Number 1 Record

The correct title of this article is #1 Record. The substitution or omission of the # sign is because of technical restrictions.

#1 Record
Studio album by Big Star
Released	April 1972
Recorded	Summer–fall, 1971 at Ardent Studios, Memphis
Genre	Power pop, Pop Rock
Length	37:03
Label	Ardent
Producer	John Fry
Big Star chronology
#1 Record (1972) Radio City (1974)

#1 Record is the debut album by the American power pop group Big Star. It was released in 1972 by Memphis-based Ardent Records. Though many critics praised the album's elegant vocal harmonies and refined songcraft (frequently drawing comparisons to the British Invasion groups of the 1960s, including The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who), #1 Record fared quite dismally in terms of commercial success. However, like Big Star's follow-up albums Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers, #1 Record has more recently attracted wider attention, and in 2003 it was ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone magazine also ranked the song "Thirteen" as number 396 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1]

The singles released from the album were "When My Baby's Beside Me" and "Don't Lie to Me". The B-side of the former included a version of "In the Street" which until 2005 was only available on the single. It is now included on the 20 Greats from the Golden Decade of Power Pop compilation CD and the 2009 reissue of #1 Record/Radio City.

#1 Record is the only Big Star album on which group founder Chris Bell is officially credited as a member, though he did make some contributions to its follow-up, 1974's Radio City.

In 1992, Fantasy Records released #1 Record and Radio City together on a single compact disc with alternate versions of "In the Street" and "O My Soul" as bonus tracks.

A version of "In the Street" by Ben Vaughn was used as the theme song of That '70s Show, which was changed to a version by Cheap Trick after the first season. "Thirteen" has also been used in several episodes of That 70's Show.

Composition and recording

Eight years earlier in 1964, when their home town of Memphis, Tennessee became a tour stop for The Beatles, primary songwriters Alex Chilton and Chris Bell were thirteen years old. Heavily influenced by the UK band, the pair—Bell in particular—wanted to model their songwriting on the Lennon/McCartney partnership, with the result that they credited as many songs as possible on Big Star's debut album to "Bell/Chilton".^[2] In practice, they developed material incrementally in the studio, each making changes to the other's recordings. Drummer Jody Stephens recalled, "Alex would come in and put down something rough and edgy and Chris would come in and add some sweet-sounding background vocals to it."^[3] The pair also each contributed songs individually composed before Big Star was formed, Bell bringing "Feel", "Try Again" and "My Life Is Right", and Chilton, "Thirteen", "The Ballad of El Goodo", "In the Street" and "Watch the Sunrise".^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Robert Christgau	(B+) [6]

On its release in June 1972, #1 Record immediately received widespread acclaim, and continued to do so for six months, although an inability by Stax Records to make the album available in stores virtually eliminated sales.^[7] Record World called it "one of the best albums of the year", and Billboard commented, "Every cut could be a single". In a lengthy and enthusiastic review, Rolling Stone pronounced the album "exceptionally good", while Cashbox described it as one where "everything falls together as a total sound" and one which "should go to the top".^[7] The River City Review's reaction to the album was to state that "Big Star will be around for many moons".^[7]

Track listing

All songs by Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Feel" – 3:34
2. "The Ballad of El Goodo" – 4:21
3. "In the Street" – 2:55
4. "Thirteen" – 2:34
5. "Don't Lie to Me" – 3:07
6. "The India Song" (Andy Hummell) – 2:20

Side two

7. "When My Baby's Beside Me" – 3:22
8. "My Life Is Right" (Bell, Eubanks) – 3:07
9. "Give Me Another Chance" – 3:26
10. "Try Again" – 3:31
11. "Watch the Sunrise" – 3:45
12. "ST 100/6" – 1:01

Personnel

Big Star

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

Guests

• Terry Manning – electric piano

Notes

1. ^ "Thirteen" in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Rollingstone.com. Accessed July 19, 2009.
2. ^ Jovanovic, 6–13,100
3. ^ Jovanovic, 89.
4. ^ Jovanovic, pp. 83–87.
5. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Number 1 Record at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
6. ^ Big Star reviews, Robert Christgau.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Jovanovic, 107

References

• Jovanovic, Rob. Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band. London: Fourth Estate, 2004. ISBN 0-00-714908-5.