Customer Reviews

Big Star's Radio City (33 1/3)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bruce Eaton's lovingly written Radio City is a brief but moving tribute to the Big Star album of the same name. The book insightfully explores the origins of such classic tunes as September Gurls and Back of a Car. The book relies heavily on new, detailed quotes from the people who were there, and includes a number of rare photographs. For all Chilton, Bell, and Big Star Fanboys (and gurls).

I've read many of the (generally excellent) 33 1/3 series and this is far and away my favorite. The author strikes the perfect balance between telling the story of the album's creation and evaluating the work itself. Radio City is an album that's long overdue for serious - and extended - critical consideration. (Lots of critics' raves fall into the "best album ever!" category, but don't add much else.) This book remedies that oversight. BUY IT NOW!!!

Not being overly familiar with the 33 1/3 series, I wasn't even aware that this book had been recently published. However, I spied it at Twist & Shout Records in Denver last week and had to get it, given that I'd just gotten the Big Star box set. Simply put, the book is great. It thoughtfully delineates John Fry's role in the development of the band as well as the circumstances regarding Chris Bell's departure. Perhaps the best part of the book is the excellent and engaging prose--it's a page-turner for sure. If there's a weakness in the book, it's the relatively scant amount of text situating Big Star in the larger musical landscape. In other words, I would have liked to have read more about how Radio City both embodied and transcended the power pop genre. Overall, an excellent contribution to both Big Star and rock music lit.

I came to Eaton's book after having just read Rob Jovanovic's book about Big Star, and feared I'd be skipping long passages of repeated anecdotes and such. Instead I found a rich look at a great album that includes a lot of previously unearthed information and analysis. With no slight to the earlier book, Eaton simply gets more detail about this album, and the result is a great read. Perhaps most interesting is the information drawn from conversations with Big Star leader Alex Chilton. Eaton has a personal connection there, but he uses it to illuminate and amplify. A late section about Eaton performing with Chilton could have come off self-serving and indulgent. Instead, he takes care to keep the focus where it belongs: On Chilton.

One criticism: The text is a bit sloppy in places. There are enough missing or duplicated words to be noticeable and occasionally took me out of the zone. I was surprised, as I expect better from this series.

Overall, this is among the best 33 1/3 books I've read. The proof: It made me appreciate a favorite album all the more, discovering things I hadn't on my own over hundreds of listens.

I live in Memphis and I am a Big Star freak. They are in my top 3 all time fave bands along with the Beatles and The Byrds.

I know some of the characters in this play and I still learned more from this book than I knew from soaking up stories from the players themselves.

I love the 33 1/3 series and Bruce's book is the best yet.

BUY THIS BOOK!

While the title suggests this book focuses directly on Big Star's second album, and though most of its pages do, author Bruce Eaton also provides context with a compelling look at the band and its members. Most importantly, his fresh interview with Alex Chilton provides flavor from one of the band's visionary singer-songwriters, which is something that eluded Rob Jovanovic in Big Star: The Short Life, Painful Death, and Unexpected Resurrection of the Kings of Power Pop. Eaton recounts familiar elements of the Big Star story, but couched in their studio work, they reveal new angles. His research into the recording sessions for Radio City turns up new detail on the monophonic sound of "Oh My Soul," and offers a clear explanation of the Dolby F'ers sessions that resulted in "Mod Lang" and "She's a Mover."

By the time you're finished reading, you'll be surprised with how holistic and organic Radio City sounds, in light of the ad hoc circumstances under which much of it was recorded. Eaton's song-by-song notes are best read with the album playing, the better to hear the many subtleties he highlights. Ideally you should have the original album, the 2-CD Thank You Friends and the box set Keep an Eye on the Sky to cover all of the versions Eaton discusses. The book's only real disappointment is the paucity of lyrical analysis - though there are a few enlightening revelations. No doubt Chilton's dismissal of the words, which in his mind were slapped together without a great deal of craft, left Eaton without a living source of comment.

It's a shame that Chris Bell didn't survive to participate in this book, or to be the centerpiece of a companion volume on #1 Record. It's clear from Eaton's account that Bell's vision for the band, which Chilton didn't fully dismantle until Big Star Third, had significant impact even after his departure. The small form of the 33-1/3 books is cute, but the copy needs better editing and the photos need to be reproduced larger and more clearly. These complaints are minor points though, given the quality of Eaton's research and writing. His recounting of playing with Chilton is a nice personal touch and caps a terrific read for Big Star fans. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

Of the few 33 1/3 books I've read, this is my favorite so far. The book is full of first-hand accounts from Chilton, Hummel, Stephens, John Fry, Richard Rosebrough and others, recounting both the history of the band and the specifics of recording "Radio City."

The truth, as always, is somewhat messy: Participants occasionally contradict each other w/r/t specific details, as is to be expected when trying to recall events from 30+ years prior. These contradictions do not mar the tale, however; if anything, they improve the story by adding texture and scope. The author is not content to let any single member write history, and in situations where written records do not exist, he allows for competing memories to vie for their place in history. That's not to say the book is full of confusing contradictions. It happens only occasionally, and never regarding anything substantial, but their retention stood out to me, because it showed that Eaton was trying to be as honest and true as possible regarding this legendary album and band.

Unlike the small handful of other 33 1/3 books I'm familiar with, Bruce Eaton saves most of his own personal narrative until the very end. And in his case, it's actually interesting and relevant: the author describes meeting and performing with a post-Big Star Chilton, who had moved far astray from the detailed, focused work of early Big Star, into his more infamous "chaotic" period. Eaton's personal narrative helps flesh out this last piece of Chilton during that era, in a way the other interview subjects may not have been able to. It is not self-aggrandizing or mired in purple prose, but rather serves the book quite well.

I've seen other Amazon reviewers who prefer the "book as thesis" format of some of the other 33 1/3 titles. One reviewer stated that they prefer to read about the "emotional effect of the music" rather than the technical aspects of making a record. Another reviewer said they liked the "Meat is Murder" volume because it wasn't about the historical facts, but rather captured what it was like to be a teenager listening to the Smiths (paraphrasing here). Which is fine for them, but I much prefer actual researched historical insight rather than the self-conscious purple prose I've read in some of the other titles.

I'm a relatively smart guy, more or less, and I've listened to the music myself. I know how it makes me feel. I know what images and thoughts the music conjures in my head. I don't really need to know what sort of free-associations occur to some random author. At least, not to the extent that they seem to take up other 33 1/3 titles. Intelligent dissection of any work of art is certainly acceptable and appreciated, but why do I want to pay money for a book written by someone who thinks they themselves are the primary subject matter, while the band and the album take a backseat to the author's personal meanderings?

I can get discourse on par with that at the local record store or watering hole, or on someone's blog. Much rarer is true historical insight, and if I'm paying money for a book like this, that's what I want. And that's Bruce Eaton delivers in "Radio City." Worthwhile interviews with actual participants and interesting historical info on the band (I was unaware of the Rock Writers Convention, or that Bell and Chilton had "horse-traded" some of their songs when Bell left the band), all compiled in a way that makes for enjoyable reading.

The only negative thing I could say is that the B&W photos at the end of the book are horribly reproduced for the most part. They are dark and muddy like poor photocopies, and occasionally too small, in a way that suggests that not much thought was put into how these images would look printed in B&W in this book. However, they weren't a selling point for the book (the other 33 1/3 books I've read did not have photos in them at all), so I did not deduct any stars from my rating.

This is the only book in which Alex Chilton--a notoriously difficult interview subject--gave candid interviews and really opened up to his interviewer about his life and his career. For that alone, this book is a priceless artifact of a fascinating man.

You will be missed, Mr. Chilton.

the 33 and 1/3 series could also be called "the good, the bad, and the ugly" - the bad includes the book on Nick Drake's Pink Moon (really lame), the ugly is the book on Richard & Linda's Shoot Out The Lights (good stuff on the actual album, but also includes some really bad "fiction" about the author's own career that never actually happened) and then the good such as the book on Bowie's Low album and The Who Sell Out. This book on Big Star's Radio City might just be the very best book I've read in this series. One advantage is the author is pals with Alex Chilton and got Alex to actually talk ! Another is - he got the rest of the band and studio legend John Fry on record as well - which means we alot of inside insight, rather than just the author's opinion on what "might" have happened. However, being an insider and a really insightful fan and writer - author Bruce Eaton hits the mark time after time - not just on this LP, but on record collecting and playing music in general. it helps that he's played music and not just "thought about it". Some of the most memorable quotes in this book come from the author himself ! A really writing good job. there's a few grammer/spelling problems - but what the heck - this is rock n roll !

Another solid entry in the enjoyable 33 1/3 series, Bruce Eaton strikes the right balance between fan and expert. He demonstrates a deep appreciation for, and knowledge of the music on the second (many would say, best) Big Star album, but doesn't go overboard with slavish adulation.

Radio City is a good example of what I think the best 33 1/3 books do well, enhancing the listening

experience with well-considered insight. I was eager to spin the album again after reading it.

With the new Big Star box, and this new volume, there's never been a better time to get into their

music.