Big Star – #1 Record

I have owned a Still Sealed copy of #1 Record ADS-2803. I picked it up in a dump bin around 1985. Without opening it, how do I find out which 1972 Ardent LP I own?

My Classic Records pressings of the two lp's are good. #1 sounding better than Radio City (to my ears).
My Craft reissue of #1 sounds fantastic but the 1978 UK twofer beats em' all. I never play the originals.....

Does anybody else ever wonder if Lynyrd Skynyrd kinda ripped off the guitar style from the opening track on this album? lol ever since i first heard this, i was like damn, that sounds like that trademark Lynyrd Skynyrd style..... But this came out a year before the first Skynyrd album..... Hmmm...

I’ve been around music my entire life, perhaps taken music a bit too seriously at times, and certainly have stumbled across my fair share of tortured artists who just can’t get noticed.

The first that comes to mind is Todd Rundgren, a man who’s had his moment in the sun, but achieved more success as a producer than an artist. Then of course there’s the late Gram Parsons, a man who like Todd, seemed to be ahead of his time, a man with aspirations that inspired the likes of Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones), but just couldn’t gain the acceptance he was looking for. And then there was Philadelphia’s own Ken Kweder & The Secret Kids, whose rehearsal space I ed hundreds of times on my way to South Street. All this brings me to Alex Chilton, who fronted the band The Boxtops, with the stunning single “The Letter” back in the 60’s, and then went through more changes than just about any artist I know.

Other musicians have cited Chilton as being an the inspiration to their sound, and among them are The Replacements along with R.E.M. and Teenage Fanclub. All of that just sort of made me nuts, as I wasn’t hearing what these folks were. Then it dawned on me that those musicians were not hearing Alex Chilton either, they were relating to aspects of Chilton’s music, aspects of his vocals, aspects of his ideas, which caused me to wonder if I could rate an artist highly simply based on a series of ideas, concepts and deliveries, rather than to a finished product. To that end I began talking to those, such as Paul Westerburg, asking them what was so special about Big Star that provoked such acclaim from them. The answer I got, each and every time, was something along the line of, “Listen to his part right here” … “What Alex does on this song is simply stunning,” and “His concept was so original.”

All this left me scratching my head, not so much in wonder or awe that I missed what these musicians were talking about, but that they weren’t talking about the music of Alex Chilton at all, they were talking around it, pointing out splendid moments, insightful note combinations, but never as songs that where impressionable or even good, leaving me with the notion that they were wrapped up in the ideas that Alex Chilton had, but could never bring to fruition, while others who listened to Chilton were able to build on those ideas and achieve great success. Of course this puts Alex Chilton in an odd place, praised by critics who alone in their bathrobes and bedrooms have these ah-ha moments, and then wonder why the rest of the world hasn’t made Alex Chilton the saint they hear playing in the corner to no one other than a small self-identified ‘select’ group of listeners who’d been blessed by the light.

So last week I stumble on the Big Star documentary, of course thinking that perhaps hearing and seeing a sequential time line would unfold this music for me and correct my thinking before a missed opportunity was forever etched into my brain. Even with the story being enlightening, I found it to be irrelevant when it came to the actual music that was not working for me, and now, I think never will.

While I’ll it that the songwriting might be better than average, though nearly everything about it from there on seemed wrong and out of place. Chilton’s vocals are uninspiring unemotional and grating, even flat, as if he couldn’t care, and after seeing the documentary, I’m convinced that he didn’t care. The music comes off as disorienting and confused, with parts sounding as if they’re actually going to overheat my amplifier. Chilton represented everything I disliked about music of the 70’s, one bad version copied from another in chain of bad songs that were endlessly played on the radio until it was impossible to distinguish good from bad or originals from copies … leaving me feeling that the end of rock n’ roll was upon me.

Then it hit me like a silver bullet to the temple, I didn’t have to enjoy Big Star, I didn’t have to keep it a secret that I didn’t like Big Star, I could just say it, and I will, “I don’t like Big Star.” Liking or not liking music is subjective, though the divinely inspired chosen few would have me believe that there’s something wrong with me, endlessly trying to convince me that because I pick and chose which of Wilco’s songs resonate best with me, that that in itself proves that I could come to with Big Star and be welcomed into the fold. But see, these same people refuse to give me the same freedom I give them, they don’t see that differing takes on music are essentially the same as different flavors of icing on a cake, meaning there’s not one single thing wrong with me because the music of Big Star doesn’t click with me.

I would suggest that there are far more music lovers like myself, feeling, or perhaps coerced into thinking that they too must get aboard the airplane, or the fast train, and have been beating themselves up for years, when they should just stop, and it that they like the idea of The Ramones better than the actual band, who created and then recreated song after same song.

So yes, I’m on board with those who were deeply influenced enough by Big Star to go out and do something resounding fresh and new, building on the ideas of Alex Chilton rather than copying or emulating him. And if you can actually make it through a Big Star album, then my hat's off to you, and I'm deeply pleased that you've found music that delights your listening space, but please, don't pull out a Big Star album for me and say, "Just listen to this part right here."

*** The Fun Facts: The band name Big Star was lifted from the name of the grocery store chain, Big Star Markets, the band frequented for snacks during their recording sessions.

Review by Jenell Kesler

Just wanted to drop in and post a review(s) of what is actually the lesser-known 1978 Stax UK two-fer pressing of "#1 Record" + "Radio City" s (i.e., this 2xLP: https://discogs.versitio.com/Big-Star-1-Record-Radio-City/release/2212390 ), with the hope that it may be helpful to anyone who may be fretting over the daunting prospect of hunting down original Ardent copies of these records--which, while prohibitively pricey since *at least* the early 2000s, will nowadays not only obliterate your wallet, but damn near take a few chunks of butt-cheek with 'em. Here goes….

Abbreviated review: The Stax two-fer UK pressing sounds very nice and, while not exactly a dollar bin record, is a vastly cheaper way of obtaining good-sounding, all-analog vinyl copies of the first two Big Star LPs.

Full review: ***CRUCIAL CAVEAT***: I *have not* compared the Stax two-fer with actual, physical copies of the original Ardent US pressings. I can’t afford those records, either. The best I could do was to compare the two-fer with FLAC vinyl rips executed by the highly respected ”pbthal,” whose contributions to What.CD (RIP) were once an essential element of what made that legendary (and legendarily exclusive) file-sharing site so great. In light of this fact, it is with *massive emphasis* that I assert that the following review is ***fraught with huge limitations*** and must be taken with a golf ball-sized grain of salt. With all these qualifications and potential pitfalls in mind, here’s the setup on which I conducted the A/B shootout:

McIntosh C29 preamp
McIntosh MC 2205 amp
JBL L100T3 speakers
Technics SL-1200mk2 + Shure M97xE cart + JICO SAS stylus (for playing the records)
Music Streamer II DAC (for playing the FLAC files)

I am unsure as to what pbthal’s setup was when he ripped the records--he constantly evolves and improves his setup--but one can safely assume that it was top-of-the-line. Also possibly noteworthy is that he used a white label promo copy of “Radio City.”

Regardless, I got the same impression from both shootouts: In each case, pbthal’s FLAC vinyl rips were a tad brighter than my phono setup, and *possibly* very slightly more detailed; if the latter were the case, it’d probably be due to pbthal’s superior phono setup, but it was very close, so I’m not even sure it’s the case at all. Comparatively, my phono setup was a bit (not a lot) warmer, but the soundstage was wider, and the music seemed somehow less mediated to my ears. All in all, I slightly preferred listening to the records to the FLAC files. But these nit-pickings aside, the main thing that struck me during the shootouts was how ***similar*** the physical records sounded compared to the FLAC files. If I hadn’t been so hyper-focused on it, I may not even have noticed a difference if, say, I were listening from another room and a mischievous leprechaun were switching back and forth between the FLAC files and the turntable each song. I might notice, but I’m not *sure* that I would. They simply sounded more similar than different.

Now, I should hasten to add, again, that there are glaring limitations to the very notion of comparing vinyl pressings by using FLAC files for one record and an actual record for the other--so glaring that I wasn’t even sure I was going to post this review at all. But when it comes down to it, I walked away from that shootout convinced that the UK Stax two-fer is a pretty damn good-sounding 2xLP, and is probably (although I’m obviously not 100% certain) quite comparable to the original US Ardent pressings. Might the Stax pressing have used, say, second-generation tapes? Maybe, maybe not. But even if so, they did a dang good job with them. Indeed, I also walked away from the shootout feeling like the Stax two-fer was a good-sounding record *in general*, and it actually sounded better than I expected beforehand, given the era during and circumstances under which it was created (I don’t know too much about the albums’ recording history, can’t help but assume that they didn’t exactly have Beatles- or Led Zep-level budgets when they originally recorded them).

My ultimate conclusion/recommendation: If you ever see the 1978 “#1 Record” + “Radio City” two-fer Stax UK pressing for a good price, grab it without hesitation. It’s a good-sounding pair of records, and it may be the last chance you ever get to hear Big Star in glorious ana your very own living room.

Great album, great songwriting a pleasure to listen to - Fantastic to enjoy on sunny day in the car - The problem i have that i live in England not california so sunny days are limited.

I have this on CD and loaded on my ipod but really notice the volume changes from song to song - Some seem like they have been mastered loud then others quiet - the album just doesnt flow like it should - is this just the CD or does this happen on the LP as well? -

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I Have an original Ardent Promo copy of this LP. Within the run out grooves is etched this sentence,'..The more you learn,the less you know.'