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Thoughts on Big Star

I've read a little about Big Star after getting two of their songs on a southern music CD sampler. I really like "For You" and "Stroke it Noel". After sampling some of their other stuff I found that I also like "September Gurls".

I really like those three songs but I'm having a hard time finding other stuff of theirs that I like.

Just wondering if anyone else is into them, which albums you might like best, which songs you like best, best approach to getting into them, which recordings/format you prefer? 

They seem to have been one of those 'influential' bands with critical acclaim and with a strong but small following. Sometimes I find that I just don't see the magic in some 'cult' bands of that sort but liking the three songs mentioned above I feel like they might be worth getting to know. My only streaming is low end iTunes....for now.
n80
robelvick's avatar
robelvick
619 posts
 
"Thirteen" is one of my all time favourite songs.

Agree, all three of their albums are excellent!
loomisjohnson
1,961 posts
 
radio city is one of my all-time top ten, although at various times i prefer "third"---all the studio records are brilliant. i would also pick up chris bell's solo record, "i am the cosmos", which is just as worthy.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Excellent responses guys. Just what I was looking for.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,950 posts
 
I saw a great documentary on Big Star a couple of years ago, should be easy to find somewhere. There are quite a few Pop groups who are cult legends, never achieving much commercial success, but inspiring a lot of members of groups/bands who did. Big Star were one of those. Their dual frontman/songwriter/singer dynamic was also found in Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, The dB's, a few others.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
I've been a fan of Alex Chilton for years. He is creative with a bit of an edge. Last year I bought all three of the third album reissues which I thoroughly enjoy. It includes the demos & rough mixes as well as obviously the final version. Funny thing is I've noticed this with other bands as well (Sonic Youth comes to mind), that often I prefer the stripped down versions better than the final cuts. There is something very organic about those versions. 
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