(Blurt Online) dB‘s founder and noted producer Chris Stamey is organizing the first public performances of Big Star‘s iconic Third/Sister Lovers, to take place December 9 and 10 at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. He’s calling the event “Stroke It, Noel.”
It’s going to be more than just a band-playing Alex Chilton songs, however it will feature the music’s original string and wind orchestrations, Stamey having painstakingly created/recreated the scores. Alex Chilton, of course, passed away in March of this year, and he was followed a few months later by original Big Star bassist Andy Hummel.
“The original written scores for the record were long missing,” Stamey says. “But John Fry at Ardent Records was able to supply us with elements of the original multitrack tapes. Composer Carl Marsh, who wrote the ground-breaking charts for the original record, used these tapes to precisely retranscribe his arrangements. And I’ve orchestrated anew some other elements of the recordings for the players, in order to recreate live some of the aleatoric studio effects. We’ve also been able to hear and match the inner workings of these glorious compositions in much greater detail this way. It’s been a fascinating process, and a real community adventure as well.”
The musicians Stamey is assembling will include Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), original Big Star member Jody Stephens, and Jeff Crawford and Charles Cleaver (The Tomahawks). North Carolina chamber pop group Lost in the Trees, as well as members of Birds and Arrows and the NC Symphony, will comprise the orchestra. Guest vocalists will include members of the Love Language, the Old Ceremony, Megafaun and others. In addition to performing Sister Lovers in its entirety, the band will play a few additional Big Star and Chris Bell selections during the show.
The concerts will be filmed for the forthcoming Big Star documentary – Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story, by Danielle McCarthy and Drew DeNicola slated for 2011 release – and are fundraisers for two charities dedicated to making life better for musicians, KidZNotes of Durham, NC and the New Orleans Musicians Clinic.
More details and ticket info at the Cat’s Cradle website: www.catscradle.com
