Album Club: 25.10.2011: Big Star - #1 Record

[The Grand Wazoo]

Album Club: 25.10.2011: Big Star - #1 Record 1972 (CD, Vinyl)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jW5Qq2auL._SS500_.jpg

Spotify Link: http://open.spotify.com/album/7c7fb4wBhQplfee6jWl4Ok

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_1_Record

This is the first of three studio albums from Big Star. It was released to universal acclaim from the critics but the record company managed to mess up the distribution and so hardly anyone was able to buy a copy.

Alex Chilton and Chris Bell set out to become the Lennon/McCartney of Memphis but were also heavily influenced by other British bands like the The Kinks. There's also a big element of The Byrds in there.

I stumbled on a Big Star compilation album when I was about 15 and was struck by the quality of the songs - they were one of those bands that seem able to make music that you feel like you've known all your life right from the first time you hear it. The songs from this album and the follow up, 'Radio City' have been staples in my listening diet since that day & I've never tired of them for one minute. The third album 'Third/Sister Lovers' is also good and has some important songs on it but is a little more patchy than the first two. If you're thinking of buying the album, then there's a useful twofer CD which couples '#1 Record' with their second album 'Radio City'

The album was recorded quite quickly after the band were signed and it contains a heady mixture of perfect pop songs and great vocal harmonies on tracks like 'The Ballad of el Goodo' coupled with the second side (starting at track 7 - 'When My Baby's Beside Me' remember when records had two sides?!) that shows a little despair creeping into the lyrics. This builds up to a pretty distraught mood in 'Try Again', which is kind of released in the next track 'Watch The Sunrise' with it's lovely shimmering acoustic guitar and slightly more hopeful lyrical feel.

The influence on other musicians of these albums has been pretty enormous (REM & Jeff Buckley to name just two) and yet they still remain a fairly obscure band. I suspect that many Album Club folks won't know this album at all, so dip in to 'Number 1 Record' and see what you think. If, however, you do know it, you'll probably love it like I do, so here's a great excuse to play it again once or twice...........or more!

[Thing Fish]

I have seen this album a lot in the second hand section of my local record shop.

I heard it many years ago but will listen again with gusto and report back forthwith...

[Barry]

I have a copies of both '#1 Record" and 'Radio City', through the kind courtesy a fellow member.

My first reaction when I first heard '#1 Record' was "this sounds like an American group doing 'Brit-pop' ". The influence of British groups such as the Beatles, the Small Faces and the Kinks is immediate and obvious. At times there are touches reminiscent of Supertramp.

I like it - good straightforward pop and nothing wrong with that; though it is a disc I am only likely to play occasionally.

So for '#1 Record' I will give it a score of 3/5.

[John]

A bit to pop for me but as pop goes this is quite good in places
Lacks a bit of consistency to turn it into a great album for me but overall a nice listen not sure to give it a 2 or 3 yet

[Audioman]

Never heard this before but aware of it's following. The love for Big Star beats me based on this listen. I felt I had heard most of these tunes before. Alex Chilton was a master plagueriser 25 years before Oasis. Mr N Gallagher at least can cobble together more memorable tunes. Looks like they tried to take bits of late 60's to early 70's british psych/pop and rock and mashed it all together. It works in places while many tracks are rather leaden. Generaly nicely recorded as is typical of the period.

Listened via Spotify but not tempted to purchase this to listen in enhanced SQ which may improve things. Due to lack of standout tunes and originality I can only give this a 2/5.

[Bazil]

Never heard of Big Star and was pleasantly surprised, I do like pop tunes having been a kid in the 60's. This album is like a parody of many groups and if the lyrics had been silly then that is what it would have been, however its not and I'll definitely listen a few more times.
3/5 from me.

[WAD62]

An interesting choice Chris, I had heard of Big Star but had not actually heard them...

I can see the appeal, if you are a fan of power pop, the Byrds and Faces were obviously big influences, but it doesn't quite capture the best parts of either...for me anyway :)

I'd say 'In the Street' is probably the standout track, but I suppose the acid test is would I buy it if I spotted it in a charity shop? And I'd have to say no.

Probably a good example of the genre, and probably an influence on the likes of Tom Petty & Cheap Trick, but it's not a style of music that engages me. ;)

Probably 2.5 out of 5, so err...2 :eyebrows:

[DaveK]

Not really my 'cup of tea' but a friend sent me a hi-res iso image of this to play in foobar (chosen because it was the smallest he had) - anyone interested in a copy?
Dave.

[Bazil]

Not really my 'cup of tea' but a friend sent me a hi-res iso image of this to play in foobar (chosen because it was the smallest he had) - anyone interested in a copy?
Dave. yes please Dave, PM

[The Grand Wazoo]

Well, it seems as though this is the slowest moving Album Club offering yet - Maybe not so many people know the album, so there aren't too many with an already formed opinion of it.
I hope it's just because of my crap taste in music & not that folks are bored of the thread concept.

[Alex_UK]

Hi Chris - no knowledge of it/them at all (but then with my "history" on the Album Club albums, that probably isn't a surprise!) Work is crazy mad at the moment, and also had a couple of days off "toddler sitting" - so not yet had the chance to give it a go. Hopefully tomorrow or over the weekend. :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

I'm looking forward to your impressions Alex.


Meanwhile here's what some other people said about the album.

Perhaps a trifle over enthusiastic(!), was Billboard magazine's assessment of the album on September 9, 1972:
"Each and every cut on this album has the inherent potential to become a blockbuster single. The ramifications are positively awesome."


Going back to an earlier comment -

QUOTE: Audioman
The love for Big Star beats me based on this listen. I felt I had heard most of these tunes before. Alex Chilton was a master plagueriser 25 years before Oasis. Mr N Gallagher at least can cobble together more memorable tunes. Looks like they tried to take bits of late 60's to early 70's british psych/pop and rock and mashed it all together.

Maybe this one explains some of what's going on in Paul's mind:

The problem with coming in late on an artwork lauded as "influential" is that you've probably encountered the work it influenced first, and so its truly innovative qualities are lost. Thus, if you are hearing Big Star's debut album for the first time decades after its release (as, inevitably, most people must), you may be reminded that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or R.E.M., who came after, that is, if you don't think of the Byrds and the Beatles, circa 1965.
What was remarkable about #1 Record in 1972 was that nobody except Big Star (and maybe Badfinger and the Raspberries) wanted to sound like this -- simple, light pop with sweet harmonies and jangly guitars. Since then, dozens of bands have rediscovered those pleasures. But in a way, that's an advantage because, whatever freshness is lost across the years, Big Star's craft is only confirmed. These are sturdy songs, feelingly performed, and once you get beyond the style to the content, you'll still be impressed.
William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.


Approximately eleven jillion awful pop bands/songwriters try to pull off this combination of acoustic guitars, confessional/melancholy lyrics, artfully stacked harmonies & orchestral touches. Chilton & Bell, effortlessly talented, skirt the extremely fine line between perfect melancholy & totally maudlin. Good enough that they make every aching sweet song seem like your favorite, until the next one starts and it's your favorite instead. What kind of a person could hear 'The Ballad of El Goodo' and not want to give somebody a great big hug?
Weirdo Records (http://weirdorecords.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4147)


Alex Chilton could have been the biggest thing in music. He never quite got there.
I mean, he did have a number one hit at sixteen, all hunched over and spotty, singing the sixties classic “The Letter” on TV with the Box Tops. The song is amongst the standards of pop music, covered numerous times, most famously by Joe Cocker. But Chilton would end up being even better and more influential when he joined an existing trio and recorded with Big Star. The band invented the rules of power pop, an underrated and magnificent subset of rock and roll that favours melodies and harmonies over distortion and feedback. The band would produce three near perfect records in a short span before breaking up. All three records are fantastic. But this one is just that step closer to pop perfection. Plus it has three songs that if I were on a desert island, I’d be missing terribly.
From a Mess to the Masses (http://fromamesstothemasses.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/the-album-list-49-big-star-1-record/)


Chris Bell and Alex Chilton share songwriting credit, though each brings a remarkably different sensibility to the band: Bell creates pure pop nuggets ("Feel") while Chilton swaggers with reckless melancholy ("Ballad of El Goodo," "Thirteen.").
It's too bad that Big Star didn't create more albums, but thank God they made the ones they did.
There's a lot of truth to the statement that the art lives on, long after the artist has gone or changed directions. This is certainly the case with Big Star, a Memphis band forged out of a willful vision, whose brief existence profoundly affected scores of artists spearheading the post-punk/alternative power pop schools of music throughout the eighties and nineties. R.E.M., The Replacements, The Posies, Teenage Fan Club, Wilco, and The Bangles, are just a few of the artists who have acknowledged a huge debt to Big Star.
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/1-Record-Radio-City/dp/B000000XHA)

[Audioman]

Going back to an earlier comment -


Maybe this one explains some of what's going on in Paul's mind:

[I]The problem with coming in late on an artwork lauded as "influential" is that you've probably encountered the work it influenced first, and so its truly innovative qualities are lost. Thus, if you are hearing Big Star's debut album for the first time decades after its release (as, inevitably, most people must), you may be reminded that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or R.E.M., who came after, that is, if you don't think of the Byrds and the Beatles, circa 1965.


I didn't hear Petty and later stuff that's supposed to be influenced by BS. What I hear is earlier snippets from the 60's - Not only Byrds but Kinks, Who, Small Faces, possibly Kalaedoscope (UK), Nirvana etc, even the contemporarious Badfinger. I always thought Petty was directly influenced by the Byrds especialy Mcguinn. It's a skillfull pastiche rather than being groundbreaking.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I agree that, in style, ground-breaking it ain't.
But the whole history of music is littered with pastiche isn't it? You mention Oasis - For example, The Beatles feature just a teeny bit in their influences, I think you'd agree. The Beatles in turn were doing just the same with the songs of their own influences and so it goes on.

[michaelhigh]

I've been into this album since the seventies, and I have friends who regularly trek to Ardent to record (Devon Allman's Honeytribe) so it's no secret here in the States. Wilco also owe a debt of homage to these power pop giants, and Big Star's struggle with the radio and success is well-documented. Good to see that what little good music originated here actually makes it across the pond. Thanks for the play Wazoo.

[keiths]

Not a band I'd listened to before nor a style that I'm particularly fond of, but I enjoyed this. So yet another '3' stars.

[Welder]

Truth is I’ve struggled like buggery to listen to a complete album with most of the album choices so far.
Big Star, well its pop init, and not at all bad pop at that. Big Star are one of those bands I’m sure I’ve heard on a mates system at some point or other but never actually sat down and listened to let alone bought an album.
They do sound like a lot of other bands I agree, but when those bands are the Kinks and ELO for example I can’t see it being a problem. When did you last hear a band that didn’t sound like anyone else?
So yeah, no problem listening without grinding my teeth or reaching for a puke bag; no desire to tell the OP what appalling taste in music they’ve got and recommend a hearing test.
Good well played above average pop and that will do me. If there was a 1 to 10 score with half units I would give this 6.5 maybe 7 after a good day. I’ve had a good day so 4 from me.
Cheers Chris, good call.

[Macca]

I have Radio City and like it a lot but never heard this one until my copy arrived yesterday. Some great guitar licks and vocal harmonies as with Radio City. RC grew on my over the years, I wasn't that keen at first listening. It's funny how many truly great records are growers, isn't it?

Anyhow I've scored it a 3 which for me equals good but not great.

[Thing Fish]

Well I finally got round to listening to this album and I absolutely loved it.

Very tunefully crafted songs. I especially love 'Thirteen' Which I had heard a few years ago but didn't realise was theirs.

Think I'll have to attain a vinyl copy.

A well deserved 4/5

[The Grand Wazoo]

Thanks Dave & Martin for you comments and to everyone else who's contributed.
John (Welder) did you post a score on the poll? Because you're not showing up as having done so.
Alex & Martin T - I wonder if you've had a chance to have a proper listen yet?

Any more for any more?

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Chris, I'll hook into Spotify & give it a spin when this CD ends :)

So more comments yet, don't be too hasty ;)

[Reid Malenfant]

Just listened to this :eyebrows: While it isn't my normal cup of tea I really enjoyed it, there was a certain smile on my face from track one :)

Kind of reminds me of 70's music in a way & at times I thought I could somehow link this to some kind of psychedelic stuff like Gong, track depending :smoking: Shades of all sorts of other groups were there to, I didn't feel like turning it off in the least :)

I don't think it's something I'll purchase but I reckon it was the right music at the right time for me this evening. I may not rate it so highly another time but it gets a solid 4/5 from me today as it put a smile on my face...

I'm not a sad bu**er but it was a definate pick me up :lol:

[The Grand Wazoo]

That's great to know it hit the spot for you Mark, even if it was for one night only!

[Tim]

Any more for any more?
I listened to this at work and it wasn't really my thing, but I was having a bad day - so in fairness I intend giving it another listen when I get a mo. I have a lot of gigs this week, so have not had much time yet.

[Welder]

Yep, you were right Chris, I hadn't voted. Now rectified ;)

[baron]

I've not heard of Big Star before, just had a listen on Spotify. I quite like them very easy to listen to.I voted 3 out of 5.

[MartinT]

Some real moments of Status Quo there, took me right back to the 1970s when I rather liked them. Other songs also have a seventies feelgood sort of swagger. Full of good tunes that I've never heard before, indeed I had never heard of the band before. Some nice harmonies, too. 3 stars.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Now there's a thing!
I'd never have spotted parallels between Big Star and Status Quo. I'm going to have to listen to the album all over again to see if I can spot what you're hearing Martin.
Hmmm interesting!

[MartinT]

Try Don't Lie to Me.

[Alex_UK]

As mentioned when this was first introduced, I had no knowledge at all of this group. I can certainly see similarities in many other bands, and some good song writing. Track 1 has a great bass-line intro, and reminds me of Wings a little – definte McCartney-esque with the harmonies. Track 2 (The Ballad of El Goodo) could easily have been written by the Bee Gees, and I could actually see it being sung by - and a hit for - a modern day boy band. Track 3 - In The Street has a very Beatles vibe to it, albeit with the vocals are much edgier than the Fab 4’s output.

Track 4 – Thirteen – is more acoustic than the earlier tracks and a lot more “easy listening.” Don’t Lie to Me is definitely Status Quo blues – completely see where Martin is coming from with that! The India Song (6) I’d liken to a progressive Beach Boys – if there is such a thing! (Still with Beatles undertones though - which continues into the jangly guitar on When My Baby’s Beside Me.)

You probably get the idea by now – as Chris suggested, if they wanted to become the Lennon & McCartney of Memphis I think they certainly succeeded with that goal - I think overall it is very hard to listen to this and be “wowed” by it with a retrospective perspective – if I had been around and heard it in 1972 maybe I would have loved it – as it is, I don’t mind it, and can happily tap a foot along to most of it, but I doubt I will be buying a copy unless I stumble across it (I think I would have to have it on vinyl.) I think there are some potentially good candidates in there for cover-versions (have any been done, Chris?) as I think I enjoyed the songs more than the playing on some of the tracks. I would probably give it 6 out of 10, but as this thread is still in “old money” it deserves more than a 3 – so 4 stars from me.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Cover versions?
Yes there have been quite a few.
From '#1 Record'

'Feel': by The Posies

'The Ballad Of El Goodo': by Evan Dando, Matthew Sweet, The Counting Crows, Trip Shakespeare

'Thirteen': by Elliott Smith, Wilco, Garbage, dEUS, The Counting Crows, Magnapop, Mary Lou Lord, Kathryn Williams, Happy Flowers,


'ST 100/6' by The Dambuilders

Plenty of covers of their other songs too, but I suppose most notable would be:
Jeff Buckley who did 'Kanga Roo' on Mystery White Boy, The Bangles, The Replacements, Teenage Fanclub & Kristen Hersh

[Alex_UK]

Blimey! I knew you'd know! Can't wait to find the Evan Dando version - I love his voice and that is probably the strongest track. :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

JysPpBhKQo0

[Alex_UK]

:kiss:

[RichB]

Ok, so another late vote from me... yet another ebay purchase for a quid I've finally got round to listening to (the double album twofer originally mentioned). I gave it a 3 after a first listen as there wasnt anything there to offend my ears but no immediate stand out tracks either. I'm intending to put in the car for the week ahead so its warranted a closer listen for when my mind is wandering in the inevitable traffic.