View source for Number 1 Record

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Correct title|title=#1 Record|reason=hash}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = <nowiki>#</nowiki>1 Record
| type       = [[Album]]
| artist     = [[Big Star]]
| cover      = Big Star -1 Record.jpg
| alt        = A white neon star with the word "BIG" in neon yellow in the middle
| released   = April 24, 1972
| recorded   = May 1971 – February 1972
| studio     = Ardent Studios, Memphis
| genre      = 
* [[Power pop]]<ref>{{cite web|first= Joe |last= Tangari |title= The Life and Music of Alex Chilton |website= [[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date= March 22, 2010 |access-date= June 3, 2015 |url= http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7779-the-life-and-music-of-alex-chilton/}}</ref>
* [[hard rock]]<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/big-star-1-record-2-1062759/| year=2020| title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| access-date= August 4, 2023|quote= They mixed British Invasion pop finesse with all-American hard rock, from the surging “Feel” to the acoustic heartbreaker “Thirteen.}}</ref>
* [[folk rock]]<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2006|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=97}}</ref>
*[[Southern rock]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/southern-rock-albums-of-all-time-allman-brothers-j|title= The 50 Best Southern Rock Albums of All Time|first=Loren|last=DiBlasi|date= 23 July 2020|website=[[Paste Magazine]]|access-date= 30 September 2024}}</ref>
| length     = {{Duration|m=37|s=03}}
| label      = [[Ardent Records|Ardent]]
| producer   = [[John Fry (record producer)|John Fry]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Radio City (album)|Radio City]]
| next_year  = 1974
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = <nowiki>#</nowiki>1 Record
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Thirteen (song)|Thirteen]]" / "Watch the Sunrise
 | single1date = March 1972
 | single2     = When My Baby's Beside Me" / "[[In the Street (song)|In the Street]]
 | single2date = April 1972
 | single3     = Don't Lie to Me" / "Watch the Sunrise
 | single3date = July 1972
}}
}}

'''''#1 Record''''' is the debut studio album by the American rock band [[Big Star]]. It was released on April 24, 1972, by [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]-based [[Ardent Records]].

Many critics praised the album's vocal harmonies and songcraft but ''#1 Record'' suffered from poor distribution and sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release. However, ''#1 Record'' gained wider attention in the late 1970s in the UK when [[EMI]] reissued it with ''[[Radio City (album)|Radio City]]'' as a double LP package due to increasing demand.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.frontlinearts.net/bigstar/cgi-bin/bsrboard/bsrboard.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1231216571|title=Big Star Discussion Board - Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, The Box Tops|website=www.frontlinearts.net|access-date=2018-01-17}}</ref> The same combination was used when the album was released on CD in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13101-1-record-radio-city/|title=Big Star: ''#1 Record / Radio City'' Album Review Pitchfork |website=pitchfork.com|language=en|access-date=2018-01-17}}</ref> It is now widely-regarded as a seminal work in [[pop rock]] and [[power pop]]. In 2020 it was ranked number 474 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 greatest albums of all time]].<ref name="500-greatest">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/big-star-1-record-2-1062759/| year=2020| title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| access-date= May 3, 2021}}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' also ranked the song "[[Thirteen (song)|Thirteen]]" as number 406 on its [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=500 Greatest Songs of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/big-star-thirteen-169859/|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=December 11, 2003 |access-date=July 9, 2017}}</ref> It was voted number 188 in the third edition of [[Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'' (2000).<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2006|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=97}}</ref>

==Composition and recording==
6 years earlier, in 1966, when their hometown of [[Memphis, Tennessee]], became a tour stop for [[The Beatles]], primary songwriters [[Alex Chilton]] and [[Chris Bell (American musician)|Chris Bell]] were 15 years old. Heavily influenced by the UK band, the pair—Bell in particular—wanted to model their songwriting on the [[Lennon–McCartney]] partnership, with the result that they credited as many songs as possible on Big Star's debut album to "Bell/Chilton".<ref name="chilton">{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|pp=6–13, 100}}</ref> In practice, they developed material incrementally in the studio, each making changes to the other's recordings. Drummer [[Jody Stephens]] recalled, "Alex would come in and put down something rough and edgy and Chris would come in and add some sweet-sounding background vocals to it."<ref name="jov89">{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=89}}</ref> Chilton once offered the following on Chris Bell's unique vocal contributions: "Chris and I did all the harmony vocals, and he had a brilliant mind that worked in a sort of contrapuntal way.  It wasn't based so much on 'Oh you're singing the root.  I should be singing the 3rd above,' he would just sing along with the line I was singing. He was a brilliant, instinctual maker of counterpoint."<ref name=":1" />

The pair also contributed songs to the album that were individually composed before Big Star was formed.  Chris Bell brought the songs "Feel", "My Life Is Right", and "Try Again" to the recording sessions, which he had previously recorded with a band called 'Rock City' (which featured Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and Steve Rhea), and Chilton brought "The Ballad of El Goodo" and the acoustic ballads "[[Thirteen (song)|Thirteen]]" and "Watch the Sunrise".<ref name="thirt">{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|pp=83–87}}</ref> "The India Song" was written and composed by Andy Hummel.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/big-star-bassist-andy-hummel-dies-at-59-20100720|title=Big Star Bassist Andy Hummel Dies at 59|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2018-01-17}}</ref>

''#1 Record'' is the only Big Star album on which group founder [[Chris Bell (American musician)|Chris Bell]] is officially credited as a member. Bell had a major hand in the record through songwriting, vocals, guitar work, and the album's production. The polished sound of ''#1 Record'', in contrast to the more raw styles of the band's subsequent albums, ''[[Radio City (album)|Radio City]]'' and ''[[Third/Sister Lovers]]'', is attributed by producer [[John Fry (record producer)|John Fry]] to the presence of Bell:  "When Chris Bell was still in the band, he took more interest than anybody in the production and technology end of things. He had a good production mind...the reason why the second album is rougher, with fewer harmonies, is due to the absence of Chris's influence in the studio."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr06/articles/classictracks_0406.htm|title=CLASSIC TRACKS: Big Star 'September Gurls' -|website=www.soundonsound.com|access-date=July 9, 2017}}</ref> Bassist [[Andy Hummel]] would also credit Bell with having a hand in the album's production: "Chris was in charge. I would pretty well credit him with recording and producing that LP [#1 Record]. Of course, he had a lot of artistic help from Alex [Chilton] but Chris was the technical brains behind it. He was the only one of us at that time who knew how to record."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/andyhummel.html|title=Big Star - Andy Hummel interview|website=www.furious.com|access-date=2018-01-17}}</ref>  Alex Chilton would also acknowledge Bell's heavy role in the studio production: "Chris was really into recording. He didn't want the rest of us fooling around in the studio, that was his business."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWo2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT78|title=A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man|last=George-Warren|first=Holly|date=2014-03-20|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0698151420|language=en}}</ref>  Chilton would also give producer John Fry credit for achieving the album's high level of production quality: "John Fry was a genius in his way of mixdowns. We didn't put things on tape much differently than was the standard method of doing things, but he just had such finesse and great ears, and he was just a great meticulous mixdown engineer and producer. [...] He's the one responsible for making those records sound so fucking great."<ref name=":1" /> In 2014 the album was re-released through Stax Records with liner notes by [[Mike Mills]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/two-remastered-big-star-records-will-be-back-in-print-this-fall-20140729|title=Big Star's First Two Records Are Coming Back in Print|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2018-01-17}}</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1877|first=William|last=Ruhlmann|accessdate=August 4, 2011}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2Score = B+<ref>{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=0-89919-026-X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: B|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=70|access-date=February 21, 2019}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|8|10}}<ref name="classic">{{cite magazine |title=Big Star – Reissues |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |date=November 2009 |last=Lewis |first=Jonathan |issue=138 |page=97}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev5Score = favorable<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Scoppa|first1=Bud|title=No. 1 Record/Radio City|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/no-1-record-radio-city-19730201|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 8, 2017|date=February 1, 1973}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev6score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Big Star|last=Weisbard|first=Eric|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor2-first=Craig|editor2-last=Marks|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=40-41}}</ref>
}}
On its release in August 1972,<ref name="Jovanovic">{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=115}}</ref> ''#1&nbsp;Record'' immediately received widespread acclaim, and continued to do so for six months, although the inability by [[Stax Records]] to make the album available in stores meant it sold fewer than 10,000 copies upon its initial release.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqtGTJgE4rEC&pg=PA12 |title=Shake some action: the ultimate power pop guide |first=John M. |last=Borack|page=12|publisher=Shake Some Action – PowerPop|year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9797714-0-8 |access-date=December 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT16 |title=CMJ New Music Monthly |date=July 1996|page=16 |first=Bob  |last=Gulla |publisher=CMJ Network, Inc. |access-date=December 16, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Record World]]'' called it "one of the best albums of the year", and ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' commented, "Every cut could be a single". ''[[Cash Box|Cashbox]]'' described it as one where "everything falls together as a total sound" and one that "should go to the top".<ref name="reviews">{{harvnb|Jovanovic|2013|p=107}}</ref> The ''River City Review's'' reaction to the album was to state that "Big Star will be around for many moons".<ref name="reviews" />

The album's reputation and influence have continued since then. As William Ruhlmann wrote in [[AllMusic]], "The problem with coming in late on an artwork lauded as 'influential' is that you've probably encountered the work it influenced first, so its truly innovative qualities are lost. Thus, if you are hearing Big Star's debut album for the first time decades after its release (as, inevitably, most people must), you may be reminded of [[Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers|Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers]] or [[R.E.M.]], who came after—that is, if you don't think of [[The Byrds]] and [[The Beatles]] circa 1965. What was remarkable about ''#1 Record'' in 1972 was that nobody except Big Star (and maybe [[Badfinger]] and [[The Raspberries]]) wanted to sound like this—simple, light pop with sweet harmonies and jangly guitars."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/1-record-mw0000459534|title=#1 Record|first=William|last=Ruhlmann|publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=November 12, 2021}}</ref>

==Track listing==

{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| all_writing = [[Chris Bell (American musician)|Chris Bell]] and [[Alex Chilton]], except where noted
| extra_column = Lead vocals
| title1 = Feel
| extra1 = Bell
| length1 = 3:34
| title2 = The Ballad of El Goodo
| extra2 = Chilton
| length2 = 4:21
| title3 = [[In the Street (song)|In the Street]]
| extra3 = Bell
| length3 = 2:55
| title4 = [[Thirteen (song)|Thirteen]]
| extra4 = Chilton
| length4 = 2:34
| title5 = Don't Lie to Me
| extra5 = Bell
| length5 = 3:07
| title6 = The India Song
| note6 = Andy Hummel
| extra6 = Hummel
| length6 = 2:20
| total_length = 18:51
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column = Lead vocals
| title1 = When My Baby's Beside Me
| extra1 = Chilton
| length1 = 3:22
| title2 = My Life Is Right
| note2 = Bell, Tom Eubanks
| extra2 = Bell
| length2 = 3:07
| title3 = Give Me Another Chance
| extra3 = Chilton
| length3 = 3:26
| title4 = Try Again
| extra4 = Bell
| length4 = 3:31
| title5 = Watch the Sunrise
| extra5 = Chilton
| length5 = 3:45
| title6 = ST 100/6
| extra6 = Bell
| length6 = 1:01
| total_length = 18:12
}}

==Personnel==
'''Big Star'''
*[[Chris Bell (American musician)|Chris Bell]]&nbsp;– [[guitar]], [[vocals]]
*[[Alex Chilton]]&nbsp;– guitar, vocals
*[[Andy Hummel]]&nbsp;– [[bass guitar]], vocals
*[[Jody Stephens]]&nbsp;– [[drum kit|drums]]

'''Guest'''
*[[Terry Manning]]&nbsp;– [[electric piano]], harmony vocals

==References==
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
*Jovanovic, Rob. ''Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band''. London: Fourth Estate, 2004. {{ISBN|0-00-714908-5}}.
*{{cite book|last1=Jovanovic|first1=Rob|title=Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band|date=2013|publisher=Jawbone|location=London|isbn=978-1-908279-36-1|edition=Revised and updated}}
*George-Warren, Holly. ''A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, from Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man.'' New York: Viking, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-670-02563-3}}.

==External links==
* [https://www.allmusic.com/album/1-record-mw0000459534 Big Star - ''#1 Record'' (1972) album review by William Ruhlmann, credits & releases] at [[AllMusic]]
* [https://www.discogs.com/Big-Star-1-Record/release/1374615 Big Star - ''#1 Record'' (1972) album releases & credits] at [[Discogs|Discogs.com]]
* [https://open.spotify.com/album/7c7fb4wBhQplfee6jWl4Ok Big Star - ''#1 Record'' (1972) album to be listened] as stream at [[Spotify|Spotify.com]]

{{Big Star}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Big Star albums]]
[[Category:1972 debut albums]]
[[Category:Ardent Records albums]]
[[Category:Stax Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by John Fry (record producer)]]