What’s the big deal?

As the founder of Big Star, the late Chris Bell (Jan. 12, 1951–Dec. 27, 1978) was the sonic visionary behind #1 Record, the highly-influential band’s 1972 debut album on Ardent Records, as well as his poignant mid-‘70s solo recordings, posthumously compiled on the acclaimed I Am the Cosmos LP.

While Bell’s life was tragically cut short at 27-years old following a fatal car wreck in his home town of Memphis, the guitarist/vocalist’s legacy has lived on thanks to the support of fervent rock journalists and a vocal cult following that includes the likes of R.E.M., Wilco and Beck. 

Bell and his Big Star bandmates – the iconic Alex Chilton (guitar/vocals), Jody Stephens (drums) and bassist Andy Hummel – have all been immortalized since the band’s initial breakup and commercial failure over 40 years ago. Though, at the time of his death, Bell was far from an alternative-rock legend. 

In late 1972, Bell left Big Star, the band e created, while battling with substance abuse and a serious bout of clinical depression following the failure of #1 Record. The record received rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, but it suffered from abysmal distribution from the diminishing Stax Records and was nearly impossible to find in stores. 

Looking for a fresh start, Bell and his brother/manager David Bell left Memphis and Big Star behind them and spent a portion of 1974 and a bulk of 1975 overseas in France and London recording and shopping his post-Big Star works, including his signature tracks “I Am the Cosmos, “You And Your Sister,” “Better Save Yourself” and “Speed of Sound.” 

The tracks, recorded and mixed at the legendary Château d'Hérouville in France and George Martin’s AIR Studios in London, as well as ample work at Memphis’ Shoe Productions and Ardent Studios, were eventually passed on by a handful of prominent UK labels. 

Bell returned home to Memphis in November 1975 without a record deal and essentially shelved his solo tapes. While he would record a few more tracks at Ardent Studios, he’d spend his final years mainly playing lead guitar for other songwriters, including fellow Memphis musicians Van Duren and Keith Sykes. With his own music on the backburner, Bell accepted a job flipping burgers at Danver’s, a Memphis fast-food chain founded by his successful restaurateur father.

In his final year, Bell witnessed the earliest beginnings of Big Star’s international fanaticism. With a growing demand in the U.K., E.M.I. issued a double LP of #1 Record and the band’s follow up Radio City. In the U.S., Car Records issued the 7-inch picture sleeve single for “I Am the Cosmos”/ “You And Your Sister” – it would be the only solo material he’d see released in his lifetime. 

In 2017, a series of collections and re-issues via Omnivore Recordings document nearly all of Bell’s recorded output, from his first day at Ardent Studios in 1968, to his final hours in the studio a decade later. 

Bell’s earliest recordings sprouted amidst Beatlemania and the mid-‘60s garage-rock scene. By early 1965, he was performing an assortment of British Invasion covers at high-school pool parties with his first garage band, the Jynx (a knockoff of the Kinks). From 1968 to 1969, his final two years of preparatory school, Bell founded Christmas Future and focused on more experimental and psychedelic sounds – primarily Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles’ still fresh Sgt. Peppers. 

Though, the ensuing vision of Big Star wasn’t truly realized until the 1970-71 sessions with his studio projects: Icewater and Rock City – Bell’s first ventures into writing and engineering original songs. Both demo reels, completed just prior to Chilton’s arrival into the group, were recorded fully at John Fry’s Ardent Studios and are now regarded as the definitive pre-cursors to #1 Record. 

While he never found monetary success in life through his recordings, Bell’s enigmatic legend would gradually rise over the next four decades – particularly following Rykodisc’s 1992 CD issue of I Am the Cosmos. In 1998, when a cover of Big Star’s “In the Street” was prominently featured in the opening credits of That ‘70s Show, the once wholly obscure power-pop group was catapulted into mainstream pop culture. A series of releases by Omnivore Recordings, tributes and various projects have furthered bolstered Bell’s status, chiefly the award-winning 2012 documentary, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. - Rich Tupica

Former Posies co-founder/singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jon Auer's connection to Memphis runs deep as he was also a member of the re-formed Big Star for 17 years and has continued to perform as part of Big Star's Third ever since. In 2004, Jon spent time at Ardent Studios helping write and record Big Star's album In Space, contributing (among others) "Lady Sweet" and co-writing "February's Quiet" with Jody Stephens. It was also Auer who also suggested/insisted the Posies record their reverent cover of Chris Bell's "I Am The Cosmos" and then suggested/continued to sing it live with Big Star as well.

Auer's notable career started at the age of 17 in Bellingham, WA where the Posies first record Failure was recorded and mixed by a teenage Jon in his home studio after school and on weekends. Two years later The Posies signed a deal with DGC/Geffen and ultimately recorded three records for the prominent label, including Dear 23 (featuring the Jon-composed single “Golden Blunders”, later covered by former Beatle Ringo Starr) and the landmark Frosting on the Beater, which included Auer's classic singles "Dream all Day", "Flavor of the Month", and “Definite Door” as well as his dark and epic deep cut "Coming Right Along" (featured in the film of The Basketball Diaries and praised by Jim Carroll himself). A key player in the former Posies songwriting force, Jon also wrote “Going, Going, Gone” for the 3 million-plus selling Reality Bites soundtrack.

In addition, Auer is a critically-acclaimed solo artist and his solo record Songs From The Year Of Our Demise was named one of the best releases of 2006 by NPR and given 4 stars in UNCUT magazine. Auer toured the globe to support SFTYOOD as an extremely well-received one-man troubadour-style show, his songs and stories side by side. Auer has also nurtured a sizable production career having produced and/or mixed records for the likes of You Am I, Redd Kross, and Spiral Stairs (of Pavement) and the Sub Pop label and also spent time in Nashville playing on the Ben Folds' produced William Shatner record Has Been.  

Memphis recording artist Van Duren’s career has spanned the early 1970’s to present day, releasing 14albums along the way. After a stint with a band that included post-Big Star friends Chris Bell and Jody Stephens, Van went on to record the solo albums Are You Serious? (1978), Idiot Optimism (1979),followed by the album by Memphis pop band Good Question’s, Thin Disguise (1986).  With each new release his song craft and performances became more legendary.  Mr. Duren’s more recent work with singer/songwriter Vicki Loveland (Loveland Duren) has produced three albums of deeply inspired, powerful songs with vivid soundscapes to match, culminating in the 2021 LP release, Any Such Thing.

Decades of Van’s continuous pursuit of the muse caught the attention of two Australian filmmakers, resulting in the award-winning 2018 documentary, Waiting—The Van Duren Story (streaming worldwide in 2022).  The soundtrack for the film was released by Omnivore Recordings in 2019, and the label also reissued Duren’s first two solo albums in 2020 to rave receptions from fans and press alike.  Meanwhile, the road continues with Van, Vicki, and their killer Memphis band performing material from all phases of this journey today. 

When semi-legendary Memphis power pop band crash into june acrimoniously split in 2005, founding member and bass player Johnny Norris clinged to hope that the band would one day regroup to make one more great album to complement its critically acclaimed releases from blind to blue (1999) and Another Vivid Scene (2002). While reunion shows in 2013 and 2016 sparked hope, a group commitment to record again never materialized. And, when Norris’s efforts to reform the band in August 2019 to celebrate his birthday were rebuffed by the latest incarnation of the group, it appeared that all hope of another CIJ- related recording was extinguished. 

Enter guitarist Chris Gafford and drummer Dan Shumake, both of whom appeared on CIJ’s debut release, from blind to blue. Since leaving crash into june, Gafford and Shumake remained active in the Memphis music scene and had joined Stephen Burns’ most recent reincarnation of The Scruffs. When approached, the two eagerly signed on to join Norris for an August 2019 performance of crash into june songs and other power pop classics. But, the question remained: who would sing? 

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Brandon McGovern cut his teeth on the soul and blues sound of his city. With a love for The Beatles and 60's garage bands, he spent his early years playing in various bands, including Madison Treehouse, which played many shows with crash into june throughout the 90’s on Memphis’s famed Highland Strip. 

Enter Adam Hill. Hill is affectionately known in power pop circles as “The Big Star Archivist” having assisted Ardent Studios founder, the late John Fry, with locating, transferring and mixing long lost Big Star and Chris Bell tracks for inclusion on box sets released in the early 2000’s. Adam also plays guitar in The Scruffs and is an accomplished recording engineer having worked with Jack White, Cat Power, Klaus Voorman, Low Cut Connie, and, of course, Big Star. Adam signed on to play lead guitar in and record Your Academy. Under Hill’s tutelage, Your Academy has recorded what truly is the resurrection of Memphis power pop. 

The Sonny Wilsons is the project of Memphis PowerPop Festival Co-Founders Adam Yancey (Solo artist, Afterglow, The Chain Hopsons, The Becky’s) and Allen Couch (East Link). The same inspiration for the festival, the celebration of all things power pop, informs their original song writing. 

Adam Yancey, who gigged his way through flight school is, and this is a direct quote, “The only idiot in the world that got into the music business for the money. And the only idiot, in the history of idiots, which is a long list, who had to fall back on a music career to become a commercial airline pilot!”

Multi-instrumentalist Allen Couch's love of music began when he stumbled upon, and subsequently appropriated, his parent's 8-track copy of Abbey Road. Yep, he's that old…. Thus began a lifelong appreciation for a well structured pop harmony.

They are joined by singer-songwriter-guitarist Danny McGreger (Lately David), drummer John ’Boz’ Boswell (Crash Into June, On The Runway and Tommy Hoehn) and bassist Chris Swenson (El Dorado Del Ray, Black Oak Arkansas, studio engineer). 

Adam and Allen will be recording their first album later this year with Jon Auer (Posies, Big Star) produci

https://overtonparkshell.org/eventpage/powerpopfest22

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