Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos

The Oxford American recently ran a great piece by John Jeremiah Sullivan called, "Chris Bell: Big Star's 'Other Genius'".

If you take an interest in today's artist, I highly recommend reading this article, not only for its focus on Bell and Big Star, but for its fabulous insights on pop music in general.

Following the recent sudden death of Big Star vocalist & solo musician, Alex Chilton, there's been a rush of posthumous interest in the great Memphis pop group and its individual members.

While Chilton usually garnered the most attention, his Big Star co-pilot Bell was an extremely gifted songwriter and musician in his own right.

In fact, of all the great music that I heard last year, Ardent Music's stream of Bell's I Am the Cosmos is the album that stands out most in my mind. If I had compiled a list of my favorite albums of 2009, it'd be right up at the top, despite being recorded at various times in the mid-late '70s and (originally) released back in 1992.

There is currently a dearth of Bell's music up on YouTube, but I hope you'll enjoy today's jukebox selection, the title track from Bell's only solo LP (this clip chosen for its audio quality rather than its video slideshow - I assure you). I hope you'll also check out the album in full - it's a stunner.

Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos.



Related articles and posts:

1. Chris Bell: Big Star's Other Genius - Oxford American.

2. The Story of Big Star - NPR via YouTube.