BIG STAR might change your life...

Know of a great band you think we'd like to hear about? Got some music news? Or just want to talk about music in general? Post it here.

Moderators: Jonicont, mark lynn, Maluca3, Tequila Cowboy, BigTom, CooleyGirl, olwiggum

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

For anyone that's missed out on the Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers tribute concerts that have been held in Carrboro, NC and NYC, it looks like they're going to be making a stopover in Austin for SXSW prior to taking the shows over to the U.K. in May.

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Report from Austin360.com on last night's screening of Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story at SXSW which was followed by another performance of Third/Sister Lovers from much of the same ensemble that have been doing the Big Star tribute concerts over the past couple years.


User avatar
RolanK
Posts: 3037
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:52 am
Location: drivin' home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by RolanK »



I suspect Kneiser has only heard one Big Star album... :lol:

(I think my favorite is Radio City)
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »




User avatar
Smitty
Posts: 10900
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:30 pm
Location: Fruithurst, Al
Contact:

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Smitty »

Smitty's All Time Top Five Big Star Songs

Thirteen
I'm in Love with a Girl
Nighttime
Holocaust
September Gurls/Blue Moon (tie :ugeek: )

I dig Chris Bell's "You & Your Sister" as much as any of 'em, though.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Considering the number of Big Star fans here, I thought y'all might be interested in this. As I recently posted in the movies thread, I had an opportunity to see it at the Full Frame Documentary Fest in Durham a couple of weekends ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone is in for a real treat.

Image

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

Awesome! I eagerly await it!
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:Awesome! I eagerly await it!


As I mentioned in the movies thread, it has taken me a while to get Big Star despite having owned #1 Record/Radio City since the late 90's. After multiple listens those albums finally started to click with me but the Big Star Third/Sister Lovers concerts that Chris Stamey organized at the Cat's Cradle in 2010 really helped to deepen my appreciation for them. With the release of this documentary I can now say I'm a full fledged fan. I learned a lot from it that I never knew before but perhaps the biggest impact is how the music itself resonates with me now in ways that it never did before.

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

Nice new piece from Time Entertainment:

Big Star: The Ultimate American Pop Band
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by beantownbubba »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:Nice new piece from Time Entertainment:

Big Star: The Ultimate American Pop Band


Excellent! Thanks for the link TC.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Brief recap of the Central Park concert on June 30th:


User avatar
TW_2.0
Posts: 2092
Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 3:02 pm
Location: Denver by way of the Gump

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by TW_2.0 »

The movie is out on iTunes today !

Going to settle in and give it a look tonight.

EDIT: Highly recommended. Biggest takeaway: Jim Dickinson.
Last edited by TW_2.0 on Thu Jul 04, 2013 1:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
I can't dance a lick but sometimes I can flat rock and roll

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

TW_2.0 wrote:The movie is out on iTunes today !

Going to settle in and give it a look tonight.


Very nice! We're going on vacation tomorrow but will have to check it out when we get back.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by cortez the killer »

Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones & Panther Burns
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM


User avatar
dime in the gutter
Posts: 9013
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:46 pm

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by dime in the gutter »

movie is on demand now. pay that cable bill, bitches.

User avatar
cortez the killer
Posts: 15455
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by cortez the killer »

RolanK wrote:


I suspect Kneiser has only heard one Big Star album... :lol:

If that's the case, at least he's heard the best one. ;)
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

dime in the gutter wrote:movie is on demand now. pay that cable bill, bitches.


I thought the film really told the story well, particularly Chris Bell's. if you're a fan you'll dig it, if not it could make you one.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

It took the Big Star Third/Sister Lovers concerts that Chris Stamey organized at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro back in 2010 to help me listen to #1 Record and Radio City in an entirely new light by hearing some of those songs performed live. Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story only helped to deepen that appreciation.

For those that may not have seen it, this is a real nice read from the folks at Consequence of Sound. It includes very worthwhile contributions from fellow musicians that were influenced by Big Star as well as folks that were actually there like Jody Stephens.

Don’t Lie to Me: An Oral History of Big Star
BY LEN COMARATTA

Image

User avatar
RevMatt
Posts: 3339
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 4:13 pm
Location: Normaltown, USA
Contact:

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by RevMatt »

I had all three Big Star albums on cd but today I bought their first record on vinyl. What a difference!

The movie will be screening in Asbury Park July 18 - 20 and again on July 22. I live a mile from AP. If anyone here wants to make a road trip to see the film and needs a place to crash just PM me. I've got beds in my house.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by beantownbubba »

RevMatt wrote:I had all three Big Star albums on cd but today I bought their first record on vinyl. What a difference!

The movie will be screening in Asbury Park July 18 - 20 and again on July 22. I live a mile from AP. If anyone here wants to make a road trip to see the film and needs a place to crash just PM me. I've got beds in my house.


But will springsteen be there?
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
Tequila Cowboy
Site Admin
Posts: 20230
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:12 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone, along with everyone else

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

beantownbubba wrote:
RevMatt wrote:I had all three Big Star albums on cd but today I bought their first record on vinyl. What a difference!

The movie will be screening in Asbury Park July 18 - 20 and again on July 22. I live a mile from AP. If anyone here wants to make a road trip to see the film and needs a place to crash just PM me. I've got beds in my house.


But will springsteen be there?



At the Rev's house?
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

beantownbubba
Posts: 21745
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:52 am
Location: Trying to stay focused on the righteous path

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by beantownbubba »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:
RevMatt wrote:I had all three Big Star albums on cd but today I bought their first record on vinyl. What a difference!

The movie will be screening in Asbury Park July 18 - 20 and again on July 22. I live a mile from AP. If anyone here wants to make a road trip to see the film and needs a place to crash just PM me. I've got beds in my house.


But will springsteen be there?



At the Rev's house?


Intentionally ambiguous. :mrgreen:
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »



From the R.E.M. Timeline:

Last night (7.20.13) Peter & Scott McCaughey joined Ken Stringfellow after the 6:45pm premiere of Big Star's 'Nothing Can Hurt Me' at Portland's Hollywood Theatre, where they played a short 3 song set:

Thirteen / Thank You Friends / September Gurls

And not to be outdone, Scott joined Ken & The Maldives later at Mississippi Studios on their encore doing Neil Young's 'Bite The Bullet'

User avatar
Smitty
Posts: 10900
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:30 pm
Location: Fruithurst, Al
Contact:

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Smitty »

The Ballad of Big Star
On never-was bands, their prog-rock peers, and letting our taste define us

Nothing Can Hurt Me attempts to put the band's artistic triumphs and commercial failures into a larger context. But in the end the movie boils down to an oft-asked question in documentaries like this: Why didn't they like this like we liked this? The answers prove a little too banal for the good of the movie. Basically, it comes down to typical rock-and-roll afflictions: record label woes, constant instability in the group's lineup, and tortured genius syndrome. Nothing Can Hurt Me also suggests that the public simply wasn't sharp enough to get these feather-haired tunesmiths in their time, a dubious though not entirely unwarranted claim. "The fact that it wasn't on every radio station was the target practice of the record business," musician-critic Lenny Kaye says of "September Gurls," arguably Big Star's most shoulda-been hit song. "Sometimes you just miss." Nothing Can Hurt Me was made for those who believed that nobody missed better than Big Star.

If so many people weren't listening to Big Star several decades ago, what were they listening to instead? Nothing Can Hurt Me lays the blame at the feet of a familiar group of villains: Bloated and musically bankrupt stadium and prog rock bands. Watch enough documentaries about punk and indie-favored artists and this sequence will be instantly familiar. The script goes something like this: "In the early '70s, rock music became tired and bloated. [Cue concert footage of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.] The music lost its edge. [Insert a particularly long-winded snippet from Yes's Tales from Topographic Oceans.] Musicians no longer seemed dangerous or cool. [Close-up shot of Geddy Lee's nose.] What rock needed was a shot of energy! [Jump cut to the Sex Pistols playing 'Anarchy in the U.K.']"

What's especially tired about this trope in popular versions of rock history is that it assumes that its practitioners and fans didn't acknowledge the pomposity and silliness of prog. It overlooks the fact that pomposity and silliness were the point of prog, and that these qualities could be as exciting and valid as three-chord songs played by sociopathic misanthropes. At least that's the case made with intermittent persuasiveness by the new book Yes Is the Answer (and Other Prog-Rock Tales), a collection of essays written by celebrated authors (Rick Moody), musicians (Peter Case; Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think), and rock critics (Jim DeRogatis) about the spell that records like Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and ELP's Works Volume 1 held over teenagers just as intelligent and sensitive as the kids played by Eisenberg and Stewart in Adventureland, albeit with less fashionable preferences.



I loved this article. Interesting read from Grantland.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Smitty wrote:The Ballad of Big Star
On never-was bands, their prog-rock peers, and letting our taste define us

Nothing Can Hurt Me attempts to put the band's artistic triumphs and commercial failures into a larger context. But in the end the movie boils down to an oft-asked question in documentaries like this: Why didn't they like this like we liked this? The answers prove a little too banal for the good of the movie. Basically, it comes down to typical rock-and-roll afflictions: record label woes, constant instability in the group's lineup, and tortured genius syndrome. Nothing Can Hurt Me also suggests that the public simply wasn't sharp enough to get these feather-haired tunesmiths in their time, a dubious though not entirely unwarranted claim. "The fact that it wasn't on every radio station was the target practice of the record business," musician-critic Lenny Kaye says of "September Gurls," arguably Big Star's most shoulda-been hit song. "Sometimes you just miss." Nothing Can Hurt Me was made for those who believed that nobody missed better than Big Star.

If so many people weren't listening to Big Star several decades ago, what were they listening to instead? Nothing Can Hurt Me lays the blame at the feet of a familiar group of villains: Bloated and musically bankrupt stadium and prog rock bands. Watch enough documentaries about punk and indie-favored artists and this sequence will be instantly familiar. The script goes something like this: "In the early '70s, rock music became tired and bloated. [Cue concert footage of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.] The music lost its edge. [Insert a particularly long-winded snippet from Yes's Tales from Topographic Oceans.] Musicians no longer seemed dangerous or cool. [Close-up shot of Geddy Lee's nose.] What rock needed was a shot of energy! [Jump cut to the Sex Pistols playing 'Anarchy in the U.K.']"

What's especially tired about this trope in popular versions of rock history is that it assumes that its practitioners and fans didn't acknowledge the pomposity and silliness of prog. It overlooks the fact that pomposity and silliness were the point of prog, and that these qualities could be as exciting and valid as three-chord songs played by sociopathic misanthropes. At least that's the case made with intermittent persuasiveness by the new book Yes Is the Answer (and Other Prog-Rock Tales), a collection of essays written by celebrated authors (Rick Moody), musicians (Peter Case; Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think), and rock critics (Jim DeRogatis) about the spell that records like Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and ELP's Works Volume 1 held over teenagers just as intelligent and sensitive as the kids played by Eisenberg and Stewart in Adventureland, albeit with less fashionable preferences.



I loved this article. Interesting read from Grantland.


If I get the gist of the portion of the article you quoted, I noticed the same sort of thing in Color Me Obsessed, the documentary about the Replacements. At different points in the movie they would compare the sales of a particular Replacements album to million sellers of the day whether it was Madonna, Springsteen or Mariah Carey as if to make the same kind of point; despite being critically acclaimed, the general public is made out to be too out of touch with what was really cool to have known who the Replacements were. I can remember people cheering during the Big Star movie when they cut to that shot of Geddy Lee's nose. That brings to mind something I've mentioned frequently here, my love of music that may not be considered hip whether it be Jimmy Buffett, Rush, Foghat or Van Halen. Then again, I could also be accused of being a hypocrite because I've frowned upon people who like Train, Creed, Nickelback, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, etc.

User avatar
Smitty
Posts: 10900
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:30 pm
Location: Fruithurst, Al
Contact:

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Smitty »

You'd have to frown upon me when it comes to Kenny Chesney. I'm no way a big fan or hold him with the same regard as my oft-touted favorites on here, as far as mainstream country goes he probably has some of the best singles (along with some horrible ones). One thing I've learned is to ignore any interviews with him though because he comes off as clueless.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

User avatar
Kudzu Guillotine
Posts: 11761
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:46 am

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Smitty wrote:You'd have to frown upon me when it comes to Kenny Chesney. I'm no way a big fan or hold him with the same regard as my oft-touted favorites on here, as far as mainstream country goes he probably has some of the best singles (along with some horrible ones). One thing I've learned is to ignore any interviews with him though because he comes off as clueless.


He's recorded songs by Guy Clark and Deana Carter/Matraca Berg but I have such a disdain for mainstream country that I'll probably never be able to see past that. That's as true now as it was with Sawyer Brown, Diamond Rio, etc. in the 80's or as it was Kenny Rogers or Marie Osmond in the 70's. Thing is, I hate when people stare down their nose at me for liking Buffett, Rush, Van Halen, AC/DC, etc. or for merely mentioning that I may have once liked Boston, Kansas, REO, Journey or any of the usual bands that are frowned upon from the 70's. I'm not saying I haven't developed a thick skin in that regard but that whole "holier than thou"/"my shit doesn't stink" attitude when it comes to music can be very off putting but the contradictory part is that I'm just as guilty of it as anyone. I try to be open to what others like but the reality of the situation is, I'll probably never be a fan of Train, Dave Matthews, Chesney, Creed, McGraw, Zac Brown, Nickelback, Kid Rock, etc. Perhaps without me really realizing it, the Big Star movie helps to paint a favorable picture of musical elitism/snobbery.

User avatar
Smitty
Posts: 10900
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:30 pm
Location: Fruithurst, Al
Contact:

Re: BIG STAR might change your life...

Post by Smitty »

He's also recorded a shitton of Mac MacAnally songs. Here's the Carter/Berg cowrite, which I think was the best hit on country radio in the past few years:

E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

Post Reply