In the late Sixties, a Memphis teenager named Alex Chilton won moderate fame and fortune as the lead singer for a sometimes inspired, sometimes insipid recording unit known as the Box Tops. The group was a vehicle for the ideas of producer-writer Dan Penn, and Chilton's raspy, young punk voice was the focal point. After several erratic albums and a couple of downright classic singles, "The Letter" and "Cry Like a Baby," Alex tired of being just a mouthpiece. The final Box Tops LP, Dimensions, was a fairly successful attempt at being more than just a singles-making band (although, ironically, two well-made and moderately successful singers, "Soul Deep" and "Sweet Cream Ladies," were drawn from it). But that was merely a last fling; the Box Tops were finished, and Alex Chilton, now writing songs and feeling rather embarrassed about his Top 40 credentials, was on the move. He cleared his throat, packed his guitar, and headed for New York City. When he came to realize that picking and starving in New York wasn't necessarily on a higher karmic level than cutting slick singles in Memphis, Alex headed back home to reconcile his two musical stages and to see what he could get together.

What he got together was Big Star, and Big Star is really something. The group was built around Chilton and fellow writer-singer Christopher Bell. Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens got on bass and drums, respectively, and Big Star found a gracious and competent local producer named John Fry, who, conveniently, had both a studio and a label of his own.

No. 1 Record isn't revolutionary -- the group works within the well-defined forms -- it's just exceptionally good. There's not a trace of Memphis soul in Big Star: The group seems to have used the California bands of the mid-Sixties -- primarily the Byrds and Moby Grape -- as models, but there's a brightness on the uptempo tunes that seems Beatles-inspired. Parallels are Badfinger and Raspberries, I guess, but Big Star shows more depth and consistency than either of those. A closer parallel is Todd Rundgren, who's equally adept at evoking the Beatles, California rock, and 1965, but even Rundgren hasn't made a whole album as impressive as this one.

The first side is dominated by rock & roll while the second becomes increasingly reflective and acoustic as it winds down. In both styles, the guitar sound is sharp-edged and full; even the prettiest tunes have tension and subtle energy to them, and the rockers reverberate with power. The rock & roll tracks can be seen as a succession of imaginative guitar and vocal ideas, but "When My Baby's Beside Me," "Feel," "Don't Lie to Me" and the rest move so smoothly that you have to be technique-oriented to give pieces conscious attention. It's on the slower songs that the influences are more noticeable. The oddly titled "Ballad of El Goodo," with modal harmonies and a great McGuinn-style vocal by Chilton, may be the best song here. The even more oddly titled "ST100/6" and "Try Again" sound like the tranquil Grape of "8:05" and Sitting by the Window," dominated as they are by weary harmonies. And Chilton's unaffected vocal style comes across to best advantage on the quietest tunes, "Sunrise," "Give Me Another Chance" (this one really reinforces the Rundgren parallel), and "Thirteen," a wistful, funny remembrance of junior high.

All the songs I've mentioned carry the Bell-Chilton credit line and all of them are fine. The only unsuccessful track is "The India Song," and that was written by Hummel; it just doesn't fit with the rest of the music. But 10 out of 11 is practically unheard of. No. 1 Record is one of the sleepers of 1972. Well, you've done it, Alex: Your Big Star record even cuts The Box Tops' Super Hits.

- Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 2/1/73.

Bonus Reviews!

Alex Chilton's voice is changing. When he was a teenage Box Top, his deep, soulful bullfrog whopper was the biggest freak of nature since Stevie Winwood sang "I'm a Man," but now that he's formed his own group he gets to be an adolescent, complete with adenoidal power. Appropriately, the music tends toward the teen as well, but with a tense energy in the harmonies that provides brand new thrills. Special attraction: a fantasy about India with gin-and-tonic in it. B+

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

The problem with coming in late on an artwork lauded as "influential" is that you've probably encountered the work it influenced first, and so its truly innovative qualities are lost. Thus, if you are hearing Big Star's debut album for the first time decades after its release (as, inevitably, most people must), you may be reminded that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or R.E.M., who came after, that is, if you don't think of the Byrds and the Beatles, circa 1965. What was remarkable about #1 Record in 1972 was that nobody except Big Star (and maybe Badfinger and the Raspberries) wanted to sound like this -- simple, light pop with sweet harmonies and jangly guitars. Since then, dozens of bands have rediscovered those pleasures. But in a way, that's an advantage because, whatever freshness is lost across the years, Big Star's craft is only confirmed. These are sturdy songs, feelingly performed, and once you get beyond the style to the content, you'll still be impressed. * * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

Long-awaited domestic reissue of the Memphis pop-rock band's first two classic albums (now available on one CD) is an object worthy of worship. #1 Record features the original lineup fronted by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. One-hundred percent brilliant set includes such classics as "The Ballad Of El Goodo," "Thirteen," "Don't Lie To Me," and "When My Baby's Beside Me."

- Billboard, 1995.

Pop fans will find the bargain of a lifetime with the two-for-one CD #1 Record/Radio City. The first two albums sport such Big Star perennials as "Back of a Car," "September Girls," "Thirteen," "The Ballad of El Goodo" and "Mod Lang." * * * *

- Simon Glickman, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

Alex Chilton and Chris Bell were the Memphis whiz kids at the heart of Big Star. They mixed British pop finesse with all-American hard rock, from the surging "Feel" to the acoustic "Thirteen." Big Star didn't sell many records at the time, but over the years they inspired artists such as R.E.M. and Jeff Buckley.

#1 Record was chosen as the 438th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.

- Rolling Stone, 12/11/03.

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