The songs on Big Star's "#1 Record" are evenly distributed by the two principal songwriters, Chris Bell and Alex Chilton. The first song out of the gate is Chris Bell's Feel. The intro chugs along for a few bars before his vocal line enters, almost pulling off a Robert Plant moment:
Girlfriend, what are you doing?
You're driving me to ruin.
Then for the chorus the melody drops down into a lower range with Beatle-ish harmonies:
I feel like I'm dying
I'm never gonna live again
You just ain't been trying
Getting very near the end
Followed by a saxophone frenzy. Rinse and repeat. All done with an elan totally unexpected of a rock band just getting out of the gate for the first time.
Shel Talmy, 1937-2024
6 hours ago