Big Star never achieved the stardom the band so richly deserved. The group -- Alex Chilton (formerly of The Boxtops), Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel -- got together in Memphis in 1971. A year later, their debut album, "#1 Record," earned raves, but failed to achieve commercial success, due to the botched marketing by Stax Records, their label. Their follow-up, "Radio City" suffered a similar fate.

Those who did hear the music were enthralled. The band, building on the foundation of British Invasion and Byrds, soared on the wings great songwriting, jangly guitars and gritty vocals.

Before the next album, "Third," was released, the band had split up. Bell, who had been battling depression and substance abuse, had already left. He ended up dying in a car crash in 1978, at age 27.

The band rose from the dead in 1993, when Chilton and Stephens teamed up with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. They performed a Big Star reunion concert at University of Missouri. A live recording of the show was released by Zoo Records. In 2005, Big Star released a new studio album.

Chilton suffered a fatal heart attack in 2010. Hummel died of cancer four months later. Big Star's cult following has continued to grow over the years. Though they didn't burn up the charts in the 70s, the band had a huge impact, influencing so many of the artists who launched the power pop and alternative rock movements. Among the most obvious devotees are REM, The Replacements, The Lemonheads, Wilco, Counting Crows, Teenage Fanclub and The Posies.

We spoke with founding member Jody Stephens, Big Star's drummer, in 1993, just after the Missouri comeback concert. Stephens is also known for being part of Golden Smog, which features members of Soul Asylum and The Jayhawks. He has served as manager of Ardent Studios in Memphis.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
These reunion shows, like the one at the University of Missouri, have they changed things much for you?

JODY STEPHENS:
Yeah, they have. Subsequent to the Columbia gig we did five dates in Europe. We did the Lowlands Festival [in the Netherlands], Reading Festival, Leeds. We played the Grand in London. And we did the Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow. And it was incredible fun. People knew the lyrics to the songs.

I get very excited about these things. It's a lot of fun watching the people around me get excited for me. It's really thrilling for my parents and all my relatives. Having done the European tour and now we're going to Japan for five days, we get back and we headline the Fillmore and then do "The Tonight Show" and then we play Chicago. "The Tonight Show" brings a smile to everybody's face. Just mentioning "The Tonight Show," it's "My God, I knew you were in a band in the 70s, but..." now it's sanctified... or whatever.

PCC:
Yeah, does it kind of seem like a fairy tale -- that success that somehow eluded the band in the 70s is happening now?

STEPHENS:
It is very much like a fairy tale. I'm really lucky that I get to do this part-time. The way I really define my life these days is as an A&R rep for Ardent Records, which is just about four months old at the moment. It's great fun to be able to jump out and do these tours.

They're long enough to be challenging -- I have to get back into shape for these things -- but short enough that you see the light at the end of the tunnel. And even as you kind of wear yourself down, you see the end of it. So you can keep a really high energy level without having to pace yourself. If you have to go out for three months, you have to pace yourself.

It keeps it all very kind of spontaneous and high energy. It keeps it very fun. You don't get into the grind of touring everyday for months. If I were doing it full-time, it would become a chore, the living on the road kind of thing. I have a new appreciation for bands that spend a lot of time on the road. It's very tough.

PCC:
Are you going to be careful to avoid that, even if pressure builds for the band to get into that kind of situation?

STEPHENS:
Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I can't see that kind of pressure developing. Besides, Alex is really kind of set to be a solo artist. He has "Clichés" coming out on Ardent Records. And then he'll be doing another band album of new material during the summer for us. And that'll be coming out in the fall. Jon and Ken have The Posies going. And they're doing very well with that. They're busy writing material for their next album. And I'm busy here at Ardent. So we all have other things going. It'd be difficult to do this on any kind of full-time basis at all.

PCC:
What did you learn during that whole Big Star experience, the first time around, that you can apply to the work you're doing now at the Ardent studios?

STEPHENS:
Make sure you have a good distribution system. Make sure you follow up and have records in the stores, in support of the band's performances in those markets. What we're doing here at Ardent, we have three releases now and they were all pretty much regional releases.

We're just releasing in the markets that our bands are playing, so we can concentrate and develop those markets. And as we do that, then we try to expand those markets. First local, then regional and then take a step up to national. But we're continuing on a regional basis with those bands. One of our bands, Two Minutes Hate, is opening for us in Chicago. The band's name comes from "1984," George Orwell's book. So those are regional releases. And then Alex's "Clichés" will be the first national release, because he has a national and international profile.

PCC:
Do you hope that will be the breakout album for the studio?

STEPHENS:
I have very high expectations for "Clichés." I mean, we're a small label -- 25,000 records would be a big success.

PCC:
Does the album represent a different direction for him?

STEPHENS:
I don't think it's a radical departure from what he was doing, given his delivery of these songs. It is jazz and pop standards. So in that sense, it's different. But it's delivered in that special way that Alex can deliver a song, which doesn't make it seem like a radical departure.

It was recorded in New Orleans. Alex had a co-producer. And he did this for the label called New Rose, in France. That's when I heard it and got Ardent to license it for the States. And we did a deal for a second album, which will be worldwide.

PCC:
Is there any talk about a Big Star album with new material?

STEPHENS:
No, I think Alex pretty much defines himself as a solo artist. And he's been doing a particular type of material. And I don't think he would be really comfortable stepping back into those Big Star shoes and having to write that type of material. I think, if he woke one morning and had a different kind of emotional sense and mindset, he could probably sit down and write some great songs that Big Star could use. But right now, he doesn't have a cache of songs we could use. And it would really all depend on that. And then, the available time that we all have in our schedules.

PCC:
But is that something you would welcome? Or would you be leery of something like that?

STEPHENS:
I would welcome it. It'd be a lot of fun to play some more. Right now, I'm really ready to do these dates in Japan. I've been working at it for a long time, practicing in this itty-bitty six-by-six room. I really like the way I feel and I really like playing drums. And doing a Big Star studio album would just be incredible. Beyond that, again, I would back up from any kind of commitment to long-term touring. I'm happy with a few dates here, a few dates there.

PCC:
Since the band dissolved originally, have you missed it a lot? Did you have a regret about it ending?

STEPHENS:
You know, when it ended, I was so kind of emotionally... When it ended, relationships were so strained, that I was kind of glad to step out of it and get away from that.

PCC:
Were you amazed at the way it just wouldn't die, the Big Star phenomenon, as the years went on?

STEPHENS:
You know, in one sense, yeah, I was definitely surprised. In another sense, it was just reinforcement for the way I'd always felt. I'd always felt very strong about that music. And I just figured that, if people got a chance to hear it, that they would feel very strong about it, too.

PCC:
So at the time, when there were all these problems with distribution, did you take it with resignation -- that's just the business? Or was it immensely frustrating?

STEPHENS:
Oh, it was frustrating at the time. But, you know, I also just thought it was part of the business. Yeah, I didn't see Stax as being very effective for us.

PCC:
So many new bands cite Big Star as a primary influence. Is that just a great feeling? Or do you start to feel your age, when you hear these musicians talking about growing up admiring your music?

STEPHENS:
That's a great feeling. With regard to age, you know, I'm more comfortable now than I ever have been, emotionally. So I'm very comfortable to be 41. I'm having a great time.

PCC:
Do you think, at this point, in rock music, there's less prejudice about age than there has been in the past?

STEPHENS:
I think, in some camps yes, in other camps, no. I think people were ready to see older artists not necessarily step aside, but I think they were ready to see some venues open up for younger artists. Hence the onslaught of the whole new music movement. At one point, you'd turn on the radio and AOR wasn't really Album Oriented Rock. It was just an oldies show. And they weren't even being creative with that. They just played the old hits. And left very few slots for new bands. I just think everybody's glad that some modern music stations have come on the air and there are outlets for new, modern music these days.

I think maybe, with some audiences, age might be a consideration. And others maybe not. But see, we're also coming from a point, there's something that ties us to people that are 18, 19, 20 years old. And that's the music. And that's where the music we're doing now is coming from. If we were to do a new album, there may not be that attraction from a younger audience, because it would reflect, I think, probably more where we are now, than where we were as adolescents.

PCC:
When you got the call from University of Missouri, were you concerned about whether you could get the music across at this point? Were you hesitant to tamper with the legend?

STEPHENS:
Well, you know, I figured that we might be tampering with the legend. It might all come crashing down. But I also thought, it's probably just as well.

PCC:
Might that actually have brought a sense of relief?

STEPHENS:
Yeah -- this is it. This is the end. Great. That's fine. We can get on with other things.

PCC:
But it hasn't been a burden?

STEPHENS:
Oh, no, not at all. I just like to think of myself, anyway, as a guy who likes to go ahead and try something and just live with the consequences, rather than later think, "Well, gee, if I had tried that, what would have happened?" And then that meant, why not trying to do this Big Star thing? If it floats, that's great. It'll feel really good. If it sinks, that's fine, too. At least I'll know that I gave it a shot.

PCC:
Was it better that it wasn't some big, high-powered, organized reunion thing?

STEPHENS:
Oh, we've always worked better as underdogs. I mean, that's what got us back together in '73. The band actually broke up after the first album. Chris Bell left and then we kind of just disbanded. And John King got us back together just to play a rock writer's convention [King was the Ardent publicist and the convention's organizer]. It was a one-off date, because he had had requests from some writers for Big Star to play.

The whole convention was to feature some other bands. And Big Star was just going to get back together and play as a favor. And we did and people went nuts. Well, it was our audience there. Our audience was rock writers. Bud Scoppa was there. Lester Bangs was there. Richard Meltzer. A lot of kind of legendary writers. Danny Goldberg, who heads up the West Coast part of Atlantic these days. Some legendary writers. They all completely went crazy. Richard Meltzer was dancing on tables.

PCC:
Having that kind of reaction after the, ultimately, ironically titled "#1 Record" and then releasing "Radio City" and having it not break through commercially, though it also earned rave reviews, was that not even more painful?

STEPHENS:
That was a disappointment, too. But it wasn't anything I really dwelled on. I didn't really expect that things would change. I just never had a lot of faith in what Stax could do.

PCC:
Were you surprised that Alex agreed to do this current reunion altogether?

STEPHENS:
I was shocked. I thought it was a very polite way of sidestepping the question, to say, "I'll be glad to do it, if Alex agrees. I don't have Alex's number, so you'll have to locate him." But somehow they found his home number and he agreed. You know, he agreed to do the gig for free. I mean, I know that some people think Alex is really mercenary. But we agreed to do this Columbia gig for our expenses. So we were doing it for free.

And then Zoo stepped in and said, "We'd like to record it" and release it on CD. We said, "Well, that's great." And we got a small advance for it. And back to your question, yes, it was a shock to me that Alex agreed to do it.

PCC:
There was no initial fear about having this recorded and having people compare these performances to the originals?

STEPHENS:
I didn't even think about it. It didn't matter to me. I was just there to have a good time. And I thought it was a smart idea to record it. It's interesting, at the show, it did cross my mind whether people would go there to be judgmental... until we jumped on stage. And people had these incredibly big smiles on their faces. And I just knew that they were there to have a good time.

PCC:
Over the years, have you had really fanatical fans come to you, like a pilgrimage?

STEPHENS:
Well, from time to time, we get people here, people from Germany, England, Nebraska. They'll drop by and just want to say hello. It's fun. See, at this level, it's great fun, because you can go out and say hello. But if it got any bigger, if everybody started doing it, you'd have to say, "Gee, I'm sorry, but I've got to work. I can't come out and say hello." But at this level, it's great fun.

PCC:
Jon and Ken's participation in the band, did you think of that or how did it come about?

STEPHENS:
I did think of that. I'd met them a couple of years prior to the Columbia date. I guess Gary Gersh put me in touch with them. He was their A&R guy at Geffen. And I met them at a CMJ showcase. Saw them do an acoustic set. After that, they sent me this single. They're really nice guys, the whole band. They sent me this single that was a Chris Bell tribute that they actually released on Pop Llama. It's a version of "Feel" and "I Am the Cosmos." It even has a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling in the picture. They wrote "We miss you, Chris" on the vinyl. But their renditions of those songs were so dead-on that they were scary.

Then when I heard these other guys we'd originally suggested couldn't do it, I said, "Well, call Jonathan Auer and talk to him about Ken and him doing it." And it worked out great.

PCC:
Do you think having those two guys involved helps make it fresh?

STEPHENS:
I really do think it helps make it fresh. Again, if there were ever to be an age gap there, they kind of help bridge the gap.

PCC:
What do you think it is about the music that gives it such a timeless appeal?

STEPHENS:
I think it's a direct reflection of what was going on in all our lives. And I think that what was happening to us then isn't that much different, at least emotionally, from what is going on now, with teenagers and adolescents. And I think that makes it kind of universal and timeless.

PCC:
Often a sound itself will not date well, but that hasn't been the case at all with Big Star.

STEPHENS:
Well, we were lucky to be working with John Fry [Ardent founder, who produced the band's first two albums]. John was an amazing engineer. He was very creative in getting kind of those crisp, clean, clear sounds. And I think that has a lot to do with why the sound of Big Star isn't dated.