| David Bell on Chris Bell (from the liner notes to Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos") It is very hard to know where to begin; perhaps with all of those band practices out at the "back house" (no doubt the source of the ringing in my ears that has plagued me for the last twelve years), or perhaps all of the high school car-port parties, with their endless hauling of amps and PA systems. Maybe it was the early years of the old Ardent Studios on National Ave. in Memphis. It was the start of a kind of separation. So much technology; so many buttons and dials; the cosmic electricity. Through all of it, I watched the talent grow and develop into much more than the myriad garage bands who were hoping to be the next Beatles or Stones. This younger brother, five years my junior, was running away with only a promise. His photography, his music, and his art captivated me in the most personal ways. Chris started playing when he was 12 or 13 years old, heavily influenced by the Beatles. It may sound like the typical beginnings of an aspiring pop musician, but in Memphis in the 60s the sound was soul. Stax was cranking out the hits and Atlantic and Motown were in their prime. The Beatles led Chris to the Who and the Yardbirds, and his Anglo leanings made him something of an outsider. He formed a group with two like-minded Memphians Richard Rosebrough and Terry Manning. Both men were to play a considerable role in Chris' future recordings. It was in high school that Chris met the pre-Box Tops Alex Chilton. Though Alex occasionally jammed with the band, Chris felt that Alex wasn't interested in a future in music. This was confirmed when Chris tried to get Alex to join the band permanently. Chilton declined and went back to school. In the meantime Chris and his group continued to play high school dances, but it wasn't what he wanted to do. "I hated (playing those shows) because all they wanted to hear was soul, Sam and Dave, you know?". Eventually, college lost its appeal and Alex returned to music as a member of Ronnie and the De Villes, who metamorphosized into the Box Tops. Set apart by Alex's raw vocals, the Box Tops had ten hits, but the group was an outlet for producers Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. Alex became frustrated with the format of the group, in which he was unable to express himself. Eventually he quit in late 1969. In the meantime, Chris had been spending more and more time at Ardent in Memphis. His group continued to play, but the influence of Sgt. Pepper was enormous and he wanted to learn more about studio technique. He became a part-time engineer there, learning as he went along. During this period he recorded the first of his own compositions. Shortly afterward, he left for college at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he roomed with Knoxville resident and former high school friend Andy Hummel. After a year of school, Chris and Andy returned to Memphis, eventually forming a group with Jody Stephens. Alex had gone to New York after walking offstage during his final Box Tops gig. Failed attempts to lure Chris to New York with an eye towards starting a Simon and Garfunkel-style duo eventually led Alex to return to Memphis. Ardent was now more than a studio; it was also a label set up around an unreleased Chilton record. John Fry and Terry Manning were looking for acts. One night Alex came to the studio to play with Chris, Jody and Andy. Impressed by Chris' material, Alex played him some of his own songs, which in turn impressed Chris, who'd only heard Alex playing other people's songs in the Box Tops. This mutual admiration manifested itself as Big Star. Oddly, it was never a source of envy or jealousy to have a younger brother possessed of such talent; instead, it was so much fun. While Big Star was recording their first album he went off to university (Southwestern at Memphis), and I went off to other countries. He always kept me abreast of his music with tapes and letters. For one of his class projects Chris turned in Big Star's #1 Record. As I recall, he got an excellent grade. Chris and Alex wrote like Chris' idols, The Beatles. While ten out of the twelve tracks are credited to Bell/Chilton, they had primarily written apart. "I would suggest a few things, changes etc., to Alex's numbers, and he would similarly add to mine but really it was a separate thing". So separate in fact, that a few of the songs had actually been recorded by Chris prior to Big Star's existence. Alex added parts and they became Big Star originals. By 1971 I had settled in Italy and it was while I was living there that Big Star's #1 Record was released. I did not hear the album until I returned home in the summer of 1972. Everything seemed to be falling apart with the band, and my brother had apparently tried to do himself in. Sitting on his bed, I listened to his album for the first time and cried. I knew his talent was extensive, but I hadn't imagined he was capable of this. He was in terrible pain, feeling that he had put forth his best effort producing one-half and engineering three-fourths of the album, only to see his efforts lost in a distribution deal with a record company whose claim to fame had been a score of black Memphis soul products and who obviously didn't know or care how to distribute a white, Anglo-influenced rock group. Whatever the reason, and personalities were a factor, my brother was near rock bottom. next page HOME |