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Big Star fills a niche you never knew you had

The band continues to woo fans with new releases.

By Zachary Kerns

Published Sept. 18, 2009

Big Star is by far the best band you have heard without realizing. Don't believe it? Well, my friend, run this introductory gamut, and then try to claim you have not been touched by the shining golden light of this nearly unknown band.

No. 1: Do you like pop and/or rock music (Cheap Trick, Elliot Smith, R.E.M., Weezer, Wilco or the New Pornographers)? You're into bands that are into Big Star. No. 2: Do you like the city of Columbia? Guess who recorded a live album here? No. 3: Have you heard the theme song to "That 70's Show"? Know where that song came from? Yes, my friend, Big Star once again. I'll give you a few minutes to recover from that mind-blowing experience.

Unfortunately, Big Star is the classic example of a band that never quite made it big. Formed in Memphis, Tenn., by Chris Bell (guitar and vocals), Alex Chilton (guitar and vocals), Andy Hummel (bass) and Jody Stephens (drums), they would only record three albums before internal strife and record company blunders destroy what would become one of the most influential bands of the 20th century. The band would reform to tour for a string of dates in 1993, including a show recorded in Columbia and later released as Columbia: Live at Missouri University. This has led to continued tours and an album in 2005, In Space. Luckily, word of mouth has spread the cult of Big Star, and now that cult has been given a new testament.

Rhino has issued a four-disc retrospective/outtakes collection, offering the most comprehensive view of this band available, which will undoubtedly leave fans in paroxysms of joy, while enticing more followers into the fold. The set lays out the history of the band in chronological order for the first time.

The first three discs primarily focus on the three studio albums produced during the band's short-lived heyday. From the enthusiastic chime of No. 1 Record (1972), to the turbulent rock of Radio City (1974), to the haunting wail of Third — or Sister Lovers, depending on whom you ask — (1978), all sides are on display.

Sprinkled among these classic cuts are a multitude of bonus cuts, the kind that jaunt merrily through the happiest dreams of followers around the world. These tracks, or "happiness inducers," include pre-Big Star recordings by the members' bands Icewater and Rock City, as well as solo cuts by both Bell and Chilton. Added to this cornucopia are demos and alternate takes allowing a never-before known understanding of how these classic cuts came into existence.

Wait, my friends. Oh yes, there is more. The fourth disc is an entire unreleased live album recorded at the Music Room on the band's home turf. If you weren't sitting down when you read that, I apologize for any grievous injury you may have sustained.

Seriously, though, there are 20 glorious tracks of unearthed goodness. Throw in covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Todd Rundgren and T. Rex? This is the aural equivalent of a Viking warrior riding a unicorn across a rainbow to smash a dragon with his epic hammer. Like unearthing an original manuscript of "Slaughterhouse-Five" from a box of worn out Cabbage Patch Kids and Windows 95-compatable CD-Rom at a garage sale, this is the greatness of Big Star recorded live in 1973.

Of course, to partake in this pop vision quest, you have to be willing to shell out $70 for this set, but that is a small price to pay for the joy and personal growth it will bring you. Then you throw in the liner notes/photos/essays, and that's like putting sprinkles on the ice cream cake.

Admitted, these sprinkles outline the emotional breakdowns and catastrophes (including death) befallen by four men who just wanted to be the American Beatles. Yet, in the process, they inspired generations to come. Allow this set to inspire you as well.