By Henry Lipput
In April 2016, some of the biggest names in indie rock performed in a tribute to one of the most influential albums of the last forty years.
Big Star's Third (or Sister Lovers as it was also known) was the work of Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, the last two remaining members of the band. When recording was completed in 1974, the album had no title or track listing. But when the album was finally made available in 1978, it became a template for the indie rock movement.
The Thank You, Friends concert is a joy to watch and was filmed by Benno Nelson in Glendale, CA, at, appropriately enough, the Alex Theatre. Led by musical director Chris Stamey of the dbs, and a founding member of the Big Star's Third ensemble, the concert contained songs from Big Star's #1 Record and Radio City as well as many of the songs from Third. (The album has been released in at least three configurations since 1978 and each one had a different track listing.) Since Big Star collapsed after the recording of Third was finished, none of the songs were performed live until the band's comeback in the 1990s; and, even then, only two songs were included on the Columbia: Live At Missouri University album. The Live In Memphis set had four.
Highlights of this amazing evening (which is also on two CDs) include Chris Stamey and Mitch Easter (of Let's Active) who are in charge of guitar duties and provide terrific leads and fills. Mike Mills from R.E.M. takes lead vocals on the power pop classic "September Gurls" as well as "Jesus Christ" from Third. Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer from The Posies (both of whom played with Chilton and Stephens in the comeback version of Big Star) sing "Feel" with Benmont Tench on keyboards. Pat Sansone from Wilco handles the sweet "I'm In Love With A Girl" and joins Jeff Tweedy, also from Wilco, as they rip it up on "When My Baby's Beside Me." Later in the show, Tweedy also sings "Kizza Me" from Third. And newcomer Skylar Gudasz performs a lovely "Thirteen" and brings a guitar to the party when she joins Mills on Third's rocking "You Can't Have Me."
One of the best things about the concert is the participation of drummer and sole surviving Big Star member, Jody Stephens. Stephens is part of the concert band and sings his "For You" and also covers Chilton's "Blue Moon," both from Third. Stephens is still only in his early sixties and he looks great. You can see how much this evening means to him. He glows.
No tribute to the music of Big Star, obviously, could be done without acknowledging Chris Bell. Bell was co-founder of the band with Chilton, and #1 Record was very much a collaboration between the two. But after leaving the band and recording the tracks that would eventually become the I Am The Cosmos album, Bell couldn't get them released. It was Chris Stamey's record company that put out the "I Am The Cosmos" single, so it's fitting that Stamey performs a heartfelt "Cosmos." Pat Sansone, with the help of Brett Harris (taking the Chilton vocal part), sings the single's B-side "You And Your Sister."
To me, one of the most amazing things Stamey and his musicians and vocalists have accomplished in the Third performance --in addition to the great guitar playing and sympathetic vocals on "Dream Lover" and "Holocaust" -- is recreating the album's sense of things barely being kept together. On "Kanga Roo," the best example, you have the sense of things falling apart even as the you're listening to Chilton's recording.
A lot of this, astonishingly, is reproduced in the concert. A crucial element is the use of the original wind and string arrangements by Carl Marsh who conducts the orchestra. And it doesn't hurt to have The Kronos Quartet as part of the concert's string section.
I've always felt many things about Third: it's difficult, it's dark, it rocks, and it can be uplifting. But it wasn't until I listened to this great concert that I was able to also say that Third is beautiful. Thank you, friends.
Thank You, Friends: Big Star's Third Live … And More is out now of Concord Bicycle Music. It's available as a 2-CD/DVD or Blu-Ray combo pack or a stand-alone 2-CD album.
Great review of a wonderful show. I liked how you gave Chris Bell prominence too - he was just as much part of the original Big Star magic as the rest (even though by Third he was out of the picture).
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