Quite a few times in rock music it turned out it makes no difference how good your music is, or how much you are lauded by the press, other musicians, or even how much you become an inspiration. In those instances, the best you can achieve is a cult status among the devoted, never really breaking through to the wider public.
That was the fate that fell upon Big Star, the Memphis band from the early Seventies, that was even taken as the progenitor of power pop. Most of the credit for that is given to the late maverick Alex Chilton, what for his vocals, guitar playing and particularly his songs.
But as the time progressed and the band was begun to be given the credits it deserved, it became more and more obvious that, unfortunately, also the late songwriter, singer, and guitarist Chris Bell, had a lion’s, if not equal share in shaping the sound of Big Star.
Actually, it so turns out that Bell, who at the time worked at Ardent Studios in Memphis where all the original Big Star material was recorded, was one of the first, if not the first member of Big Star, Chilton, being the last one to join.
In essence, listening to /Looking Forward: The Roots Of Big Star/ collection of recordings made by Bell under various guises before the formal start of the band it is quite obvious that Bell was the one who had most to do with the vocal harmony oriented, guitar driven pop/rock sound that was Big Star on its /#1 Record/ and partly on their second album /Radio City/.
Now, it is said that sound is Anglophile, as The Beatles, Kinks, The Who and other, so called, British Invasion bands were big influence on Bell, but it can also be said that the way Bell and Chilton channelled that sound through Big Star was so influential in shaping the sound of so many bands that did make it big (Cheap Trick, The Cars, for starters) or like Big Star themselves, didn’t.
The songs on /Looking Forward/ are just further proof of how influential Chris Bell was, if his sole solo album after he left Big Star, /I Am The Cosmos/ is not proof enough, and include some that found their way on /#1/. The quality of the music is such that you can take it in as a completely rounded of body of work that can be listened to for how good the music is and not only for its historical value.
Take into consideration that renowned producer and pop archivist Alec Palao worked on this collection and it only goes to the fact how indispensable it is to all lovers of power pop.
