The Music of Big Star Gets What it Deserves (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from Part One…

“It was Jody’s instinct,” says Sansone, “for the songs to be played by a band, in the spirit that the records were made.” Sansone describes his participation in the Quintet as a dream come true: “The material continues to have a life,” he says. “It continues to grab people by the ears and by the heart.”

Chris Stamey says that the Quintet’s goal is a bit different than the Third project. “We want to bring the same kind of focus to making the material shine,” he says, “but in the spirit of the first two records, instead of taking our cue from the sprawling sonics of the Third record.”

The Big Star Quintet played a run of dates in Spain, a country long been receptive to both the power pop that Big Star helped create as well as underappreciated American bands in general. “All those dates were sold out,” Stephens says, with pride. “And they were fun. So we thought we’d keep this thing going.” Auer agrees: “We put the priority on us enjoying ourselves.” And the 50^th anniversary of Radio City taking place in 2024 provided an opportunity to focus on the music from that record.

For listeners who’ve discovered it, the music of Big Star connects on a deeply emotional level. Stephens says it’s not at all uncommon to see audience members holding each other and sobbing during certain numbers. “It’s an amazing experience,” he says. “And you can imagine how we all feel on stage. I love the experience with the audiences, and that emotion that we all share.” Auer concedes that a group like his can’t please everyone. “But so far, it seems like we have come close to doing just that.”

Several of the songs on this Radio City tour have never been played live by any previous Big Star or related configurations. “There are so many songs that Alex wasn’t interested in doing,” Stephens says, mentioning “Morpha Too,” “I’m in Love With a Girl” and “She’s a Mover,” all from the second LP. “I used to play the ‘Mod Lang’ riff at soundchecks in the ‘90s, hoping that we would actually do it,” Auer says with a chuckle. “But that never occurred. It’s nice to finally include it now. Hearing the records, you think, ‘It’s just a fun little rocker.’ Then you play it live, and you realize: This is what it was designed for.”

Asked what they think Alex Chilton would have thought of the Big Star Quintet, each musician has his own answer. “I don’t know,” says Stephens. “Alex was predictably unpredictable.” Mills believes Chilton would have scoffed at the idea while secretly being pleased, suggesting that late-period Chilton “might have admitted that he liked it.”

“Like most creative folks,” Stamey suggests, “Alex would have been much more interested in whatever he was doing right now, this very second,” than in looking back at his previous work. With a laugh, Auer opines that Chilton would have hated it. “But I think he would have hated Big Star’s Third, too,” he adds. “He’d be like, ‘Why?!’”

Stephens says that the Big Star Quintet “takes great pains” to deliver the songs the way one hears them on the record. “I went to see a show recently,” he says, “and the artist had reconfigured their songs; it was really disappointing to me. I just wanted to feel those feelings that I felt for those songs originally. And that’s what a lot of people are looking for.” Auer believes that the Quintet faithfully recreates the original sound without wheeling out musical carbon copies. “We’re injecting a bit of rock ‘n’ roll energy with this five-piece,” he says. “We’re making it more high-octane by virtue of our enthusiasm and our love for the songs.”

Chris Stamey notes that the Quintet takes some inspiration from the Wondermints, the California group that was absorbed into Brian Wilson’s band to re-create classic and sophisticated Beach Boys songs for modern-day audiences. “They took a lot of care to put the notes in the right place for the audiences who mostly know exactly where the notes should go,” he says. “And we do our best to do the same.”
Stephens emphasizes that ultimately it’s the music that has connected with listeners. “I think the five of us in the Quintet really capture that spirit well, because we’re all coming from the right place, and that’s the heart.”

“Big Star is arguably the greatest example of the best music that you’ve never heard of until much later than it was originally released,” Auer says. Stamey adds that the music’s quality augurs well for its long term durability. “That it just seems to work in some mysterious and magical way for most everyone who hears it makes me think that this can continue to be true,” he says. Mike Mills reflects succinctly upon Big Star’s legacy. “They wrote incredible songs, got incredible sounds and made incredible records,” he says. “That’s the legacy any band wants to leave.”