
- 1 2 3 Borack, John M. (2007). Shake Some Action. Not Lame. pp. 13, 39, 175. ISBN 9780979771408.
- ↑ Barnes, Ken (April 11, 1974). "Radio City". Rolling Stone.
- ↑ Simels, Steve (June 1974). "Radio City". Stereo Review.
- ↑ Sculatti, Gene (May 25, 1974). "Good Things Come out of Memphis and Ireland". Sacramento Bee. p. A16. Retrieved 2024-01-31– via newspapers.com.
