Search - Big Star :: South West

By 1974 Big Star was going supernova, imploding under the weight of its own collapsing gravity and diminishing mass. After the disappointing sales of their debut album, and the departure of founding member Chris Bell in late '72, the band had recorded their sophomore effort, 'Radio City', as a three piece. By the time of Radio City's release in February '74, however, Big Star was down to just two members, bassist Andy Hummel having also walked. The group's two remaining members, Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, persevered and went into the studio in late '74 for sessions for a new album, 'Third'. Although 'Third' went on to become one of the most critically esteemed cult albums of all time, in the mid-70s there wasn't any label willing to release it; the record was shelved for a full four years before an initial release in '78 and a re-release as 'Sister Lovers' in the '80s. This performance captures a fascinating and poignant moment in the Big Star story, from the band's hometown. It was broadcast live by WLYX, the radio station owned by Southwestern University, Memphis (now Rhodes College) from their studios in January 1975, shortly after sessions for 'Third' had wrapped up. In their guise as 'Sister Lovers', Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, assisted by some guest players, present several songs from 'Third' together with some Chilton compositions that would not surface on record until his solo albums in the '80s. Rumours surround the show - that Chilton was under the heavy influence of psychedelics, that Stephens quit for good the next morning; either way, It's remains an absolutely essential document of one of music's most influential, innovative acts, at the moment of both their greatest artistic achievement and their untimely dissolution.