Need A Last-Minute Gift Idea For A Music Fan? Big Star’s 1st 2 Albums On Vinyl Via Craft Recordings!

Few bands have been as influential as Memphis, Tennessee’s Big Star. After all, all three of Big Star’s albums are included on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” lists from this decade, and tracks from the first two Big Star albums (“Thirteen” and “September Gurls”) are also among the magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Furthermore, numerous artists (e.g. Elliott Smith, The Bangles, Placebo, Beck, Jeff Buckley) have recorded covers of Big Star’s songs.

Yet Big Star also holds the distinction of having achieved far more success after disbanding — it first broke up in 1974 — than it did within its few years together in the 1970s. Fortunately, Big Star was able to have a second-coming in the early 1990s, reuniting for a one-off show in Missouri which led to regularly performing and recording together until singer Alex Chilton’s unexpected death in 2010.

Craft Recordings is doing a very good deed in re-releasing Big Star’s acclaimed first two albums on 180-gram vinyl. Set for a January 24th release date and available for pre-order now, these new vinyl editions of #1 Record and Radio City feature all-analog mastering by Jeff Powell at Memphis’ Take Out Vinyl. They were notably manufactured locally in Big Star’s hometown at Memphis Record Pressing.

Big Star aside, Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most prestigious collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its rich and storied repertoire includes legendary artists such as Joan Baez, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, Nine Inch Nails, Thelonious Monk, Otis Redding, R.E.M. and the Traveling Wilburys. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation-ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. More info on Craft releases can be found online at CraftRecordings.com.

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Tags: Alex Chilton, BECK, Big Star, Concord Music Group, Craft Recordings, Jeff Buckley, John Coltrane, vinyl

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."