BIG STAR

ONE of the most exciting events in many years for me, personally - A Big Star box set, 4 CDs worth of Big Star! 98 tracks, to be specific. I bought "Radio City" on January 10, 1975 at Woolworth`s for .94 cents - I was 12. The skies opened up with a whole new world and it was never the same.

Now, we have "Keep An Eye On The Sky" arrive. spans 1968 to 1975 and the collection uncovers a trove of unreleased demos, unused mixes, alternate versions of songs, and a 1973 concert recorded in Memphis. The lavish packaging includes extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band`s history. 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."

"Today, the Big Star ouevre stands as the ultimate statement on Brit-obsessed American power-pop, and no self-respecting record collector would be caught dead without copies of all three albums, in multiple formats. The folks at Rhino have assembled the whole kit and kaboodle-all the album tracks, demo versions of songs that would later be fleshed out, alternate takes, unreleased songs, and a full, beautifully recorded concert from 1973-across the expanse of the four-disc "Keep an Eye on the Sky" set. This is a wonder to behold, from its beautifully written, crisply designed and historically authoritative book, to its smartly sequenced and lovingly restored sound. This music continues to impress. "Eye on the Sky" should ensure that it does so for decades to come." - Buffalo News.

Ardent Records, the band`s label, experienced problems with distribution that hindered any chances at success for #1 Record. Its failure was a major blow to Bell, who quit the band to go solo. In 1974, the Alex Chilton-led Big Star regrouped and released Radio City, an album more attuned to the band`s live energy that featured the power-pop confections "September Gurls" and "Back Of A Car." 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 (" 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." Sadly, Bell died in a car accident a few months after the single`s relea

When Big Star reconvened in 1975 to record Third/Sister Lovers, only Chilton and Stephens remained (Hummel left shortly before Radio City`s release). Famed Memphis maverick Jim Dickinson was enlisted to supervise the recording, which languished on the shelf for years before its release in 1978. Despite its bleak timbre, wild dynamics, and fragility, the music possesses a startling grace. 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 "T 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," "ay 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."

The lavish packaging for KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY includes extensive liner notes, rare and never-before-seen photos, and insightful essays about the cult of Big Star and the band`s history. In the notes, Stephens reflects on the band`s belated triumph. "Sure, it would`ve been nice to have been huge at the time. But, here we are, 30 years later, and Big Star is still playing, our music is turning up in movie soundtracks, and young people are still excited to discover the records. I mean, if that isn`t success, I don`t know what is."

FULL TRACK LISTING:

Disc: 1 1. Psychedelic Stuff (Chris Bell) 2. All I See Is You (Icewater) 3. Every Day We Grow Closer (Original Mix)(Alex Chilton) 4. Try Again (Early Version) (Rock City) 5. The Preacher (Rock City) 6. Feel 7. The Ballad Of El Goodo (Alternate Mix) 8. In The Street 9. Thirteen (Alternate Mix) 10. Don`t Lie To Me 11. The India Song 12. When My Baby`s Beside Me (Alternate Mix) 13. My Life Is Right (Alternate Mix) 14. Give Me Another Chance Alternate Mix) 15. Try Again 16. Gone With The Light (Chris Bell) 17. Watch The Sunrise 18. ST 100/6 (Alternate Mix) 19. In The Street (Second Recorded Version) 20. Feel (Early Mix) 21. The Ballad Of El Goodo (Alternate Lyrics) 22. The India Song (Alternate Version) 23. Country Mom 24. I Got Kinda Lost (Demo) 25. Motel Blues (Demo) Disc: 2 1. There Was A Light (Demo) 2. Life is White (Demo) 3. What`s Going Ahn (Demo) 4. O My Soul 5. Life is White 6. Way Out West (Alternate Mix) 7. What`s Going Ahn 8. You Get What You Deserve (Alternate Mix) 9. Mod Lang (Alternate Mix) 10. Back Of A Car (Alternate Mix) 11. Daisy Glaze 12. She`s A Mover 13. September Gurls 14. Morpha Too (Alternate Mix) 15. I`m In Love With A Girl 16. O My Soul (Alternate Version) 17. Back Of A Car (Demo) 18. Daisy Glaze (Alternate Take) 19. She`s A Mover (Alternate Version) 20. I Am The Cosmos (Chris Bell) 21. You And Your Sister (Chris Bell) 22. Blue Moon (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 23. Femme Fatale (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 24. Thank You Friends (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 25. You Get What You Deserve (Demo)(Alex Chilton) Disc: 3 1. Lovely Day (aka Stroke It Noel)(Demo)(Alex Chilton) 2. Downs (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 3. Nighttime (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 4. Jesus Christ (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 5. Holocaust (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 6. Take Care (Demo)(Alex Chilton) 7. Big Black Car (Alternate Demo)(Alex Chilton) 8. Manana 9. Jesus Christ 10. Femme Fatale 11. O, Dana 12. Kizza Me 13. You Can`t Have Me 14. Nighttime 15. Dream Lover 16. Blue Moon 17. Take Care 18. Stroke It Noel 19. For You 20. Downs 21. Whole Lotta Shakin` Goin` On 22. Big Black Car 23. Holocaust 24. Kanga Roo 25. Thank You Friends 26. Till The End Of The Day 27. Lovely Day 28. Nature Boy Disc: 4 1. When My Baby`s Beside Me (live) 2. My Life Is Right (live) 3. She`s A Mover (live) 4. Way Out West (live) 5. The Ballad Of El Goodo (live) 6. In The Street (live) 7. Back Of A Car (live) 8. Thirteen (live) 9. The India Song (live) 10. Try Again (live) 11. Watch The Sunrise (live) 12. Don`t Lie To Me (live) 13. Hot Burrito #2 (live) 14. I Got Kinda Lost (live) 15. Baby Strange (live) 16. Slut (live) 17. There Was A Light (live) 18. St 100/6 (live) 19. Come On Now (live) 20. O My Soul (live)