Thank You, Friends: Big Star’s Third Live… [2 CD]

Thank You Friends: Big Star’s Third Live…and more celebrates the musical legacy of one of rock’s most influential bands – Big Star – and their legendary THIRD album. Experience this classic of late ’70s power pop through the prism of a collective of immensely talented fans, including members of Wilco, R.E.M., Yo La Tengo, and, of course, Big Star. Following the untimely death of Alex Chilton two days ahead of Big Star’s SXSW performance in 2010, famous friends and fans came from far and wide to play the gig in his honor. Much of that spontaneous ensemble, along with other musical titans, assembled at Glendale, CA’s ALEX Theatre in April 2016 to record and film an epic performance.

While the band may not be Big Star per se, the fabled group’s sole surviving original member, Jody Stephens, heads an amazing cast, whose membership includes latter-day Big Star alumni Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the Posies, R.E.M’s Mike Mills, Let’s Active’s Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey of the dB’s, and others.

Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone of Wilco, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jessica Pratt, Brett Harris, Django Haskins, and Skylar Gudasz are among the guests who were joined by a full chamber orchestra helmed by the Kronos Quartet, performing scores created directly from the original multi-track tapes from Ardent Studios for this event. Carl Marsh, who wrote the original orchestrations, conducted.

CD 1
1. Watch the Sunrise (Feat. Pat Sansone and Brett Harris)
2. September Gurls (Feat. Mike Mills)
3. In the Street (Feat. Brett Harris and Mike Mills)
4. Back of a Car (Feat. Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow)
5. Thirteen (Feat. Skylar Gudasz)
6. Give Me Another Chance (Feat. Dan Wilson)
7. When My Baby’s Beside Me (Feat. Jeff Tweedy)
8. I’m In Love With a Girl (Feat. Pat Sansone)
9. Feel (Feat. Ken Stringfellow)
10. The Ballad of El Goodo (Feat. Dan Wilson)
11. I Am the Cosmos (Feat. Chris Stamey)
12. You and Your Sister (Feat. Pat Sansone)

CD 2
1. Kizza Me (Feat. Jeff Tweedy and Django Haskins)
2. O Dana (Feat. Jon Auer)
3. For You (Feat. Jody Stephens and Luther Russell)
4. Nightime (Feat. Jeff Tweedy)
5. Jesus Christ (Feat. Mike Mills)
6. Take Care (Feat. Ira Kaplan)
7. Big Black Car (Feat. Jessica Pratt and Jon Auer)
8. Blue Moon (Feat. Jody Stephens)
9. Stroke It, Noel (Feat. Ken Stringfellow)
10. Downs (Feat. Robyn Hitchcock)
11. Dream Lover (Feat. Skylar Gudasz and Ken Stringfellow)
12. Holocaust (Feat. Django Haskins)
13. T Have Me (Feat. Skylar Gudasz and Mike Mills)
14. Kanga Roo (Feat. Brett Harris)
15. Thank You, Friends (Ensemble)