The big Big Star box

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The big Big Star box

POSTED: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Blast from the Past

Trying hard against unbelievable odds

Big Star Keep an Eye on the Sky (Ardent/Rhino)

Is it 'boxed sets' or 'box sets'? Either way, it's hard to believe the music industry still squeezes out these things. With everything in financial free-fall, you mean to tell me there are still completists and neophytes alike still willing to drop the dollars to pick up physical copies, eager to get their four discs, plus elaborate artwork and design and sundry other accoutrements? In theory, the whole idea of box(ed) sets exists for cultishly adored bands such as Big Star. For many rock nerds, their saga passed into myth long ago. In Memphis, TN, in the early '70s, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel ' aspiring rockers obsessed with The Beatles, Kinks and Who ' hooked up with Alex Chilton, former lead singer of The Box Tops. (Chilton sang that band's big hit 'The Letter' when he was 16 years old.) The quartet made #1 Record (1972), a sparkling, chiming record that all but pioneered the power-pop genre. Commercially, it bombed. Bell quit the band. The remaining trio made the spectacular follow-up Radio City (1974), a darker, more disjointed record. Commercially, it bombed. Hummel quit the band. Chilton, Stephens and an assortment of Memphis players then made Third (aka Sister Lovers), which was even darker and even more disjointed. Record labels wanted nothing to do with it. By the time Third was finally released in 1978 ' four years after it was recorded, and the same year that Chris Bell died in a car accident ' the band had long ceased existing. And commercially, the album bombed of course. However, due to the subsequent bolstering of the band's legacy in the '80s by R.E.M., The Replacements, The Bangles and others, the band's legacy grew, if only in the small-beer world that was indie rock back then. In the '90s, their discography came out on CD, and Chilton and Stephens reassembled the band, this time flanked by two members of The Posies. (The so-far-only studio album by this version of the band, 2005's In Space, is basically terrible.) This pretty much brings us to this week and the release of Keep an Eye on the Sky. First, the good news: The sound quality is amazing, a testament to the brilliance of engineer/band mentor John Fry. The box is beautifully designed, shaped like a seven-inch record sleeve, but containing a lavish, informed booklet and a sleeve containing the four CDs. And of course, any collection of music that has songs like 'Thirteen,' 'September Gurls' and 'Nightime' has got something going for it.

Now for the ambivalent news: The first three discs are dominated by the three canonical studio albums from '72-'78 in their entirety. Many tracks labeled on the box as 'Alternate Mix' are pretty much indistinguishable from the original released versions. Chances are, if you love Big Star, you already own much of the music here. As for the bona fide rarities, they are also a mixed bag. I am partial to Chilton's solo demos for Radio City and Third, showcasing both his plaintive musicality and barbed sensibility. There are also some interesting alternate renditions, like a more chooglin' 'In the Street,' a trippier 'O My Soul' and Big Star versions of songs that Bell took with him when he quit, but sung here by Chilton. But I can't say these are revelatory, in the way certain songs on the Velvet Underground or Byrds boxes may have been. Disc four contains a live show from 1973 by the Radio City lineup. Like most live Big Star releases, it's ragged, spirited and not terribly essential. If you're already a happy owner of Big Star's best work, you may find this box an unnecessary extravagance. But if you've always wanted these albums and want to get them in one fell swoop, Keep an Eye on the Sky fits the bill nicely. There is a depth and a sense of disquiet in the music of Big Star that none of their guitar-pop acolytes ever really captured. I've fallen under its spell many times over the years. For newcomers, this box makes it even easier.

John Fry

Posted 2009-09-18 18:47:58

Thanks for your kind comments about the Big Star box, and particularly about the audio quality. This project and the Chris Bell Cosmos re-issue (out 9/29)got me back to the mixing desk from the office desk for the first time in many years. I would not have done that for anyone else but thes 4 guys. (Scared to death at first, but it turns out to be like riding a bike, and I had great help from Ardent engineer and archivist, Adam Hill). 

Of course it was our policy to re-mix only material or versions for which no contemporary mixes existed, so there are perhaps 6 things on the box and somewhat more on disc 2 of Cosmos.

I of course agree that these premium products are for the real fan or those jsut discovering the music. Yet there do seem to be two music formats in high demand these days - free and premium.

Heck, I would pay the price for the 100 page book. It has photos of John Fry with long hair.

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