Jody Stephens Joins Performance of Big Star’s Third in Carborro, NC

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On December 9th and 10th, at the Cat’s Cradle in Carborro, North Carolina, the stars aligned as a project first conceptualized 5+ years ago came to full realization. Big Star‘s Third, believed by many in the Big Star circle to be the band’s most emotionally diverse and darkest work, received its proper live orchestral debut to a sold out crowd for two nights.

Lisa Sorg of Indieweek.com had this to say of the evening:

“I always have thought Big Star’s Third was intended to be heard in the wintertime because of the record’s imagery of scarves flying behind, air going cool, blue moons and fireplaces burning bright. The movie in my head was filmed in high contrast: white snow and black trees, as the main character battles the chill of urban canyons while struggling to calm his inner demons. After experiencing last night’s show, where I once saw darks, mid-tones and whites, I now see color. It is the difference between viewing black-and-white Depression-era photographs and then seeing the recently discovered versions that had been shot on Kodachrome.

“Because of Chilton’s death last March, there was an unspoken, dutiful responsibility to the material. The performers not only honored it; they also expanded the tonal palette of the original. It was brilliant and beautiful. Again, I have been psychically reassembled.”

From Jody Stephens, Big Star‘s original and current drummer, and the last surviving original member of the band:

“Sometime around last December John Fry and I got an email from Chris Stamey (The dBs, and producer of the Big Star Third live production). In the email he talked about producing a live performance of Big Star’s Third LP and was asking if I would participate. He also was hoping Alex would join in. I walked over to John’s office to see if he had read the email… he had. I think we both said “Is he crazy?”

“Chris approached Carl Marsh (brilliant Third arranger and player) about recharting the string arrangements. Carl agreed, then John agreed to pull the stings off the multitracks to facilitate the process. The project was moving forward… slowly.

“Alex’s passing away in March added a new sense of purpose to the project and we all started thinking that Chris’s crazy idea was actually a very sincere way for us all to share a fascinating experience.. it became a blue moon in the sky.

“We got this email from Chris: “We just had our first reading of the string parts for the Big Star Third concert. just with a quartet of the four first-chair players, all excellent musicians. It was an unforgettable experience to hear that music come back to life in the room. I wish you all could have been here. I guess you will, eventually.

“We didn’t get the score for ‘For You’ until 10 minutes before they arrived, at 10 AM this morning. We started with it, and the room filled up with that great beauty. After that it was revelation after revelation.“

“When we all came together at Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC on Decembner 8th for the first rehearsal together it was indeed revelation after revelation. Odd how a dark and melancholy record can bring out the best spirits in people. Everyone was so committed to the performances.. players and audience alike. I wish everyone could have been there.

“All the crazy ideas are the best ones!”

(Photo by Daniel Costen)

Check out Flickr for more pictures of the event.

Read the Indieweek.com review of the show.

Listen to Frank Stasio’s radio interview with Jody about the two shows.

Check out Big Star on Amazon.com.

Chris Stamey’s blog on the whole experience.