The classic lineup of Big Star only existed between 1971 and 1974 (though a version of the band reformed in 1993), but in that short time, with three albums that ranged from euphoric power pop to despairing ballads, the Memphis band created a musical legacy that has spawned generations of fans.
One of the most passionate of those fans is R.E.M’s Mike Mills, While recording at Memphis Ardent Studios with REM in the 80s, he met and befriended Big Star’s drummer Jody Stephens. When Stephens became the only surviving member of the band after frontman Alex Chilton died of a heart attack in 2010, he invited Mills to join an all-star tribute band, called Big Star Third after their darkest and most revered album.
On Wednesday at the Concord in LA, the band – which also includes Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone from Wilco, Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Jon Auer of the Posies, Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – will play the Third album in its entirety, along with other Big Star classics. They’ll be accompanied by a chamber orchestra led by the Kronos Quartet, and the show will be released as a film and record next year. Meanwhile, a Big Star live album, a radio session recorded for WLIR in 1974, has just been re-released.
Big Star’s Third performing live from the Bumbershoot Music Lounge. Recorded August 31, 2014.
Songs:
For You
Take Care
Nightime
Give Me Another Chance
Thirteen
Blue Moon
I Am The Cosmos
In The Street
The Fat Angel Sings 