Box set: Big Star's Keep an Eye on the Sky

"I never travel far without a little Big Star."

Over the course of three albums in the 1970s (let's not talk about the unfortunate semi-reunion album from a few years ago), Big Star experienced pretty much all the downs of a struggling rock band. Following poor management and consistently poor album sales, one of its principal members, Chris Bell, disbanded and died soon afterward, while its other main songwriter, Alex Chilton, fell into a state of emotional turmoil. Despite these struggles, their first two albums, 1972's #1 Record and 1974's Radio City, are basically stuffed with ups, from the balls-out openers “Feel” and “O My Soul” to the heartwarming acoustics on “Watch the Sunrise” and “I'm in Love with a Girl,” with each song earning their many comparisons to the songcraft of such 1960s luminaries as The Beatles, The Byrds, and The Kinks. On their third album, 3rd, recorded in 1974 and released in 1978, the strife that had previously bubbled under the surface is brought to the fore, and what could've been another set of bristling pop became a shambolic and utterly depressing masterpiece.

All three of these albums are included in Rhino's new Big Star box set, Keep an Eye on the Sky, though not in their wholly original form. Many of the tracks have been replaced by their alternate mixes, likely in an effort to cram in as much of their previously unreleased material as possible, but in most cases, the differences are minimal. There are few albums I've listened to more than #1 Record (according to my last.fm, only three, one of which is Radio City), and to my ears, a countdown at the beginning is the only discernible difference heard on the alternate takes of “Thirteen” and “When My Baby's Beside Me,” which is a good thing, considering those are both perfect pop songs. The only alternate mix that feels completely alternate is “My Life Is Right,” which starts out with guitar instead of piano and features a stronger vocal quiver, but it still maintains the song's bombastic ecstasy. Rhino did take some creative license in inserting “Gone With the Light” into the sequencing, but it's a perfect fit with the uplifting acoustic mood that the album settles into, and even segues beautifully into the serene “Watch the Sunrise.” The proclivity towards substituting alternate mixes for the originals decreases with each album. Radio City only receives three, one of which actually offers comprehensible lyrics on the bizarre piano ditty, “Morpha Too,” while 3rd stays pretty much intact, though its sequencing receives yet another rearrangement.

Daisy Glaze - Big Star

While the alternate mixes are included seemingly to offer something newish without changing the feel of the album, the bonus tracks that bookend each disc are often revelatory. Disc one opens with the aptly titled “Psychedelic Stuff,” a shoddy assemblage of instrumental wonkery that offers no indication of the pop sheen to come. Their debt to The Beatles is brought to light on two tracks by the members' pre-Big Star outfits, Icewater and Rock City, with “All I See Is You” aping the “All I want is you” hook off “Dig a Pony” (with some overarching psychedelia) and “The Preacher” sounding like a perfect fit for one of the medleys on Abbey Road. While the influence of The Beatles continued, the band grew into their own by the time they cut their debut and their chops heightened on their sophomore effort. This progress is evident in the bonus tracks, particularly the acoustic demos of “O My Soul,” “My Life Is White,” and “What's Going Ahn” that precede their more fully-formed versions on Radio City. Most fascinating, though, are the demo versions of tracks that would be featured on 3rd, offering a glimpse of what the album could've been were it not for Chilton's attempts to sabotage its commercial appeal. The tune that would eventually become “Stroke It Noel” is presented in a lyrically-different demo as “Lovely Day,” which sadly lacks any masturbation references to undermine its orchestral majesty. Perhaps the most astonishing demo is of “Downs,” whose early version is a straight-up pop corker that would fit on their earlier albums quite well, while the version that made it onto 3rd sounds like an audition for the dictionary definition of “cacophony.” Of course, with such ultimate downers as “Kangaroo” and “Holocaust” on the roster, it's clear 3rd never planned on being a good time, but these demos show just how far Chilton went to make sure no sunshine seeped in.

Elsewhere, Chris Bell's efforts after leaving Big Star (but still working closely with Alex Chilton) are showcased on “You and Your Sister” and the title track off his stunning solo album, I Am the Cosmos. Another song that landed on that album, “I Got Kinda Lost,” is presented here twice, first on a demo with the band, and again in a live set from 1973 that comprises the fourth disc. The band is in top form on here, though they remain pretty faithful to their studio version. Aside from stretching out the usually minute-long “ST 100/6” to four, the biggest change comes on “The India Song,” a Left Banke-style psychedelic track from their debut, transformed here into a superior laid-back country version reminiscent of Gram Parsons. That influence is solidified on their cover of “Hot Burrito #2” by Parson project The Flying Burrito Brothers, fittingly transformed here into a forceful rocker. As the set draws to an end, more inspired covers creep in, with brash versions of T. Rex's “Baby Strange,” Todd Rundgren's “Slut,” and The Kinks' “Come On Now” rounding out the set.

While the covers chosen for this set represent the band's embrace of such popular genres of their era as glam and country-rock, Big Star's strongest genre association is with power pop, a movement that had its commercial breakthrough soon after the band had essentially fallen apart. By the end of the 1970s, bands like Cheap Trick, The Knack, and The Romantics had managed to package the genre's trademark guitar crunch and soaring melodies into hit singles, but the overly slick production and inconsistent songwriting on these records fail to capture the emotional resonance that makes Big Star's music so timeless. Though Big Star will be forever linked with the 1970s power pop movement, their true heirs can be found in the underground rock bands of the 1980s. The tireless championing of Big Star by such bands as This Mortal Coil, The Replacements, and R.E.M. helped keep the band's cult following alive and ultimately made this box set possible. For that, I can only quote Alex Chilton and say, “Thank You Friends.”

Also on the reissue front are the superb debut and sophomore efforts from The Feelies, 1980's Crazy Rhythms and 1986's The Good Earth. This Velvet Underground-inspired New Jersey group helped inspire the burgeoning jangle pop movement in the 1980s and is often cited alongside Big Star as a major influence on R.E.M. (Peter Buck even produced their second album.) Crazy Rhythms is also home to my favorite Beatles cover, with their frenetic version of “Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey).” Of course, I mention this because the Beatles are also being reissued these days, with a massive box set of their remastered studio albums out now, which should be pretty enticing to audiophiles and/or Beatlemaniacs with a couple hundred dollars to spare.