RARE UK 2xLP = 1972 BIG STAR #1 & 1973 RADIO CITY Chilton Beatles Byrds Box Tops

$

36

PLEASE READ BEFORE BIDDING: Please read the entire auction listing, including shipping costs, before writing to ask a question.   OUR GOAL IS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. In order to meet that goal, we will ALWAYS work with our customers on any concerns that may arise. In the unlikely instance that you feel the need to open a resolution dispute before working with us, you will immediately be blocked from any further chance to acquire the rare music we present each and every week.   Payment is required within seven days. We mail all paid items ONE WEEK after auctions end. Please keep in mind our listings are time consuming in detail and we are often traveling to find these gems, which at times delays the delivery schedule by a day or two. We ALWAYS process and ship every paid order. We have no control over parcels once they are mailed from our local Post Office.Overseas mail to some countries (Italy, Russia, France, in particular) has become very slow. Opening a dispute for slow mail is unacceptable and will result in blocking the bidder. We work hard to provide excellent service as is represented by our 8000 plus positive feedback.   We use a VPI machine and thoroughly clean all records. Each order is carefully packaged by removing the LP from the jacket to avoid seam splits, use of 3 ml plastic cover sleeves over each LP and jacket, cardboard pad inserts, and placed in sturdy record mailers for safe delivery.   We take Customer Service seriously, and want you to be satisfied. Please give us 5 stars in each category through the feedback system, and we will be able to effectively continue to fulfill your passion for rare and collectible music! We have served thousands of satisfied customers - far more than our feedback records indicate - and our aim is to continue to do so. Thank you for your interest and support. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHIPPING:   USA ~ 1 LP = $4.00 Media Priority rates vary by area; please inquire.   All Canadian and Overseas shipping ~ eBay requires Priority shipping rates on any order $400+ ~ Also, in the best interest of all of us, safe Express shipping rates on any order totaling $500+   CANADA ~ 1 single disc LP = $8.50.   OVERSEAS (all Countries) ~ 1 single disc LP = $17.00.   Discount shipping on multiple LPs in same order.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                   RARE BRITISH MID 70's TWO LP SET!

                             BIG STAR

            BIG STAR # 1

                  &

        RADIO CITY BIG STAR

                     UK -  STAX RECORDS - STX 3022 -

SCARCE ...very hard to find, old mid '70s BRITISH TWO-LP set in lavish laminated gatefold sleeve which basically hooks together both 1st & 2nd highly acclaimed BIG STAR LP's...Strongly noted as a masterpiece by media/critics, the music public all but ignored the praise and Big Star fell like a rock...years later they were discovered and a mass cult following around the globe ensued ...now much sought and respected everywhere, the 3 original BIG STAR albums have the 'masterpiece' tag attached and original first pressings have long been scouped up into private collections. Here's the highly rated first TWO BIG STAR Lp's from the original master tapes released in England some 37 years ago...

(disc ONE:) BIG STAR #1 (1972)

The quintessential American power pop band, Big Star remains one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll. Formed out of the ashes of The Box Tops, a successful poprock act of the late 60's, BIG STAR had 2 powerful songwriters and vocalists- Alex Chilton and the late Chris Bell. They were kind of vaguely similar to Todd Rundgren's early band The Nazz, though even poppier and less experimental. This eponymous 1st Big Star is arguably the best one, and though they were practically unknown outside of music writer circles at the time, their brand of power pop produced such masterful songs as 'Feel," "The Ballad of El Goodo,' 'Don't Lie to Me," and the timeless 'September Gurls,' among others. Originally led by the singing and songwriting duo of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, the Memphis-based group fused the strongest elements of the British Invasion era — the melodic invention of the Beatles, the whiplash guitars of the Who, and the radiant harmonies of the Byrds into a ramshackle but poignantly beautiful sound which recaptured the spirit of pop's past even as it pointed the way toward the music's future. Although creative tensions, haphazard distribution, and marketplace indifference conspired to ensure Big Star's brief existence and commercial failure, the group's three studio albums nevertheless remain unqualified classics, and their impact on subsequent generations of indie bands on both sides of the Atlantic is surpassed only by that of the Velvet Underground.

Feel

The Ballad of el Goodo

 In the Street

 Thirteen

 Don't Lie to Me

 The India Song

 When My Baby's Beside Me

 My Life Is Right

 Give Me Another Chance

 Try Again

 Watch the Sunrise

 St 100/6

(disc TWO): BIG STAR - RADIO CITY BIG STAR (1973)

Some hard core collectors think "Radio City" by Big Star may be the finest rock recording ever reduced to vinyl. Read this again for emphasis: This recording may be the finest recording ever reduced to vinyl.

Contrary to the haunting, lurching words and refrain of "What's Goin' Ahn" on this 1974 masterpiece, there is much to say about this Memphis band and the album Radio City. A few have said quite a bit about the band and its story, and we will do our best not to rewrite the deserved accolades written by other critics.

Yeah, Big Star has nice melodies, shiny guitars and lilting harmonies, but it is a lot more complex than that, and there was a reason that a Revolver magazine story cited "Big Star...America's #1 Cult band."

This review focuses on their second album Radio City, because many consider this to be the band's creative peak, capturing on vinyl all the chiming glitter and power of melody that can be expressed with electric guitars and high, lilting, tortured, I-Don't-Care-If-You-Like-It lyrics and vocals. Sure, Big Star have similarities to The Beatles. But not even Lennon had the pent up angst and raw anger of a real live Southern boy with Steve Cropper guitar chops and an attitude that allowed him to raise his middle finger to the record industry, you, me and the rest of the world. This, combined with awesome, spontaneous performances that seem to have been captured magically, made comparisons to The Beatles inevitable, except the majesty of Big Star on Radio City had everything to do with how Chilton appeared to want to break free from The Beatles shadow and the shadow that was his former bandmate, Chris Bell.

Like The Beatles, Big Star had at its core two great forces: Chilton, and the enigmatic, cult icon Chris Bell. The band started with Chris at the throne, and he was a died-in-the-wool Beatles disciple. There was a tacit power struggle as to the direction of the band during their first album, #1 Record, and Alex wanted control. By Radio City, Bell was intimidated out of the band and Alex had free reign.

No one before Chris or after ever really challenged Alex musically, and Alex might have even admitted that to himself. Radio City was Chilton's way of showing only to himself that he could write better Beatles-like songs than Bell ever could. Chilton's motivation for Radio City may have been to show up Bell. That is the source of the passion, angst and intensity on Radio City. That type of rivalry made The Beatles great, except they stayed together despite their dissonance, creating a larger body of work. That the late Chilton showed up Bell with Radio City may have literally killed the late Bell, a tortured, complex man who never had the chance to find a support system that would have allowed him to accept his homosexuality. Indeed, his early death some label as a suicide was a tragedy of the highest order.

Radio City opens with the instrumental, "O My Soul," putting on display the kind of guitar playing that only could be accomplished by mastering the guitar parts from the best Stax/Volt records. To follow, you have the classic "Life Is White." There, Chilton speaks directly to Bell in response to Bell's spiritual opus, "Life Is Right" off of #1 Record: "...don't like to see your face, don't like to hear you talk at all." He sings about a girl named Ann, but perhaps he speaks directly to Bell here. Following that is "Way Out West," with its stutterring, tension-filled intro and the magical bass line that follows the chorus.

The next track, "What's Goin' Ahn," to me, embodies everything about Big Star that put them into Beatles, Brian Wilson category. When Chilton sings, "I like love, but I don't know, all these girls they come and go, always nothin' left to say...," he is tapping into that honest confession-to-yourself territory that only greats like Brian Wilson can pull off. It is the type of line that could be put on the tombstone of many a lonely person. A literally perfect song. "You Get What You Deserve" shows the f... you side of Big Star again: another melodic masterpiece. "Mod Lang," like "O My Soul," puts Chilton's guitar chops on display. A perfect sequencing breather for the anthem, "Back of a Car" which follows.

Any melodic music fan has to revel in the chiming, resounding arpeggio that explodes at the outset of "Back...". The lyrics say it all: "...sitting in the back of a car, music so loud, you can't tell a thing." Anyone who hears this is "there" at a stadium Rolling Stones show with a bottle of Jack in one hand, and a bong in the other, listening to blaring Zeppelin out of distorted Jensens. For those with a drug-free past, substitute anything very exhilirating here.

"Daisy Glaze" is the ideal setup for the next track, "She's a Mover," a track that puts on display the style and taste of drummer Jody Stephens. The track is mixed in "Beatles stereo", i.e., all of the drums are panned through one speaker. Stephens, on all the Big Star work, played sparsely where it was required, but had/has the skills of the best of the best drummers. Think Ringo, except he could play like Keith Moon.

The next track is considered the climax of the recording, "September Gurls," an idyllic, synergistic combination of simple power chord structure, melody and harmony. It is the the model for many songs in the genre of "power pop". The last two tracks, "Morpha Too" and "I'm in Love with a Girl" are perfect closers, allowing one to literally catch his or her breath after the power that has been experienced.

• Alex Chilton – guitar, vocals
• Andy Hummel – bass guitar
• Jody Stephens – drums, vocals

• Danny Jones – bass guitar
• Richard Rosebrough – drums

1. "O My Soul" – 5:40 (Chilton) (this track is always mono...no stereo mix has ever been released)
2. "Life Is White" – 3:19 (Chilton, Hummel)
3. "Way Out West" – 2:50 (Hummel)
4. "What's Going Ahn" – 2:40 (Chilton, Hummel)
5. "You Get What You Deserve" – 3:08 (Chilton)

1. "Mod Lang" – 2:45 (Chilton, Rosebrough)
2. "Back of a Car" – 2:46 (Chilton, Hummel)
3. "Daisy Glaze" – 3:49 (Chilton, Hummel, Stephens)
4. "She's a Mover" – 3:12 (Chilton)
5. "September Gurls" – 2:49 (Chilton)
6. "Morpha Too" – 1:27 (Chilton)
7. "I'm in Love with a Girl" – 1:48 (Chilton)

CONDITION: The cover: Fully laminated, fragile British gatefold is in "EX" (excellent) condition and sharp all over with exception of dinged bottom right corner (see photo) ... otherwise sharp...no split seams, no writing and strong original colors

The vinyl: both vinyl records, all 4 sides are vastly clean M- on three sides while the 4th side VG++ has a few visible light top surface (supericial) soft scuffs...but played flawless with excellent audio here! No problems... 

A GREAT ADDITION TO ANYONE'S COLLECTION !

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record