Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story is out now in the UK on Ace/Big Beat. According to the Ace Records press, the 2-disc collection from the legendray Memphis recording studio contains "no less than 14 rare or unissued Big Star-related cuts, most of which have not been on CD before. These include demos, alternate versions, original mixes and non-LP tracks. Everything is presented from the master tapes and the sound quality, as befits any Ardent recording, is second to none."
Uncut interviewed some of the major players in the Ardent story: John Fry, Terry Manning, Jim Dickinson, and Jody fucking Stephens.
FRY: In 1966 we rented a commercial building and put in a proper studio. The national profile of Memphis was always Elvis and Sun Studios; then there was a shift in the 60s when Stax started to gain prominence with soul music. But we were Beatles fans and Anglophiles. We were out of step with Memphis.
These days, Ardent Records releases mostly Christian rock, but the Ardent Studio is still the place to be, at least according to clients such as the Raconteurs (Broken Boy Soldiers), Cat Power (The Greatest), R.E.M. (Green), and the White Stripes (Get Behind Me Satan).
Disc 1
01 GERALDINE - The Ole Miss Downbeats
02 IF YOU WANT ME YOU CAN FIND ME - Lawson & Four More
03 BATARANG - The Avengers
04 WHITE DOORS - The Wallabies
05 HALFWAY DOWN THE STAIRS - Lawson & Four More
06 HANDS ARE ONLY TO SEE - The Bitter Ind
07 THE SURVEYOR - The 1st Century
08 ROCKS - Terry Manning
09 UP AND DOWN CHILDREN - The Wallabies
10 NOT AT ALL - Terry Manning
11 LOOKING DOWN - The 1st Century
12 IN 1852 WE - The Honey Jug
13 PATCHES OF DUST - The Goatdancers
14 PSYCHEDELIC STUFF - Chris Bell
15 FREE AGAIN - Alex Chilton
16 ALL I SEE IS YOU - Icewater
17 EVERY SHOEMAKER - The Badgers
18 MISS ELEANA - Sid Selvidge
19 LOVELY LADY - Rock City
20 EVERY DAY AS WE GROW CLOSER - Alex Chilton
21 GUESS THINGS HAPPEN THAT WAY - Terry Manning
22 FEELING HIGH - Icewater
23 THE EMI SONG (SMILE FOR ME) - Alex Chilton
24 THINK IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE - Rock City
Disc 2
01 IN THE STREET - Big Star
02 FEEL ALRIGHT - Cargoe
03 WHEN MY BABY'S BESIDE ME - Big Star
04 MY LIFE IS RIGHT - Big Star
05 BACK OF A CAR - Big Star
06 I LOVE YOU ANYWAY - Cargoe
07 I GOT KINDA LOST - Big Star
08 LET ME LOOK AT THE SUN - The Hot Dogs
09 MOD LANG - Big Star
10 SHE'S A MOVER - Big Star
11 I WALK THE LINE - The Hot Dogs
12 SEPTEMBER GURLS - Big Star
13 BIG BLACK CAR - Big Star
14 LOVELY DAY AKA STROKE IT NOEL - Alex Chilton
15 FOR YOU - Big Star
16 DOWNS - Alex Chilton
17 KIZZA ME - Big Star
18 HOLOCAUST - Big Star
19 YOU AND YOUR SISTER - Chris Bell
20 LOVE YOU (ALL DAY LONG) - Tommy Hoehn
21 THANK YOU FRIENDS - Big Star
22 BLOW YOURSELF UP - Tommy Hoehn
23 MY MIND - The Scruffs
24 DON'T WORRY BABY - Alex Chilton
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Comments
Hopefully those Big Star tracks don't suck.
i remember these tracks circling around on a bootleg some time back, except with maybe seven more tracks. From what i remember most of them are not all that different than the album cuts. but hey, more big star is never a bad thing.