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| From humble beginnings. Sort of. Somehow apt. |
As a member of the musical tribe I fell in with, I came late to the Big Star party. A friend passed them on as one of scores of artists burned to CDs and passed on to me back in the old “ripping” days; I’d say he put 60 bands on there, most with multiple albums. He didn’t single out Big Star or any other band - not that it would have mattered because, me being me, I started at the top of the alphabet and methodically worked through it. Getting to the “Bs” didn't take long, obviously.
I did recognize the name, though. When another friend and his wife got married, they created wedding playlist CDs as a party favor and tucked all the way that bottom was Big Star’s “I’m in Love with a Girl,” a short little song I loved the second I heard it. That sharpened the anticipation of getting to them, but I was in love with Big Star by the time I got to “Thirteen” on #1 Record on the first listen.
Who They’re For: Fans of 70s rock, for one, but they have a barrier of entry or two - lightly pinched vocals, for one, but I also wonder how many people hear that damn-near signature guitar sound and think the songs all sound the same. But I’m going to borrow something to help explain them:
"Though the Fab Four are an audible influence on the albums, it’s generally more White Album–era Beatles being drawn upon than A Hard Day’s Night, along with such disparate elements as Led Zeppelin’s swaggering hard rock, Kinks leader Ray Davies’ brooding introspection, and the sweet soul music of Big Star’s Memphis hometown.”
It’s not necessarily complex music, but it runs from busy, full of layering, dueling melodies to songs so stripped down and simple that they almost walk around naked. The mood can turn on a dime within the same album, sometimes song to song. It’s dramatic lyrically, but on a very personal, almost insular level. If it speaks to you, it speaks loudly.
I did recognize the name, though. When another friend and his wife got married, they created wedding playlist CDs as a party favor and tucked all the way that bottom was Big Star’s “I’m in Love with a Girl,” a short little song I loved the second I heard it. That sharpened the anticipation of getting to them, but I was in love with Big Star by the time I got to “Thirteen” on #1 Record on the first listen.
Who They’re For: Fans of 70s rock, for one, but they have a barrier of entry or two - lightly pinched vocals, for one, but I also wonder how many people hear that damn-near signature guitar sound and think the songs all sound the same. But I’m going to borrow something to help explain them:
"Though the Fab Four are an audible influence on the albums, it’s generally more White Album–era Beatles being drawn upon than A Hard Day’s Night, along with such disparate elements as Led Zeppelin’s swaggering hard rock, Kinks leader Ray Davies’ brooding introspection, and the sweet soul music of Big Star’s Memphis hometown.”
It’s not necessarily complex music, but it runs from busy, full of layering, dueling melodies to songs so stripped down and simple that they almost walk around naked. The mood can turn on a dime within the same album, sometimes song to song. It’s dramatic lyrically, but on a very personal, almost insular level. If it speaks to you, it speaks loudly.
