“The first time I met Chris, I walked into my office and he was sitting in my chair, with his feet up on my desk, smoking a cigarette,” says Fry, laughing. “I thought: Now, who in the heck is this?”

 

At the end of a journey that has lasted more than 40 years, from that first moment until now, Rhino Records has announced that it will be re-releasing Chris Bell’s collection of solo material, I Am The Cosmos, via its Handmade division on September 28th. Bell was, of course, a founding member of Big Star, the second band to release a record (entitled #1 Record) on the Stax distributed Ardent Records in 1972. The record was a critical success (garnering praise from Rolling Stone, Fusion and Phonograph Record Magazine) and a commercial failure (amidst distribution complications with a sinking Stax Records label). Bell did not take the latter well.

Having poured his heart and soul into that first record, Bell became disillusioned with the band. He left Big Star and spent the next several years as a rolling stone, traveling all over Europe with his brother David, eventually returning to the states and settling into the family business. It was during those years that Bell would record his solo material, including the only material of his released during his lifetime (the I Am The Cosmos/You and Your Sister 7″, on Chris Stamey’s Car Records Label). His remaining solo work wouldn’t see the light of day until well after Bell’s death in a tragic car accident in 1978. When they did, it was on the 1992 Rykodisc CD release, entitled I Am The Cosmos.

The re-release will be the definitive collection of Bell’s work. It will of course include all the material on the original release, but it will also contain a second disc with previously unreleased alternate versions and mixes, as well as never before heard material from earlier Bell projects. The first 1000 units sold on Rhino Handmade’s Web site will be accompanied by a recreation of that very special 7″ Car Records release, remastered and recut on the very same record lathe as the original. In the picture above, John Fry oversees that very process with mastering engineer Larry Nix. Alec Palao, producer of the reissue, is seated in the background.

The record will release on September 28th, shortly after the Big Star Box Set, Keep an Eye on the Sky. The tracklisting is below. Click here to read the re-release announcement at Pitchfork.

 

The album is available for pre-order now at http://www.rhinohandmade.com/.

 

Disc 1

1.     “I Am The Cosmos”

2.     “Better Save Yourself”

3.     “Speed Of Sound”

4.     “Get Away”

5.     “You And Your Sister”

6.     “I Got Kinda Lost”

7.     “Look Up”

8.     “Make A Scene”

9.     “There Was A Light”

10.  “I Don’t Know”

11.  “Fight At The Table”

12.  “Though I Know She Lies”

Disc 2

1.     “Looking Forward” – Icewater*

2.     “Sunshine” – Icewater*

3.     “My Life Is Right” – Rock City

4.     “I Don’t Know” – Alternate Version*

5.     “You And Your Sister” –Alternate Version*

6.     “I Am The Cosmos” – Extended Alternate Version*

7.     “Speed Of Sound” – Alternate Version*

8.     “Fight At The Table” – Alternate Mix*

9.     “Make A Scene” – Alternate Mix*

10.  “Better Save Yourself” – Alternate Mix*

11.  “Get Away” – Alternate Version*

12.  “You And Your Sister” – Acoustic Version

13.  “Stay With Me” – with Keith Sykes*

14.  “In My Darkest Hour” – with Nancy Bryan*

15.  “Clacton Rag” – Instrumental*

*Previously Unissued