Big Star

Big Star endures as the definitive American power pop outfit, ranking among rock and roll’s most storied and far-reaching cult ensembles. Formed under the singing and songwriting partnership of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, the Memphis group merged the sharpest traits of the British Invasion—the Beatles’ melodic ingenuity, the Who’s slashing guitars, and the Byrds’ luminous harmonies—into a ragged yet hauntingly lovely style that revived the essence of earlier pop while charting a course for what lay ahead. Creative friction, erratic distribution, and market neglect combined to cut short the band’s lifespan and block its commercial breakthrough, yet its three studio albums stand as enduring masterpieces: the sleek yet forceful production of 1972’s #1 Record, the stripped-down and aggressive guitar focus of 1974’s Radio City, and the disorienting oscillation between splendor and despair that became known as Third. Only the Velvet Underground has exerted a deeper influence on later indie acts across both sides of the Atlantic.

The origins of Big Star trace to Icewater, also called Rock City, assembled in 1971 by singer/guitarist Bell alongside guitarist Steve Ray, bassist Andy Hummel, and drummer Jody Stephens. Ray departed soon after the group’s start and was succeeded by Chilton, the former Box Tops vocalist who had reached the top of the pop charts at age sixteen with the 1967 classic “The Letter.” Having just returned to Memphis following an unsuccessful solo attempt in New York City, Chilton had first performed with Bell in a high-school cover band years earlier; upon his arrival Icewater adopted the name Big Star from a neighborhood supermarket chain. Sessions began at Ardent Studios, where Bell sometimes served as engineer and session guitarist, but despite favorable reviews and scattered radio play, the superb 1972 debut #1 Record fell victim to the distribution failures of Ardent’s parent company Stax and often never reached stores.

Bell and Chilton meanwhile clashed over the band’s path, with the former favoring a primarily studio-based endeavor and the latter preferring live performances; Chilton’s prior Box Tops fame also drew the bulk of attention from audiences and writers, eclipsing Bell’s role. Bell exited in late 1972. His later solo efforts yielded little, aside from the striking single “I Am the Cosmos,” which appeared before his death in a 1978 car accident. A posthumous collection bearing the same title reached stores in 1992 to widespread critical praise. After Bell’s departure Big Star continued briefly as a trio before dissolving, allowing Chilton to resume his stalled solo work; months afterward he rejoined Hummel and Stephens for a local music writers’ convention whose strong reception prompted them to restore the group on a permanent basis.

Big Star’s second album, 1974’s Radio City, stands as their finest achievement—a jagged, visceral guitar-pop statement charged with extraordinary urgency and immediacy. It features their most celebrated track, the frequently covered cult favorite “September Gurls.” Another highlight, “Back of a Car,” reflects Chris Bell’s unmistakable contribution, though the length and timing of his involvement remain unclear. Distribution setbacks again thwarted any realistic chance of commercial success, prompting Hummel’s resignation. Chilton and Stephens added bassist John Lightman for several East Coast concerts, one of which—a WLIR radio broadcast—was later released as Big Star Live and reissued in 2018 as Live on WLIR. Work on a third album commenced but quickly unraveled as Chilton, embittered by years of industry mistreatment, deliberately undermined the project, producing one of the bleakest pop records ever recorded. The material was finished and then shelved, after which Big Star ceased to exist.

The saga might have concluded there, yet the third album surfaced overseas in 1978; issued in varying unauthorized editions under the titles Third and/or Sister Lovers, it lacked both complete session material and correct sequencing for years. Even so, the record cultivated a devoted following, and as the power-pop movement took shape it grew evident how forward-looking Big Star’s sound had been. Numerous alternative-rock groups, among them R.E.M., the Replacements, the dB’s, and Teenage Fanclub, later acknowledged the band’s profound impact, and in 1993 the Posies’ Jonathan Auer and Ken Stringfellow supported Chilton and Stephens at a reunion concert at the University of Missouri, preserved on the Columbia live album.

Against expectations the reunion persisted through European and Japanese tours and, most remarkably, an appearance on The Tonight Show, though no new studio recordings materialized. Occasional reunions continued, and a new song, “Hot Thing,” was cut for a 2003 compilation. Chilton, Stephens, Stringfellow, and Auer then entered the studio to finish a fresh Big Star album, In Space, issued in 2005. The band performed notable concerts in England and America; in 2009 Rhino released the comprehensive box set Keep an Eye on the Sky, which included a complete 1973 Memphis club performance later issued separately in 2018 as Live at Lafayette’s Music Room—Memphis, TN. One year afterward, on the eve of the 2010 SXSW festival, Chilton died of heart failure in New Orleans.

An impromptu tribute to Chilton and Big Star occurred at SXSW, followed by several related projects. In December 2010 an all-star ensemble featuring Mike Mills of R.E.M., Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey, and Jody Stephens presented the songs from Big Star’s Third, incorporating orchestrations drawn from Carl Marsh’s original string arrangements. The Big Star Third production toured major cities worldwide for several years thereafter. The 2012 documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me chronicled the band’s erratic history to favorable notices. Rob Janovic’s book Big Star: The Story of Rock’s Forgotten Band appeared in 2013, while Holly George-Warren, a respected rock writer and friend of Chilton’s, published the biography A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton the next year. In 2016 Omnivore Recordings issued Complete Third, a three-disc box set assembling every surviving track from the Third sessions.