Big Star Quintet

After many years celebrating the music of Big Star via the collective known as Big Star’s Third, Jody Stephens (the last surviving member of the original Big Star lineup) had an idea.

“I truly loved touring the world and performing Big Star’s Third with a core group, a variety of special guests, and a chamber orchestra playing the beautiful orchestrations created by Carl Marsh and Chris Stamey. But when the idea of celebrating the 50th anniversary of #1 Record came up, it was time to pare the production down to a five-piece rock band. So I called a few close and like-spirited musical friends.”

Enter some of the legendary group’s biggest fans, who have long been associated with Big Star and related projects. The band now includes Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Jon Auer (The Posies), Pat Sansone (Wilco), Chris Stamey (The dB's) and Stephens. Dubbing themselves the Big Star Quintet, it’s a lineup that is both personal and close in spirit to #1 Record and Radio City.

When the newly-minted Quintet gathered at R.E.M.’s rehearsal spot in November of 2022 to commune with the music and workshop as a five-piece for the first time, none of them could have foreseen the rapturous receptions they would receive over the next few years: sold-out shows in the US, playing abroad (including two tours of Spain), both #1 Record and Radio City 50th-anniversary tours, and stellar reviews of their live shows in Uncut, The San Francisco Gate, and beyond.

To call the members of the Quintet versatile would be something of an understatement. All five take turns singing lead and harmony vocals and deftly fill the different musical chairs required to accurately perform the multi-faceted Big Star catalog. Stephens shines just as brightly singing at the front of the stage on numbers like “Thirteen,” “Blue Moon,” and “Way Out West” as he does propelling the group behind the drum kit with visceral grace.

Now a well-oiled and well-traveled outfit, the Quintet’s unabashedly high-energy band vibe and mutual appreciation on stage is the way to experience the essence of Big Star’s music live. That said, it’s more than just the songs and sounds that the five musicians share in common.

“Playing Big Star’s music with Mike, Pat, Jon, and Chris is a joy,” says Stephens.  “We travel together as friends and have so much fun with this music and with our audiences.

ABOUT BIG STAR:

Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, yet undeniably original, Big Star (vocalist/guitarist/pianist Alex Chilton, vocalist/guitarist Chris Bell, bassist Andy Hummel, and drummer Jody Stephens) offered a fresh new sound when they emerged in the early ’70s. While power pop wouldn’t truly take off until later in the decade, the Memphis band set the tone with their infectious blend of jangly pop, driving guitars, sweet harmonies, and wistful melancholia. In 1971, Big Star made their debut with #1 Record, which featured such memorable numbers as “In the Street” (later made famous by Cheap Trick), “Thirteen” ("one of rock's most beautiful celebrations of adolescence" — Rolling Stone, 2011), and “The Ballad of El Goodo.” (“The bridge (or middle eight, call it what you will) alone shows more talent and creativity than some bands' entire back catalogues.” — The Guardian, 2011) While the album garnered high marks from critics, however, it failed to make a commercial splash.

Bell departed the band soon after, leaving Chilton, Hummel, and Stephens to continue as a trio. In late 1973, Big Star returned to Ardent Studios to record their follow-up, with producer John Fry. Despite losing his longtime collaborator, Chilton stepped in as the band’s de facto leader—a role that allowed his songwriting talents to shine. Released in 1974, Radio City (available via Stax Records/Craft Recordings) featured some of Big Star’s most beloved tracks, including the bluesy opener “O, My Soul,” offbeat rocker “Back of a Car,” the sweet acoustic ballad “I’m in Love with a Girl,” plus their iconic pop classic, “September Gurls.” Once again, Radio City was met with critical acclaim but fell victim to distribution issues, selling less than 20,000 copies at the time.

But the story of Radio City certainly wasn’t over. Shared between friends and musicians as the years went on, the album became a cult favorite—far exceeding its original commercial performance. Today, it is considered a definitive title in the power pop canon and has long been counted among rock’s greatest albums. Hailed as “Pure power pop perfection” by Consequence of Sound declared the track “One of American music’s prototypical power pop jams.”

Although Big Star disbanded in late 1974 (not long after recording their third album, Third/Sister Lovers), the band went on to achieve near-mythic status in the underground scene, influencing some the biggest alt-rock artists of the ’80s, ’90s and beyond, including R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, and The Replacements (who famously penned the song “Alex Chilton” as an ode to the group’s frontman). Over the years, Big Star’s songs have been reinterpreted by the likes of Elliott Smith, The Bangles, Placebo, Beck, Gin Blossoms, Garbage, Counting Crows, and Jeff Buckley, to name a few.

In the last two decades, Big Star has finally been given their due, honored with a host of glowing retrospectives, as well as a tribute record (Big Star Small World, 2006), a documentary (2012’s Nothing Can Hurt Me), and the 2016 concert film and live album, Thank You, Friends: Big Star’s Third Live…And More. The acclaimed release, which is available to view on Amazon Prime, captures the popular touring live show, “Big Star’s Third,” in which an all-star roster of guest vocalists and musicians join a core group (including Stephens, Mills, Auer, Sansone, and Stamey) to perform Third/Sister Lovers, plus selections from #1 Record and Radio City. Filmed at a concert in Glendale, CA, Thank You, Friends features a cross-generational lineup of talent, including Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Wilson, original arranger Carl Marsh, and San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet.

In a more recent turn of events, Big Star’s seminal #1 Record will be formally inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in May 2025.