#1 Record

Album: #1 Record

Artist: Big Star

Released: June 1st, 1972

Highlights: Feel, The Ballad of El Goodo, In the Street, Thirteen

The history of rock music has been partially paved with the tales of a number of bands that while critically acclaimed and tremendously influential, never got their dues on a commercial level. Surely, it would have been too much to expect that all remarkable groups be widely remembered and revered on a scale similar to that of giants like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Still, it would certainly be nice to see the unsung heroes of the genre be more than a bleep on the radar that is only uncovered by those who dig far into its rich musical well. While some groups, such as The Velvet Underground and the Pixies got the respect they deserved down the line, for the banners of their glories were hoisted by acts that made it big – David Bowie and Nirvana, respectively; others never got there, for their greatness was praised by those who were, themselves, outcasts who embraced the existence on a rung below the mainstream.

Big Star falls into that second group. The brilliancy of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel, and Jody Stephens was alluded to by both R.E.M. and The Replacements, bands that were too true to a non-conformist essence to break their musical principles and hang onto the radio waves by bending the knee to the industry’s wishes. And so, the three classic records that form the cornerstone of their legend have become secluded and unexplored stops along the rock music highway. “#1 Record” captures the group exploring the purest essence of their sound: Big Star may have been an American band formed almost a decade after the British Invasion, but anyone listening to “#1 Record” without any external knowledge would easily put the album’s release somewhere around 1967, as it stands somewhere between The Beatles’ sonic experiments and chamber pop explorations, and The Kinks’ hard rock days and pastoral period.

The first half of the album sees Bell handling vocal duties on vicious rockers whose simple yet powerful riffs share their DNA with The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, a link that becomes even clearer due to how Bell’s shrill voice is close to that of Dave Davies; while Chilton brings delightful innocence to the gorgeous acoustic tracks of “The Ballad Of El Goodo” and “Thirteen”, which carry the peaceful sonority of The Kinks during their “The Village Green Preservation Society” era, moving low-key melodies which can be traced to McCartney’s “Yesterday”, and the angelic harmonies The Beatles had perfectly mastered. “The India Song”, a piece of psychedelic pop rock, and “When My Baby’s Beside Me”, which would have been right at home on one of The Beatles’ first four albums alongside other straightforward and sweetened rock and roll reinterpretations, serve as a pleasant interlude before “#1 Record” unleashes a moving onslaught of five peaceful pastoral ballads that take the album, floating on clouds of harmonies and melody, all the way to its conclusion.

Truly, it is not a fully original mixture; however, it is remarkable for when it happened, as by 1972 the British Invasion had already left its mark on the general cultural spectrum and sailed straight onto the pages of rock history books. Big Star came out to show that someone in the Southern United States had paid great attention and developed a profound love for what The Kinks and The Beatles had done in their primes; and such infatuation ran so true and deep inside the hearts of songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell they wanted to create their own take on those classic sounds. The outpour of that confluence of admiration and talent found its way onto “#1 Record”, an album clouded by the fog of time and obscurity, but that is nevertheless a treasured and highlighted spot on the maps of all musical sailors who ventured into the little-visited waters surrounding it.