It has been said that anyone who bought the Velvet Underground's early records went on to form a band, and certainly the same must be said for the Big Star catalogue. Before founding the band, Alex Chilton had achieved fame as the 16-year-old vocalist in the Box Tops, singing his way into the late-'60s AM radioscape with "The Letter," "Cry Like a Baby," and "Soul Deep." Basically a puppet for the Box Tops' producers, Chilton felt unfulfilled by his station and walked away from fame into an uncertain future with Big Star.

The band began in Memphis as a quartet, with Chilton joined by childhood friend Chris Bell on guitar and vocals. Together and separately they wrote the bulk of Big Star's material. Andy Hummel (bass) and Jody Stephens (drums and occasional vocals) had both been playing with Chris locally when Alex arrived back in Memphis. They released their first album, #1 RECORD, in 1972 on the Ardent label. Despite critical acclaim, distribution problems prevented the album from reaching a wide audience. Bell got disillusioned and left the group, but Big Star returned to the studio in 1974 as a three-piece (occasionally joined by Bell) to record RADIO CITY. Again, problems with distribution arose and the album vanished. Chilton, anguished and despondent, entered the studio to record the gut-wrenching album that was released years later as THIRD.

Though they were ostensibly a pop band, there's a creepiness to Big Star's work. They effectively meld the winsome with the twisted. The haunting sounds and songwriting of THIRD are evident, though in different proportions, on both the live disc and Bell's solo work; the pop sensibilities of those two albums are an undercurrent on THIRD. Many of the current bands who strive to recreate Big Star's force miss their complex, disquieting aspects. The three Rykodisc releases (THIRD, BIG STAR LIVE and I AM THE COSMOS) establish why Big Star is germane to the contemporary music scene, why their influence remains intact, and why their music will last.

Third / Sister Lovers