Van Duren Recounts his Experience with Big Star at the Shell

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O My Soul: Big Star Tribute at the Levitt Shell

By Van Duren

Big Star drummer Jody Stephens called me in late April and asked if I would come and do a song with Big Star at the May 15th show at the Levitt/Overton Park Bandshell. Of course, there was no hesitation when I accepted his invitation. The show was originally scheduled as a Big Star homecoming of sorts, the first time the band had headlined in Memphis in years. Then Alex Chilton died suddenly on St. Patrick’s Day, and the show morphed into a tribute to Big Star’s music.

Jody asked me to do “Mod Lang”, from the RADIO CITY record, which was written by Alex and the great Memphis drummer, Richard Rosebrough (who also played on the original recording for the album). I happen to know that one, so it was cool. Turns out that “Mod Lang” had never been performed by the current line up since their forming in 1993. This made it even more interesting.

Friday night the 14th, there was a rehearsal at Dean Deyo’s house in East Memphis–thank you, Dean , for your gracious hospitality–and I was late in arriving because I had my regular Friday solo gig until 9 PM. I made it, though, and there is where the fun started. I met Big Star/Posies members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, who had just arrived in Memphis early that evening from a Posies show in Norway. We ran through the song twice. It was great.

But along the way that evening at the first rehearsal, I met Amy Speace and Brendan Benson, who were also invited to perform. I had missed Brendan’s run through, but we had a nice chat about parenthood (he’s a new father) while Big Star and Amy went through some material and worked out some harmonies.

The dress rehearsal was on Saturday at 12:30 at Ardent’s Studio A. There I met John Davis of the band Superdrag, who would end up blowing me away with his versions of 3 Big Star faves. Mike Mills was there. Brendan, his wife Brittany and their 3 week old son, Declan were taking it all in, and Amy, Susan Marshall, and my buddy Rick Steff were floating in and out of songs, too.

As promised, I brought along with me my 17 year old son, Ian, who is a huge Big Star fan but an even BIGGER Brendan Benson fan. Put that together with being in Ardent, where ALL of this incredible music was recorded–Ian was just over the moon, but cool…The first person we encountered upon entering the building was studio owner and sonic mastermind behind the 1st 2 Big Star records, John Fry. Of course, Ian, being a Duren, was wearing a SUN STUDIO t-shirt. John said hello to us, taking a long glance at that t-shirt, and then led us to the rehearsal room.

The renovated 1930′s Overton Park Bandshell is about 4 or 5 blocks from Ardent. The sound is state of the art, with top-notch engineer Dawn Hopkins at the helm. All in all, a beautiful venue.

The show was magical. I have never seen Jody play with such ferocity, soaked with sweat from the high Memphis humidity. John Davis absolutely killed “In the Street”, Don’t Lie to Me”, and “When My Baby’s Beside Me”. Soon enough, my turn came, and I walked out to a big crowd, and a handshake from Ken. We rocked hard with smiles all around. It was one of the most comfortable, inspiring moments of my career. And after 3 minutes, we were done. As I walked back to the stage door with my guitar, a female voice in the crowd shouted, “We love you, Van!” That really touched my heart. I just blew the audience a kiss and then I was backstage.

     

All of the guest stars were amazing. It began to rain, lightly. They played on. Rain got a bit heavier, and Ken said to the crowd, “You don’t want us to cut any songs, do ya?” The crowd screamed. “NO!” Big Star never stopped. Norwegian pop artist Sondre Lerche came out and did a solo version of “I’m In Love with a Girl”, and suddenly there was Brendan Benson standing beside him, holding an umbrella over him. Beautiful. Perfect.

The show closed with Brendan singing brilliantly loose versions of “O My Soul” and “September Gurls”. The encore had Ken and Jon doing “Take Care”, and then a loose jam on Alex’s “A Whole New Thing” with everyone onstage playing, singing and dancing. A light mist fell, and the show was over.

The crew from the Big Star documentary-in-progress, “Nothing Can Hurt Me”, was there throughout the dress rehearsal and show–great people who love this music. The show was also recorded, and there is talk of it being broadcast at some point on XM radio.

The most emotional moment for me, though, was an unexpected one. Before the show, all of a sudden I ran into David Bell, Chris’s older brother, and we embraced. I hadn’t seen him for many years–he lives 4 hours away from Memphis. Seeing David brought back to mind what I had been thinking on and off all day: Alex would have hated this, but Chris would have LOVED it. Jon and Ken used Chris’s old Gibson J-45 acoustic during the show, and Jon played Chris’s Gibson ES-330 while he sang Chris’s “I Am the Cosmos”. Chris was there, to me.

Ian and I hung out backstage for a little while, where the mood was so joyous. I asked Jody how he felt. “RELIEVED!” was his instant response. At one point, I thought I’d go see if the crowd was gone. As I walked out onto the stage, a guy called out to me from the front of the stage, holding a copy of “Are You Serious?” and asking me to sign it. I was amazed at that. I signed it and thanked him

Ian and I said our goodbyes and headed for the truck. As we approached our parking space, a lady rolled down her window and shouted, “AWESOME SHOW!” She asked if she could take a picture, and then got out and started searching for her camera. As she found it, I glanced at her license plate–New Jersey. I asked her if she and her two friends had come all the way from New Jersey to see the show. She said, “We had to. As soon as we heard about it we bought tickets.” Again, amazing. So her friend took a pic of me and her, and I wished them safe travels.

Big Star rose to the occasion as only they could have. A number of songs were performed with just the 3 of them, and I just couldn’t get over what a great band they really are. Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow covered a lot of ground, with perfect harmonies and background vocals and monster musicianship. They were as gracious, light-hearted, and hilarious as they could be, even in the rain.

I’ve known Jody Stephens since 1969. To me, he has always been one of the premier drummers in all of the rock canon. But his talent is so much more than that. I have always felt blessed with his friendship. He is just one of the good guys.

After we got home, Ian and I laughed and talked about our experience. I know he will never forget it. And you know, not many dads can say they have a teenage son who loves Big Star.

Around midnight, Ian went to bed. And then the bottom fell out of the sky and it rained hard, almost like it had held back when we needed it to but couldn’t hold back any longer. The last thing I remember thinking as I drifted off to sleep was: I am one lucky guy.

Photo by Lisa McGaughran. L to R: Jon Auer, Van Duren, Ken Stringfellow. Hiding behind Ken is Jody Stephens on the drums.

The Big Star Box Set, Keep an Eye on the Sky, is available through Amazon.com.

The Deluxe Edition of Chris Bell’s I Am the Cosmos is available through Rhino Handmade’s site.