The album begins with a
bit of stage banter, and they kick off with a song from their first album, “In
The Street,” a really good rock tune with a fun pop attitude. The sound isn’t
perfect for this track. It’s a bit tinny. A note on the inside of the CD case
explains that the sound for this track comes from the camera microphones rather
than soundboard. They follow it with a couple of other tracks from their first
album, first “Don’t Lie To Me,” which is more of a hard rock tune, with a bit
of blues to its base and some raucous guitar work, and then “When My Baby’s
Beside Me,” a good, fun, feel-good rock tune with the line “When my baby’s beside me, I don’t worry.”
They do play one song
from original member Chris Bell’s solo work, “I Am The Cosmos,” and afterwards say,
“One for the late great Chris Bell.”
Chris Bell had left the group after the band’s first album, and died in 1978
(one of the many musicians who died at age 27).
Big Star does a good
cover of The Kinks’ “Till The End Of The Day” performing it with the right
energy, and delightful abandon on the drums and some good stuff on guitar. They
follow it with what is probably my favorite Big Star song, “The Ballad Of El
Goodo,” a sweeter tune. I just love the sound of the vocals as they repeat the
line, “There ain’t no one going to turn
me around.” This song was originally from the band’s 1972 debut release, #1 Record.
There’s just a tease of
Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire,” due to an audience member calling out for it.
(Though I have to wonder if the person might have meant Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.”
Who knows?) They also do a cool cover of the T. Rex tune “Baby Strange,”
written by Marc Bolan.
They introduce “For You”
by saying, “Jody’s gonna yodel for you a
little bit now.” “For You” is one that Jody Stephens wrote and which was
included on the band’s third album. It’s a love song; here is a taste of its
lyrics: “Sometimes I can't help but
worship you/I love you and all the things that you do/I thought I'd sit and
write this song just for you/To let you know that I am thinking of you.” (Is
it just me, or does the kick drum sound odd on this track?)
They do a good rendition
of “September Gurls,” one of the band’s most famous tunes, written by Alex
Chilton and originally included on 1974’s Radio City. It’s followed by one of my favorites, the quieter “Big Black
Car,” written by Alex Chilton and Chris Gage, and originally included on the
group’s third record. Something about this song grabs me. His vocal delivery
has a strange matter-of-fact feel as he sings, “I can’t feel a thing/No, I can’t feel anything at all.” There is
also a kind of slightly warped humor to it, like in the lines “Driving’s a gas/It ain’t gonna last.” At
end of track Alex introduces the band.
This CD ends with a trio
of interesting choices of covers, the first being “The Girl From Ipanema,” written
by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and Norman Gimbel. They joke around
a bit before the song, and their version is pretty short. They follow it with
Dick Campbell’s “Patty Girl,” and then wrap things up with Todd Rundgren’s
“Slut.”
CD Track List
- In The Street
- Don’t Lie To Me
- When My Baby’s Beside Me
- I Am The Cosmos
- Way Out West
- Till The End Of The Day
- The Ballad Of El Goodo
- Back Of A Car
- Fire
- Daisy Glaze
- Jesus Christ
- For You
- Baby Strange
- Feel
- September Gurls
- Big Black Car
- Thank You Friends
- The Girl From Ipanema
- Patty Girl
- Slut
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