Big Star Thank You, Friends: Big Star's Third Live... and More (2-CD + DVD)

Two CD + DVD edition. Thank You Friends: Big Star's Third Live... and more celebrates the musical legacy of one of rock's most influential bands - Big Star - and their legendary Third album. Experience this classic of late '70s power pop through the prism of a collective of immensely talented fans, including members of Wilco, R.E.M., Yo La Tengo, and, of course, Big Star. Following the untimely death of Alex Chilton two days ahead of Big Star's SXSW performance in 2010, famous friends and fans came from far and wide to play the gig in his honor. Much of that spontaneous ensemble, along with other musical titans, assembled at Glendale, CA's Alex Theatre in April 2016 to record and film an epic performance. While the band may not be Big Star per se, the fabled group's sole surviving original member, Jody Stephens, heads an amazing cast, whose membership includes latter-day Big Star alumni Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the Posies, R.E.M's Mike Mills, Let's Active's Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey of the dB's, and others. Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone of Wilco, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jessica Pratt, Brett Harris, Django Haskins, and Skylar Gudasz are among the guests who were joined by a full chamber orchestra helmed by the Kronos Quartet, performing scores created directly from the original multi-track tapes from Ardent Studios for this event. Carl Marsh, who wrote the original orchestrations, conducted.