Alex Chilton on The Big Star songs that “could have been better”
Amid the landscape of 1970s Tennessee, there was nobody else that sounded like Big Star. The Alex Chilton-fronted group drew upon 1960s influences of The Byrds, The Who and The Velvet Underground during their early career, creating a sound that echoed alternative rock years prior to the establishment of that genre. The band were ruthlessly ahead of their time, with groups like R.E.M. and The Replacements later listing them as a major influence, yet Chilton claims they could have been even better.
From their inception in 1971, Big Star were noted for their fearlessly unique sound. In many ways, the band predicted the youthful angst of the punk rock boom that would follow a handful of years later. The band’s debut, #1 Record, is inarguably one of the finest debut albums of all time, the pinnacle of an ‘all killer, no filler’ album. Despite blunders by the record label, Stax, which prevented the album from becoming a commercial hit, the album has since found a cult following, adored by legions of fans across the globe.
On the album, a notable highlight is the Chilton-penned ‘Thirteen’. The song is a perfect encapsulation of adolescence, using folk influences to present a wonderfully melancholic account of youth and frustration. An undisputed masterpiece, the piece has been covered by everybody from Elliott Smith to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs – a testament to its enduring quality and influence on alternative music.
Despite its success, songwriter Alex Chilton has expressed some regret over the track. In a 1992 interview, Chilton told Oor Magazine, “I didn’t understand how to make the right sound with my voice, so things like ‘Ballad Of El Goodo’ and ‘Thirteen’ could have been better”, while noting that the music of Big Star “is still a triumph – some of the time”.
‘Ballad Of El Goodo’ also featured on #1 Record, espousing the importance of individualism and nonconformity. The track also has a clear political angle to it, with lyrics referencing the conflict in Vietnam, which dominated the public consciousness in the US during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lyrics like “There’s people around who tell you that they know, The places where they send you, and it’s easy to go” sound like they could have been lifted directly from a classic Descendents track, yet it was released back in 1971.
Looking back upon the tour-de-force that was #1 Record, it is hard to imagine any of the songs being improved upon. More or less, every track on the album is stunning and ridiculously ahead of its time. While Chilton might wish that he had the opportunity to re-record the vocals, nobody is listening to Big Star for their vocal qualities. #1 Record is not about musical proficiency, it is a rallying cry for America’s youth, an ode to individualism and nonconformity at a time in which the rock scene was becoming increasingly uniform.
This sentiment is shared by drummer Jody Stephens, who said in a 2013 interview, “All of a sudden, I’m playing with these guys that can write songs that are as engaging to me as the people I’d grown up listening to, so I felt incredibly lucky.” If Stephens felt lucky to be a part of Big Star, then it was nothing compared to how lucky the youth of America felt to discover the band during the early 1970s.
