BIG STAR 3 - ORIGINAL ARDENT PRESS - ALEX CHILTON PSYCH

$

910

ARTIST : BIG STAR / ALEX CHILTON

TITLES : Side 1 ; 1. Stroke it, Noel / 2. Take Downs / 3. Femme Fatale (Lou Reed) / 4. Thank You Friends / 5. Holocaust / 6. Jesus Christ / 7. Blue Moon SIDE 2 ; 1. Kizza Me / 2. For You (Jody Stephens) / 3. O, Dana / 4. Nighttime / 5. Whole lot of shakin' goin' on (David / Williams) / 6. Kanga Roo / 7. Take Care.

LABEL AND Catalogue No. : ARDENT (U.S.) AS 0014 (a STAX matrix number)

On offer is this original pressing of the "picazzo-pop" masterpiece often referred to as Sister Lovers / Beale St. Green / Third.
A dark introspective "midnight-of-the-soul" type LP exploring the realms of psyche only previously done on albums like Syd Barrett's "The Madcap Laughs" and Skip Spence' "Oar". Alex adored the talents of Lou Reed - and there is even a very early cover of VU/Lou Reed's "Femme Fatale" featured on the album. Ultimatily, the collection of songs comprising Big Stars's "Third" is best experienced like a dark mirror reflected back upon it's unsuspecting audience. Therein lies it's timeless magic.

Even though Alex Chilton did not sit in for the final mix-downs (he was excluded from these sessions) - a running order was decided upon by the album's producer Jim Dickinson. This acetate is comprised of that selection of 14 tracks - thus the track time for both sides exceeds 21 minutes. According to John Fry this was done intentionally to best represent the many aspects of the sessions. I came across this acetate as a collector of anything Memphis back in 2000. This disc actually originates from LX' own collection of actetates - which he then passed on to another well-known Memphis player who in turn decided that he better let it go.

In the dead-wax area surrounding the white label is STXS-1078-1 AS-0014 L.NIX. On the flip side is is STXS-1079-1 AS-0015 L.NIX. An orignal Ardent promo-folder is included with the test-pressing. The folder is marked "BIG STAR #3" with a blue magic-marker. Some of the other test-pressings I have encountered has LX' handwriting on the labels, and some even had full credits and tracklistings handwritten on the sleeve. This copy came to me with plain white labels, and with no extra promo material.

Most reports indicate that this 1975 Ardent pressing was limited to 250 copies. Some reports indicate that it may have been manufactured in the 250-500 range. As a long-time Big Star collector - I can confirm that I have only seen 3 copies on the market since 1999.

For more background info about the original Ardent pressings - visit the archived web-page at ;
http://web.archive.org/web/20070807060407/www.naptownamplifier.com/BigStarPage.htm    

(Please NOTE that the web-archived pages is very slow and may not work !!)

ITEM CONDITION :  This record is in very good condition. A Goldmine type grading to describe this record visaully or sonically is not very helpful, since the acetate is not meant for replay sessions. Except for 2 superficial marks on both sides the record is very clean. Around the spindle-holdes is some marks that indicates that the record has been played somewhat in the past. Also, on the laquer surface is some circular, swirl-like surface marks that is often assosciated with actetates.

Typically, the record crackles much more than any vinyl or styrene pressing.

PAYMENT TERMS : I expect the auction to be paid for within 2 weeks of auction closing.

SHIPPING RATES : US $ 15.00 for Air priority shipping to any non-European destination. For non-EU customers ; Please ask for quotes since many services are available (but expensive ! Inside Europe - FREE shipping using the postal services

Finally - I'd like to thank everyone that have helped to support interest in Alex' rich and varied career over the years.  Thank You Friends - for making it all so probable ! The same goes for this record's "co-creator" - "Capt. Memphis" Jim Dickinson - who also passed away much too early. That said - the sonic architecture of this album would not have been the same without the engineering talents of John Fry who worked and believed in this record for a long, long time.