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



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!