In 1966, after the release of their incredible album “Rubber Soul,” The Beatles set off on a tour of America. One of those stops was in Memphis, Tenn., hometown of 15 year olds Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. The two had been in bands previously, and when they had decided to work together, Chilton had an idea to model their work as a sort of Simon and Garfunkel type of duo, but Bell had bigger things in mind. Chilton offered Bell a spot in his current band, Icewater, that featured himself on guitar and vocals, drummer Jody Stephens, and bassist Andy Hummel. The four changed their name to Big Star, and set about making their first album.
Wanting to model themselves after the Lennon-McCartney partnership of the Beatles, they decided to credit everything together as Bell-Chilton. Both brought several songs from previous bands, but were open to modification of experimentation. In terms of songwriting, the two played off each other excellently. Chilton would come into the studio, put something heavier on a track, and Bell would come in later and layer it with harmony and mild backing instruments. The reverse was true as well. Bell would write something that was aimed at being more mellow and softer sounding, and Chilton would come in and add some heavier guitar sounds.
While this approach might not work for everyone, the pair were undeniably incredible together. This is apparent from the opening number, “Feel.” The song opens with a more mellow sounding guitar riff, before the rest of the band bursts in, and Bell begins singing with a voice that almost sounds strained, but works perfectly for the song. The chorus once again returns to a softer sound, with gentle harmonies accompanying Bell, before the song once again bursts open, this time into a guitar solo by Chilton. From there, a saxophone takes over the song, before it once again returns to the mellow chorus.
With so much going on in just the first two minutes of the album, it’s easy to think the album would become a mangled, mismatched mess, unaware of what genre it’s supposed to even be. This, however, is not the case.
While the band’s main influence was obviously The Beatles, especially their album “Rubber Soul,” with jangly guitars and multi-part harmony, it is easy to see influences from other bands as well. Ideas from The Rolling Stones, with their heavier guitar sounds and their roaring saxophone solos, can be heard throughout as well. The band works to blend together soul, rock, pop and other genres to create an amalgamation that in the years to follow would come to be known as power pop.
From “Feel,” the album transitions into a more mellow song all around, “The Ballad Of El Goodo.” From the opening chords of the guitar, layered heavily with a flanger, the song’s direction is clear. A gentler song filled to the brim with beautiful harmonies and soft guitars. The song itself was even featured in an episode of “House.” This is something that Big Star would become familiar with, as the next two songs on the album are also more known through their use in TV and movies.
To those who are unfamiliar with the album, the third song “In The Street” is the most well known. A cover of the song was used as the theme song for the popular show “The 70’s Show.” The song itself is great, and was a number brought in by Chilton from his time with another band. A more rock based song, it too features the band’s signature heavy-then-soft approach, starting off with a bang before jumping into a softer, harmony focused section.
My personal favorite song of the album, and the most covered song off the album, is “Thirteen.” Written from the perspective of Chilton’s 13 year old self shortly after discovering The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, it is a long song written about a girl he had feelings for at the time. The song itself features no electric guitar, being performed entirely acoustically by Chilton and the band. The harmony is extremely prevalent here, turning an already beautiful song into something even better. Elliot Smith, Wilco, The Replacements, R.E.M. and many more have gone on to cover this song, and “Rolling Stone Magazine” even placed it in their top 500 songs of all time.
From here, the album goes in all sorts of directions. It returns to rock with “Don’t Lie To Me,” before heading into world music with “The India Song,” a number written and sung by drummer Hummel about his desire to live in said country. “When My Baby’s Beside Me” returns to rock, and “My Life Is Right” is another soft ballad.
The next three songs are largely acoustic. “Give Me Another Chance” is another of the band’s more popular songs, featuring Chilton once again on only electric guitar. “Try Again” sounds like it would be right at home on George Harrison’s immaculate solo album “All Things Must Pass,” featuring heavy use of the slide guitar, a descending guitar riff and great harmony.
The final song in this acoustic trilogy is “Watch The Sunrise,” another song that Chilton brought with him from his other band. Focused on a faster, almost “Led Zeppelin III”-esque riff, it is once again a mellower song, but of a happier variety. The song gives more of a feeling of hope, as opposed to some of the other more melancholic based acoustic songs on the album.
Finally, the album closes with ST 100/6, a slower song that sounds more like something by Simon and Garfunkel or America. Sitting at just over a minute, it is certainly an odd song to pick for a closer to an album that has so many ups and downs, as the song itself ends on a more somber note. However, this was not unlike the ending of the band itself.
Shortly after the release of the first album, the band gained a lot of critical acclaim. It was hailed as being a wonderful mashup of so many great styles, with masterful musicianship, catchy hooks and excellent craftsmanship. One critic even claimed that every song off the album could be released as its own single. However, despite the acclaim, the record sold terribly. Poor marketing and little radio play meant that no one was getting exposure to the album. Due to this, Bell left the band when he saw that the album was not going to be anywhere near successful.
The band continued on without Bell, releasing another stellar album, “Radio City.” This album also failed to chart, and Hummel left shortly after that album. Chilton and Stephens returned to record a third album, but after being told it was not financially possible, they broke up the band. Shortly after, outtakes were scraped together to form their third album, simply titled “Third.” All three albums were heavily acclaimed by critics, but it wasn’t until the mid 80’s that they began to gain popularity.
Nowadays, “#1 Record” may not sound like anything special. But when looking at the time period, their influence is clear. Bands like Cheap Trick, Bad Company, The Knacks and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers all retain sounds brought forward by Big Star, and those are just some of many. Bands that have stated Big Star as an influence include the aforementioned Wilco, Elliot Smith, R.E.M. and The Replacements, and that’s just naming the well known ones. The band introduced a new sound, along with peers like Badfinger and the Raspberries, that would come to define entire generations of music, up to and including popular music today.