Third/Sister Lovers

Third/Sister Lovers
Studio album by Big Star
Released	1978
Recorded	1974
Genre	Power pop
Length	52:34
Label	Rykodisc
Producer	Jim Dickinson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link RS Album Guide link sputnikmusic link Tiny Mix Tapes link
Big Star chronology
Radio City (1974) Third/Sister Lovers (1978) Live (1992)

Third/Sister Lovers, also issued as Third, is a rock album by American power pop group Big Star recorded in 1974 and released in 1978. The album was produced by Jim Dickinson.

Composition and recording

After the first two Big Star albums, 1972's #1 Record and 1974's Radio City, failed to achieve commercial success, Alex Chilton went back into Ardent Studios in late 1974 to make a series of recordings. The resulting album, which included guitar work by Steve Cropper (on a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale"), as well as drumming by Jody Stephens, was deemed too uncommercial for release at the time, and only saw the light of day in 1978. Since then, other tracks from the sessions, including covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis and the Kinks, have been reissued on various versions of the album, which seems to have been left uncompleted.

Third takes the original Big Star sound and abstracts it, with synthesizers, strings and saxophones emerging from the mix. The album deals with bitterness, loneliness and emotional devastation, but does so in a way that retains some elements of pop music, as on "Thank You Friends," which features female backing vocals reminiscent of those found on Elvis Presley recordings of the late '60s. "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" have often been compared to some of the raw recordings of Yoko Ono and John Lennon. "You Can't Have Me" is akin to a deconstructed song by the Who, and the halting ballad "Dream Lover" contains the famous line about "Beale Street green." Although many critics regard Radio City as the definitive Big Star album, Third is perhaps the most innovative album the group ever recorded, and influenced many subsequent bands, including Primal Scream and His Name Is Alive. In addition, the album contains what are arguably Alex Chilton's finest vocal performances.

Reception

Like Big Star's first two albums, Third/Sister Lovers did not have commercial success at the time of its release but has more recently attracted wider interest. It was listed on David Keenan's "The Best Albums Ever...Honest" by the Scottish newspaper The Sunday Herald.^[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 456 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

It was ranked #1 at the Top 30 most heartbreak albums by NME.^[2]

"Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" were both covered by This Mortal Coil on the band's debut LP, It'll End in Tears. These cover versions have been credited with renewing interest in Big Star, and Third/Sister Lovers in particular. The 1992 Rykodisc CD release of Third/Sister Lovers includes a "thank you" to This Mortal Coil in the liner notes in acknowledgment of this.

Track listing

• Note: this is the track listing of the 1992 Rykodisc edition. This is the order of songs that Chilton originally wanted on the original release.

1. "Kizza Me" – 2:44 (Alex Chilton)
2. "Thank You Friends" – 3:05 (Chilton)
3. "Big Black Car" – 3:35 (Chilton)
4. "Jesus Christ" – 2:37 (Chilton)
5. "Femme Fatale" – 3:28 (Lou Reed)
6. "O, Dana" – 2:34 (Chilton)
7. "Holocaust" – 3:47 (Chilton)
8. "Kangaroo" – 3:46 (Chilton)
9. "Stroke It Noel" – 2:04 (Chilton)
10. "For You" – 2:41 (Jody Stephens)
11. "You Can't Have Me" – 3:11 (Chilton)
12. "Nightime" – 2:53 (Chilton)
13. "Blue Moon" – 2:06 (Chilton)
14. "Take Care" – 2:46 (Chilton)
15. "Nature Boy" [bonus track] – 2:30 (eden ahbez)
16. "Till the End of the Day" [bonus track] – 2:13 (Ray Davies)
17. "Dream Lover" [bonus track] – 3:31 (Chilton)
18. "Downs" [bonus track]" – 1:43 (Chilton)
19. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" [bonus track] – 3:20 (Dave Williams)

• The original 1978 vinyl (as "Third") on the PVC label (also known to have been reissued in 1985) had the following 14 tracks:

1. Stroke It Noel
2. For You
3. Kizza Me
4. You Can't Have Me
5. Nightime
6. Blue Moon
7. Take Care
8. Jesus Christ
9. Femme Fatale
10. O, Dana
11. Big Black Car
12. Holocaust
13. Kanga Roo
14. Thank You Friends

• Also in 1978, the Aura label released a 12-track LP as "The Third Album".

• Before the 19-track Rykodisc edition from 1992, the album had already been released on CD by Line as "The Third Album" in 1987 including 17 tracks. Also in 1987 another 17-track LP and CD version (same tracks, but different running order) was issued by Dojo/Castle Communications as "Sister Lovers - The Third Album":

1. Stroke It Noel
2. Downs
3. Femme Fatale
4. Thank You Friends
5. Holocaust
6. Jesus Christ
7. Blue Moon
8. Dream Lover
9. You Can't Have Me
10. Big Black Car
11. Kizza Me
12. For You
13. O Dana
14. Nightime
15. Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
16. Kanga Roo
17. Take Care

Personnel

• Alex Chilton - vocals, guitars, keyboards
• Jody Stephens - drums, vocals

Guests:

• Lesa Aldridge - vocals
• Lee Baker - guitar
• Jim Dickinson - bass guitar, drums, mellotron
• Steve Cropper - guitar
• Richard Rosebrough - drums
• William Murphey - bass guitar
• Tarp Tarrant - drums
• Jimmy Stephens - bass guitar
• Tommy Cathey - bass guitar
• Tommy McClure - bass guitar
• Carl Marsh - reeds, woodwinds, synthesizer, string arrangements

Notes