Customer Reviews

Big Star: The Short Life, Painful Death, and Unexpected Resurrection of the Kings of Power Pop

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Rob Jovanovic deserves tremendous praise for stubbornly promoting his idea of a Big Star bio to publishers for years until one thankfully and finally said "yes." The result is a well-crafted and highly-detailed account of the power pop pioneers from Memphis. Jovanovic interviewed just about anyone who ever played a role in the band's existence, other than (obviously) the late Chris Bell, and the dour Alex Chilton. Bell emerges as the tragic hero of the story, while Chilton ultimately appears amazingly detached both emotionally and professionally.

My assumption listening to the records way back when was that Big Star had probably lived the typical band story - four friends who grow up together, spend years forging their craft together, and finally getting the chance to make a record. It turns out that Big Star's real story was quite different...two members going to the same school, or two jamming with a certain friend for a while...but the quartet we know as the "classic" Big Star lineup basically just falls together, records an album and a few demo songs for a follow-up, and then ends, with a grand total of seven gigs together. As a long-time fan of their music, I'm a little disappointed to learn this, so the book leaves me better informed but inevitably sadder. But if you want the Big Star story and all the details, buy this book.

I've been a fan since the Rykodisc release of Sister/Lovers in 1992 during my first year at college. This record is still a devastating, amazing thing of beauty. Alternating tracks can lift you up, then break your heart, and the effect is depressive but very real. It's a sort of lived in, well-earned heartache that echoes to this day. Alex Chilton is a genius. However, I saw him perform the next year, and I was disapointed in his perfunctory performance, which only included two Big Star songs. May I never have to hear Volare, in Italian or otherwise, again.

I had read enough about Big Star over the years to know their backstory, but I was intrigued by Rob Jovanovic's book length treatment. I had just read his book on Pavement, Perfect Sound Forever, and both books' strength lie in the amount of interviews he conducted with everyone involved. In fact, I might even have preferred an oral history of both bands, since their voices come through even stronger than the author's, most of the time. Nevertheless, he deserves great credit for the access he provides us to everyone who ever spent time at Ardent Studios during the 1970's. The story of Big Star is almost as sad as their third record, and you can feel the palpable disapointment of the young Chris Bell and Alex Chilton (at a point when they were still in their early 20s) at the bad luck they experienced in trying to translate sterling record reviews into sales (and the awful record distribution that hamstrung every effort).

Afterwards, at the very least, you'll want to listen to (or buy) all three original Big Star records. And then you'll want to go to Memphis, if you haven't already. The music of Big Star deserves, and even demands it.

Given the giant family tree of pop bands who trace their lineage back to Big Star, their initial failure to gain commercial traction is remembered more in well-worn stories than in emotional memories. Those few who latched onto Big Star's two key albums at the time of their early-70s release may hold onto the sense memory of the band's celebrated obscurity, but for most, the Big Star story was learned after the fact. Author Rob Jovanovic has done an admirable job of connecting the dots that form the group's oft-repeated career low-lights, and fleshing out the individual band members (and the group's coterie) as humans behind the retrospective pop gods.

Jovanovic faced down several daunting problems in writing and publishing this book. First, the band's initial career was short and their output small, so the central part of the story arc wouldn't fill a book. Second, the band's principal singer and songwriter, Alex Chilton, declined to be interviewed by Jovanovic (quotes from Chilton are drawn from another writer's earlier interview). Jovanovic had to hurdle the group's lack of commercial breakthrough, and thus the relatively limited appeal of a band history. Their ancestral place in rock history may be secure, and their in-the-know following may be big, but to the mass audience, they're still a cult band. The shortness of their first run was solved by providing the group member's pre-Big Star work as valuable context; in Chilton's case, coming off a chart-topping career with the Box Tops, there's a great deal of material. In addition, the members, particularly Chilton again, had post-Big Star careers whose exploration provides informative echoes of the Big Star experience. More than a third of the book covers Chilton and co-songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Chris Bell's post-Big Star careers.

That Jovanovic convinced a publisher to take on the project is perhaps the most impressive feat of all. Particularly because his finished product is squarely aimed at the band's fans, those who have the albums, have seen the reunion shows, and still struggle to really understand and feel the group's troubled origin. His interviews with band members, production staff and others provide a catalog of terrific details about the recording of the group's albums, and help to untangle the Bell-Chilton songwriting credits. He offers finely detailed accounts of how the album covers of "#1 Record" and "Radio City" came to be, and he turns up information on pre-album and unreleased recordings. His explanation of why the song "O My Soul" is in mono (on an otherwise stereo album) clears up a mystery that's dogged listeners for 30 years.

At the heart of the book is the failure of Big Star's debut, and its particular impact on Chris Bell. Javanovic follows Bell's slide and departure from the group (and his eventual erasing of the album's 16-track masters), in one of rock's less happy stories. The fallout of Big Star's commercial failure, though mostly limited in scope to the group, its immediate attendees and their posthumous third album, is surprisingly long-lasting. The book is well researched and competently written (though it's not a real page-turner, even for fans). The closing chapter provides a great description of how the author investigated and pieced together the story. The use of lengthy end-notes is distracting, as they're either outside the scope of the book, or material that should have been worked into the mainline text. The use of British spellings (apparently native to the author) is also distracting and feels academic in a book about a band from Memphis. This is an informative read for fans of the band, but not an invitation to fanship; the original albums are a much livelier introduction to the band's genius. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

I was thrilled to stumble across this book in an indie record store last month, and although I should have bought it on the spot, I decided to cash in an Amazon gift cert I had to get it. I was not disappointed. Over 14 years ago, I myself was in contact with Jody Stephens, Big Star's fantastic drummer and Ardent employee to this day, asking him if I could write a book on the band. At that time, he was friendly in saying, "No, thanks." He said he'd had others ask him, but he simply felt it wasn't the right time. (Bearing in mind this was about a year before the Big Star reunion show.) In any case, I was worried that if and when a Big Star bio did come out, it would fall short of my high expectations. Rob Jovanovic clearly took his time researching and writing this tribute, and it makes for a fascinating read for any fan of Big Star or just any music geek who cares about the history of rock and roll. The passages describing the writing and recording of #1 Record are especially revelatory, as are the chapters that deal with the ensuing industry-related setbacks and the late-70s years of personal and musical dysfunction & exploration.
Essential!

Rob Jovanovic did an awesome job here. The is a great & well researched read - He's Interviewed basically everyone worth interviewing (except for Alex Chilton as Chilton wasn't gonna talk - But hey, that's why we like Alex... Right? Yep). If you wanna know about Big Star - this is your one stop shopping... Buy this book!

One reviewer states that this book is a "glorification of recklessness, failure, and self-indulgence". Implying that the pain and the tragedy in the career of Big Star were deserved.

First and foremost, Rob Jovanovic delivers it straight and detached. A good portion of the book is background and information; the anecdotes are delivered by the interviewees. Anyone who listens to the albums I am the Cosmos and Sister Lovers would expect a biography to address the personal circumstances behind the songwriters and the recordings, and the author does just that. If Jovanovic is glorifying these sorts of activites, than any writer who deals in these subjects does likewise. In a biography you don't make topics anathema because others may find them unpalatable.

It's a tragic tale, and "unexpected resurrection" might be pushing it. Any Big Star fan knows that the well-deserved public recognition will never happen, and even with "In Space" nothing has changed in the past fifteen years. Legions of musicians will still swear by the albums, critics and polls will rank the albums and the songs with the best, but the band will always be the most ironic band around. They'll never be Big Stars, and they'll never have a #1 Record.

Kudos to Rob for persevering. It appears that he has talked to everyone in and around the scene...with the notable exception of Alex Chilton, and perhaps many close to him. Rumors about Chris Bell will always remain so, overrated gossip with no factual basis. The chapter about his death is the highlight of the book. As a tragic figure he is responsible for his untimely death (NOT a suicide as the book confirms), but he certainly deserved better.

The water gets murkier when it comes to the subject of Alex Chilton. The stories aren't all that bad (speaking relatively when it comes to musicians). The underlying principle in Chilton's career is others making money off of him, whether it's his name or his music or his story. Rob probably doesn't have all of the facts and details correct, but it isn't due to lack of effort, and Chilton's rebuttals would have been welcome. But Chilton is a sympathetic figure throughout the book, certainly deserving of a biography of his own. In previous interviews he either states, or gives the impression, that Big Star is just a trivial part of his career. He may or may not actually believe that. But Jody Stephens gives a terrific anecdote about a rehearsal with Auer and Stringfellow where they are rehearsing Bell's I am the Cosmos, suggesting that Chilton is loath to admit his personal feelings and attachment towards many things. It's a part of his complex personality, and such an anecdote is more of the type of story that you get in the book.

To reiterate, this isn't a book meant to relate the sordid details of the members of a failed band. It's just the opposite...these were talented and hard-working musicians with brilliant songs who couldn't control the business around them that failed to support and promote them. The band that never really had a chance to be a band. The band whose records you couldn't buy. The band who played a handful of gigs. They are truly a mythological band, but they weren't after that. They deserved better.

Big Star. They could never escape their ironic name. Founded by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens, they appeared to be poised to take the rock world by storm in 1972. Critical acclaim and great songwriting didn't translate into sales when a lousy distribution deal with Stax went bad. Chris Bell (Chilton's songwriting partner and the second lead singer in the band) left after little more than a handful of gigs. The band solidered on with a second critically acclaimed album before becoming mired in drugs, alcohol and despair.

The most tragic story this side of Badfinger, Big Star never tasted the success of their storied British counterparts in the power-pop movement. Chilton who had been the lead singer in The Box Tops has never been able to escape the shadow of what might have been and was viewed as a has-been by the industry before he was 25. Bell came to an untimely end after surfacing from a dark time in his life where his bisexuality (or homosexuality depending upon who's telling the story)and uncertainty pushed him to depend on drugs to escape. He recorded a great album that didn't see a release until over a decade after his death.

Big Star may have never lived up to the hopeful title of their first album ("#1 Record")but they changed the face of rock music nonetheless. Author Rob Jovanovic does a terrific job of detailing their fall and the indifference of the industry that surrounded them. His book relies on new interviews with Stephens, Hummell and others (Although Chilton refused to be interviewed)to tell the story and give perspective on the band's failure to thrive. Featuring a detailed discography and copious notes, "Big Star: The Short Life, Painful Death and Unexpected Resurrection of the Kings of Power Pop" is as well written and researched as the great Badfinger biography "Without you".

This book covers just about everything you'd want to know about Big Star and all of the major players associated with the band. From Alex Chilton's beginnings in The Box Tops, thru meeting up with Chris Bell and company in Memphis and joining Big Star, to Alex's solo career is covered in quite a bit of depth. And Chris Bell's life and times is nicely covered, as well. Given that Chilton is basically a hermit and Bell died in a car crash almost 30 years ago, the depth of material in this book is quite impressive.

This book is by far the best "rock group biography" I have ever read. Rob Jovanovic has crafted the history of rock music's greatest and most mythical irony, Big Star. The author chronicles the band's underground momentum, fueled for years by a twisted combination of catchy songwriting, pristine recording, commercial disaster, erratic behavior, and the unfortunate death of a tortured perfectionist. The book's portrait of the Memphis recording scene, itself in shambles in the mid-70's, makes this book a must read for any music fan. Bravo!

One of my favorite bands from my college days. This book is the most info about Big Star that I've ever seen in one place.That said the non-participation of the group's founder Alex Chilton leaves many unanswered questions.
I'm sure his recollections would have shed much more light on the subject.
A good book that could have been a great book.
Diana Mercer is the co-author of Your Divorce Advisor and her company [...]