Chris Bell (Big Star) - Rhino Releases 2-CD Version of "I Am The Cosmos" on 9/28

STREAM - Seven Tracks from Chris Bell - "I Am the Cosmos" Re-Issue (Rhino)

Following right on the heels of the Big Star box set, Keep An Eye on the Sky, that came out last week, Rhino Handmade is releasing a limited edition 2-CD pressing of Chris Bell's solo disc I Am the Cosmos.

I am the Cosmos has been out of print for a number of years having first come out in 1992 (14 years after Bell's death) on the Rykodisc label. The Rhino re-issue builds on this original release and adds a second disc which contains thirteen previously unissued songs from Chris' pre-Big Star bands, Icewater and Rock City, along with alternate versions from I am the Cosmos sessions and post-Big Star tracks.

Among the wealth of unissued recordings are eight alternate versions and mixes of album tracks, including "You And Your Sister" with Mellotron in place of the original's string arrangement, and a later version of "Get Away" featuring Big Star's Alex Chilton on guitar, Ken Woodley on bass and Richard Rosebrough on drums.

The collection also gathers up a number of unreleased songs Bell recorded that did not appear on I AM THE COSMOS, including two songs by Icewater (a precursor to Big Star); collaborations with Memphis songwriter Keith Sykes ("Stay With Me") and singer Nancy Bryan ("In My Darkest Hour"); and "Clacton Rag," an instrumental recorded in 1976 that features Bell solo on guitar.

The only solo material that was released during Chris' lifetime was a 1978 Car Records single featuring Bell's "I Am The Cosmos" b/w "You And Your Sister." The first 1,000 orders for this new 2-CD set will receive an exclusive reproduction of the original 7”.

Links:
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Big Star - 4-Disc Box Set "Keep an Eye on the Sky" Out Sept. 15th / Ltd. Edition Record Store Day Vinyl 7" Out Sept. 5th (Rhino)

STREAM: Selections from Big Star - "Keep an Eye on the Sky"

On Sept. 15th, Rhino is issuing the definitive Big Star collection with a 98-track 4CD box set entitled Keep an Eye on the Sky. In advance of the box set, a limited edition vinyl single which will be available on Sept. 5th for Record Store Day.

The vinyl 7" is limited to 3,500 copies and contains the tracks "Feel" (Alternate Mix) and "Mod Lang" (Unissued Single Remix).

The box set spans 1968 - 1975 and includes the members' pre-Big Star studio recording, demos and outtakes from the three Big Star albums, selections from a 1973 live performance and both sides of Chris Bell's 1978 solo single.

Spotlighting the band's roots, the boxed set opens with several songs recorded before Big Star formed, including “Try Again,” one of the first songs Bell and Chilton wrote together. Those early cuts are followed by Big Star's 1972 debut #1 Record, reimagined here using a mix of album tracks and unreleased alternate mixes of favorites like “Thirteen,” “When My Baby's Beside Me,” and more. Among the disc's rarities are “Country Morn'” (issued as a flexi-disc single by a Big Star fanzine), the demo for “I Got Kinda Lost,” and an unreleased acoustic demo of Chilton singing Loudon Wainwright's “Motel Blues.”

The second disc of KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY opens with a trio of unreleased demos: “There Was A Light,” “What's Going Ahn,” and “Life Is White.” The original song sequence for Radio City follows, combining album versions with unreleased alternate mixes (“Way Out West” and “You Get What You Deserve.”) The disc features unissued versions of “She A Mover” and “Mod Lang,” several unreleased demos for Big Star's third album, plus Bell's acclaimed 1978 single “I Am The Cosmos” and its B-side “You And Your Sister.”

KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY's third disc opens with seven demos (most previously unreleased) for songs that appear on Third/Sister Lovers, including “Jesus Christ,” “Take Care,” and “Holocaust.” Among the album's 19 songs collected here is “For You,” “Kizza Me,” and “Kanga Roo.” Also featured is “Lovely Day,” an early, unreleased version of “Stroke It Noel” with different lyrics; Chilton vamping with photographer Bill Eggleston at the piano for Nat King Cole's “Nature Boy” and a raucous cover of The Kinks' “Till The End Of The Day.”

The collection's final disc contains unreleased highlights from three sets Big Star performed at Lafayette's Music Room in Memphis in January 1973. It is the best live recording ever of the band. The show captures Chilton, Hummel, and Stephens playing many of the songs on #1 Record, which had just recently been released. The set list includes a retooled version of “ST 100/6” lengthened by both guitar and drum solos (with a middle eight heisted from the Rock City song “The Preacher.”) Also in the repertoire are “There Was A Light” and “I Got Kinda Lost.” In addition, the concert includes fully formed versions of several songs recorded later for Radio City: “Back Of A Car,” “Way Out West,” “O My Soul,” and a particularly rocking “She's A Mover.” Those originals are mixed with a selection of covers: Todd Rundgren's “Slut,” T. Rex's “Baby Strange,” The Kinks' “Come On Now,” and The Flying Burrito Brothers' “Hot Burrito #2.”

Links:
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Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City CD Reissue (Ardent/Stax)

STREAM: Big Star - "In the Street"

"Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round" - The Replacements: “Alex Chilton”

In the 30+ years since the release of Big Star’s first two albums, #1 Record and Radio City, these discs have grown to a legendary/cult status that its members (Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel) never seemed to recapture. These albums, which were originally issued in 1972 and 1974, provided the foundation for modern power-pop at a time when bands like Led Zeppelin were all the rage. While discs were critically acclaimed, they sold next to nothing due to poor record company promotion and distribution. After being out of print for a number of years, Ardent/Stax Records has reissued the first two Big Star albums on one disc with the non-LP single versions of “In the Street” and “O My Soul”.

These discs have grown in prominence over the years after bands like R.E.M., Dream Syndicate, Cheap Trick and the Replacements have all cited Big Star as an inspiration. According to Wikipedia, #1 Record was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. One of Big Star’s most recognizable singles, “September Gurls” (from Radio City), has been covered from artists that range from The Bangles to Superdrag.

#1 Record is the only disc to feature original guitarist Chris Bell, who collaborated with Alex Chilton on the brunt of the songwriting. The singles from this release were “When My Baby's Beside Me" and "Don't Lie to Me". The b-side of this later track included a unique version of "In the Street" (which is now enshrined in pop-culture history as the theme from “That 70’s Show”) which has been included on this compilation.

Radio City was released two years later with the band now down to a three-piece with the departure of Chris Bell. The disc does though include some un-credited work by Chris Bell on the tracks "O My Soul" and "Back of a Car". In reviewing Radio City, Rolling Stone's Ken Barnes said "Sometimes they sound like the Byrds, sometimes like the early Who, but usually like their own indescribable selves".



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