By Fred Mills
Go on YouTube and you can find a sampling of Big Star videos, but there's a catch: they're all either audio dubbed over still images (e.g., not actual performances), or clips of the latterday ‘90s incarnation featuring members of the Posies joining Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens. It seemed that nobody but hardcore collectors would own any real footage of the band in its heyday - if they had any at all.
That's why a palpaple shudder of delight rippled through the musical community recently when the venerable Oxford American, in the July 2008 issue, included a DVD with the third annual "Best Of The South" issue.
"Get ready to be blown away by some rare and never-before-seen clips. See Elvis warming up the mike in preparation for his greatest performance ever. See lost footage of one of the most influential rock bands in music history: Big Star. (Gathering dust on the shelf until we polished it up for this DVD, these beautiful images were shot by Big Star guitarist Chris Bell and bassist Andy Hummel.)"
Blown away is an understatement. You can see the results below, 1971 images set to the tune "Thank You Friends," from the DVD and recently posted to YouTube. All I'll add is that just to see the late Chris Bell smile semi-selfconsciously as the camera points at him, but still beautifully, is worth its weight in gold. (Purists may quibble over the fact that "Thank You Friends" was recorded long after Bell and Andy Hummel had left the band - Chilton and Stephens cut it for Sister Lovers - but as a tribute to the four men and comradeship, the lyrical and musical sentiments hold up nicely, thank you very much.) Text by Fred Mills
Talking of Big Star, from the same article, here's the Bangles doing a note perfect rendition of "September Gurls". Who said videos had to cost thousands to make?
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