Great song! I'm 61 and just discovered this song earlier this year. Was reading about Alex Chilton and The Box Tops and came across this band. Apparently they didn't get much airplay in the states. Nice hidden gem!
@HamPilgrim: And the solo part was Alex Chilton using a Mando guitar which like a hybrid between a mandolin and guitar. 12-strings help give that solo part a sparkle.
@@condor7810 I think that's a regular 6 string strat and the mandocaster, which is 12 strings, playing together almost the whole song (that thinner ring/jangle...).
Actually, that's not even a coincidence, and it's in fact the other way round. "Gurl" is a very dated and non-standard (even in the 70s, when the song was originally released) alternate spelling of girl. This song was named this way as a tribute to the Beach Boys and their song "California Girls". In turn, Katy Perry's manager chose the title "California Gurls" as homage to Big Star (and also because he was afraid that producing another song called "California Girls" would result in costly litigation about copyright with the management of the Beach Boys). So the title it's somehow both ahead and behind its time. The music itself however, I think, fits perfectly well. Pretty on-brand power pop; it's just that Big Star... well, never really became a Big Star. Oh well, at least now their stuff is undergoing a bit of a revival, so cheers to that.
You can hear this in R.E.M, Guided by Voices, The Replacements, the list keeps going. Even Tom Petty's 'Listen to Her Heart.' There's no doubt he would have heard this.
@@christopherwestley3966 oh it really depends what you like. If you prefer the 90s US indie rock stuff Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes, but if you're more into this or Teenage Fanclub i'd say Isolation Drills. They're my favourite band of all time.
@@christopherwestley3966 Bee Thousand, definitely. Pure Genius. 20 years on, and it's still in my top 10! Oops, make that 30 years. But what's a decade or two, right? It still rocks!
This song is amazing! How come I never heard of Big Star before? I only heard of them because I looked up the band whose song was used in the intro for That 70s Show. And these cats are astounding
Ey, M8. When you said, these "cats" I knew you were hep. Too right, they're the ginchiest. They wrote the blueprints for 90's power pop. They sound like they'd be more at home across the pond. The US R&R HOF is daft for not inducting them.
So chi-mee! Makes me want to grab my guitar and sing along while lying on my bed (and pretend I am a Big Star too). I can see how the Beatles influenced the Byrds, and later they in turn, influenced REM and Matthew Sweet, and others, and they influenced other bands. And hopefully this vid inspires some new young bands to keep this type of songwriting style going. There is still an audience demand for it today I am sure. Cheers.
Wow - I missed this band somehow and I grew up in the late 60's-70's. I can see where Tom Petty and Goo Goo Dolls got their inspiration. Great band. Thanks for posting.
I remember hearing this song on the radio in the early 70's when I was growing up in NE Ohio - Cleveland radio played it. The Raspberries had a similar sound.
When I was in high school I had a crush on a girl, by the time I got the nerve to ask her out it was too late, she was going with someone else. I was devastated. I heard this song and thought to myself “My God this is beautiful.”
They did! And I love it. Superdrag also did a take. There’s no better version, it’s all just gravy. Big Star is religion to those who’ve heard the gospel.
Big Star deserved to be so successful and should have had hits. I actually stopped listening to rock during that time because it was so boring. If I had heard Big Star it would have been a different story.
Cool Video for one of Alex Chilton's (and Big Star's) greatest songs. The only element that's off is that the image in the video for the "December boy" is Sagittarius. Alex Chilton was a Capricorn (birthday December 28).
Bands like Big Star,Artful Dodger were so GOOD and never got the acclaim they so deserved, In my opinion,I think they were both caught in between Disco and MTV before it got rolling!!
Found out this was a single release in 1974. How did this get overlooked.??? This should of been a huge record. This song was far better than some of the schmaltz that was on the radio at the time.
Saw the black crowes at grand ole Opry as we waited for them to start they had mod lang and this one playing on there intro music hadn't listened to much big star in a few years now im hooked all over again from the 90s
I honestly look at this as the greatest power pop song ever made. The only songs that are even its shadow are other Big Star songs (namely “Thirteen”, “In The Street” and “Ballad Of El Goodo”)
Alex Chilton was the December boy, born on December 28, 1950. He was the singer for The Boxtops at age 16 when he had his only #1 hit in 1967 with the song The Letter.
This was the song Alex Chilton thought would be a radio hit. Sadly their distribution agreement sucked and it never was launched in any major markets. All three albums they recorded are memorable.
Interesting, I just noticed that their drummer sounds a lot like the drummer from the Steve Miller Band. Very energetic with lots of rapid drum solos driving the song forward. Maybe that was just the style of that time.
[Verse 1] September girls do so much I was your Butch, and you were touched I loved you, well, never mind I've been crying all the time [Chorus] December boys got it bad December boys got it bad [Verse 2] September girls, I don't know why How can I deny what's inside? Even though I'll keep away They will love all our days [Chorus] December boys got it bad December boys got it bad [Bridge] When I get to bed late at night That's the time she makes things right Ooh, when she makes love to me (Ooh) [Guitar Solo] [Verse 1] September girls do so much I was your Butch, and you were touched I loved you, well, nevermind I've been crying all the time [Chorus] December boys got it bad December boys got it bad December boys got it bad, ooh [Guitar Solo]
For sheer sonic impact, Badfinger's 'Baby Blue' might be the only thing that comes close......or maybe the Raspberries......It was a good time for music.
Does anyone else besides me hear Badfinger influence in Big Star's music? I could be wrong, I suppose, but I know that Alex Chilton liked the Beatles, and Badfinger liked the Beatles so....
The rhythm of rhyming guitars.
“Oh Yeah”
Man I LOVE that Byrds-y jangle!
Probably the greatest hit that never was in rock. It is to Big Star fans like me anyway.
Man i love alex's voice on this
One of those songs that'll sound like it was written yesterday forever
timeless like an atom
This song breaks my heart every time. Beautiful!
The bass line is beautiful.
This band was years ahead of the times !! Love them.
This is a group that deserved more
Someone put it the best I've seen, "Big Star was like a love letter sent in 1973 that didn't arrive until 1986."
Great song! I'm 61 and just discovered this song earlier this year. Was reading about Alex Chilton and The Box Tops and came across this band. Apparently they didn't get much airplay in the states. Nice hidden gem!
That rhythm guitar tone is incredible.
Agreed. Definitely a strat. Probably through a Fender Super Reverb.
Compression is your friend
@HamPilgrim: And the solo part was Alex Chilton using a Mando guitar which like a hybrid between a mandolin and guitar. 12-strings help give that solo part a sparkle.
@@condor7810 I think that's a regular 6 string strat and the mandocaster, which is 12 strings, playing together almost the whole song (that thinner ring/jangle...).
It doesn’t get any better than this. A few years ahead of its time.
After it's time, imagine Gram Parsons with the Byrds...
A Jewel of Power Pop indeed. That drum roll OMG!!
Thomas Jackson The song is flawless from start to finish
@@JCStorm76 except for that one second where Andy plays the wrong bass note. But hey, that's rock n roll.
Thomas Jackson Lol
@@Beatle-Byrd Ya never know, Alex could've written it like that. lol
You know when they recorded this song Power Pop wasn't even a word. They were playing rock with their own unique twist!!
As one reviewer once said, "Big Star will be around for many moons." This song is just perfect.
What an absolute classic
So this is where the Bangle got this song. I think I'm going to like this group.
Also the song from that 70's show
@@mikelasater2016 yup, the theme song - "In the Street"
Those Byrds-esque jangly guitars (Rickenbackers?) are heavenly. One of the best Bridges ever...❤️ 1:12
One of the best songs ever period!
Treble boosters? Jeff Beck used a ColorSound treble booster live at one point.
Thank God for the Byrds inspiring so many musicians
I hear “The Kinks “ and “The Who “ as well .
Pop music perfection.
I have a september girl i will never forget. incredible song.
This tune is ahead of time (even the spelling of the title "Gurls"!!)
Actually, that's not even a coincidence, and it's in fact the other way round.
"Gurl" is a very dated and non-standard (even in the 70s, when the song was originally released) alternate spelling of girl. This song was named this way as a tribute to the Beach Boys and their song "California Girls".
In turn, Katy Perry's manager chose the title "California Gurls" as homage to Big Star (and also because he was afraid that producing another song called "California Girls" would result in costly litigation about copyright with the management of the Beach Boys).
So the title it's somehow both ahead and behind its time.
The music itself however, I think, fits perfectly well. Pretty on-brand power pop; it's just that Big Star... well, never really became a Big Star.
Oh well, at least now their stuff is undergoing a bit of a revival, so cheers to that.
I'm in love ... with that song!
Customer.... I'm in Love... :)
Brilliant 🤩 only recently discovered big star
Such a great song.
Yes
@@Dejay06 you bet it is
@@Gumby_Gumba
Exactly
Best rhythm guitar of the 70’s !!✨
Drummer of this band is one of the most creative. This is one of the great achievements of rock n roll. Thank goodness this band existed.
The song that launched a thousand power pop bands. Sheer perfection.
I learned of Big Star through Teenage Fanclub.
You can hear this in R.E.M, Guided by Voices, The Replacements, the list keeps going. Even Tom Petty's 'Listen to Her Heart.' There's no doubt he would have heard this.
in regards to Guided by Voices, what is a good album to cut your teeth on their music? thanks, chris
@@christopherwestley3966 oh it really depends what you like. If you prefer the 90s US indie rock stuff Bee Thousand or Alien Lanes, but if you're more into this or Teenage Fanclub i'd say Isolation Drills. They're my favourite band of all time.
@@pov_music Thank you. Have a safe and wonderful day.
@@christopherwestley3966 no problem man! You too
@@christopherwestley3966 Bee Thousand, definitely. Pure Genius. 20 years on, and it's still in my top 10!
Oops, make that 30 years. But what's a decade or two, right? It still rocks!
Perfection in a song ...
Yep
What a song.
Sublime.
THIS SONG IS AMAZINGLY GOOD!
One of the most perfect power pop songs ever! Those jangly guitars. This song just feels so so so good. Love it!
This song is amazing! How come I never heard of Big Star before? I only heard of them because I looked up the band whose song was used in the intro for That 70s Show. And these cats are astounding
Ey, M8. When you said, these "cats" I knew you were hep. Too right, they're the ginchiest. They wrote the blueprints for 90's power pop. They sound like they'd be more at home across the pond. The US R&R HOF is daft for not inducting them.
@@jeffmurdock8321speaking of across the pond, you should check out late 70s UK power pop band Soft Boys.
That drum break at 1:42 with those cannon-shot snare blasts is 😌👌
For real brother
it's one hot recording
Exactly
Oh my God , what an amazing song ! The golden age of music ! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
Alex Chilton was simply amazing
Yes, and his birthday's tomorrow
So chi-mee! Makes me want to grab my guitar and sing along while lying on my bed (and pretend I am a Big Star too). I can see how the Beatles influenced the Byrds, and later they in turn, influenced REM and Matthew Sweet, and others, and they influenced other bands. And hopefully this vid inspires some new young bands to keep this type of songwriting style going. There is still an audience demand for it today I am sure. Cheers.
A gem.
Wow - I missed this band somehow and I grew up in the late 60's-70's.
I can see where Tom Petty and Goo Goo Dolls got their inspiration.
Great band. Thanks for posting.
Through The Replacements.
You're not alone, I missed them, too in the same time period.
September 2023. Still listening!
LOL me too, in September 2024!!
One of the Greatest "under known" bands of all time. This song in particular is absolutely stunning! R.I.P. Alex Chilton. Superb Power Pop!
Never go far without a little Big Star...
とても 素晴らしい曲です 簡素で美しい 大好きな曲
One of the greatest songs ever ever ever - 🎶🎵 and of course watch the big star documentary if you haven't seen it
Such a grand service has been done to this song
The song the Beatles would envy if recorded in their 60's heydays
This sounds way more like the Byrds than the Beatles
@@kelechi_77 They'd still envy it ;)
I lyric video is done so well! Good job to the person who did it! ❤️❤️❤️
A perfect song.
So glad the Bangles covered this and I found the original. A power pop gem! Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular
I am glad they reissued this album, now I can get the chance to hunt it down, even if it's just a reissue. I don't care, I want BOTH Big Star albums!
I remember hearing this song on the radio in the early 70's when I was growing up in NE Ohio - Cleveland radio played it. The Raspberries had a similar sound.
Cleveland rock was on top of things. There's a reason the Hall of Fame is there.....
Amazingly beautiful track ever....cried...at last.
Just perfect
big star possessed shimmering songs and in alex chilton a quixotic talent.
When I was in high school I had a crush on a girl, by the time I got the nerve to ask her out it was too late, she was going with someone else. I was devastated. I heard this song and thought to myself “My God this is beautiful.”
Very futuristic sounding for 1974.
No Man, this was right on time
My birth year 🍻
Partly because of all the future bands they influenced :)
Yes i agree this song is awesome!!❤
absolute core music
I love big star so much
Bangles covered this.
They did! And I love it. Superdrag also did a take. There’s no better version, it’s all just gravy. Big Star is religion to those who’ve heard the gospel.
I wish i could isolate all the guitar layers. The more i listen to Big Star the more layers i hear.
Big Star deserved to be so successful and should have had hits. I actually stopped listening to rock during that time because it was so boring. If I had heard Big Star it would have been a different story.
i am in love with this song, listened to it before you uploaded. thanks
Cool Video for one of Alex Chilton's (and Big Star's) greatest songs. The only element that's off is that the image in the video for the "December boy" is Sagittarius. Alex Chilton was a Capricorn (birthday December 28).
Bands like Big Star,Artful Dodger were so GOOD and never got the acclaim they so deserved, In my opinion,I think they were both caught in between Disco and MTV before it got rolling!!
this is awesome
AH, my favourite song...
Found out this was a single release in 1974. How did this get overlooked.??? This should of been a huge record. This song was far better than some of the schmaltz that was on the radio at the time.
Perfect song
love it 🥺
Saw the black crowes at grand ole Opry as we waited for them to start they had mod lang and this one playing on there intro music hadn't listened to much big star in a few years now im hooked all over again from the 90s
The Replacements brought me here
Chris Bell: genius.
Indeed he was, but he doesn't play on this track.
FOREVER GRANDE STELLA 🌠
Damn! That might be my favorite rock and roll song ever! Alex hilton etc RIP!
I honestly look at this as the greatest power pop song ever made. The only songs that are even its shadow are other Big Star songs (namely “Thirteen”, “In The Street” and “Ballad Of El Goodo”)
I will second that!
I heartily concur!
Can I throw the Replacements' "Kiss Me On the Bus" into the ring? Paul Westerberg was a huge Chilton fanboy back in the day...
Amo muito 😍❤️
Alex Chilton was the December boy, born on December 28, 1950. He was the singer for The Boxtops at age 16 when he had his only #1 hit in 1967 with the song The Letter.
Honestly prefer Big Star to the Box Tops
Ma come è possibile che un'OPERA D'ARTE come questa abbia solo 68 commenti?!
FOREVER ALEX CHILTON 💌
DANiELE 😃
Chills.
That chord at 0:41. !!
Conocí a esta banda gracias a la película stargirl de disney me encanta ❤️🌼🌟
Sameee ame esta banda
Esta muy bueno!
This was the song Alex Chilton thought would be a radio hit. Sadly their distribution agreement sucked and it never was launched in any major markets. All three albums they recorded are memorable.
Amei🥰
I saw this live with Finn wolfhard sharp pins and Tom Henry Jan 17th 🎉
Love Alex ( R.I.P.)
LIsten to Nowhere Man by the Beatles. The tone in that guitar sounds exactly the same to me as Sept. Gurls.
Sounds like a Strat through a Vox amp
Interesting, I just noticed that their drummer sounds a lot like the drummer from the Steve Miller Band. Very energetic with lots of rapid drum solos driving the song forward. Maybe that was just the style of that time.
[Verse 1]
September girls do so much
I was your Butch, and you were touched
I loved you, well, never mind
I've been crying all the time
[Chorus]
December boys got it bad
December boys got it bad
[Verse 2]
September girls, I don't know why
How can I deny what's inside?
Even though I'll keep away
They will love all our days
[Chorus]
December boys got it bad
December boys got it bad
[Bridge]
When I get to bed late at night
That's the time she makes things right
Ooh, when she makes love to me
(Ooh)
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 1]
September girls do so much
I was your Butch, and you were touched
I loved you, well, nevermind
I've been crying all the time
[Chorus]
December boys got it bad
December boys got it bad
December boys got it bad, ooh
[Guitar Solo]
For sheer sonic impact, Badfinger's 'Baby Blue' might be the only thing that comes close......or maybe the Raspberries......It was a good time for music.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is very reminiscent of Gin Blossoms, The Lemonheads, REM.... it could have come out in 1988.
The Posies
September Boy's also got it bad
One of the most influential American bands ever. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, are you listening?
Does anyone else besides me hear Badfinger influence in Big Star's music? I could be wrong, I suppose, but I know that Alex Chilton liked the Beatles, and Badfinger liked the Beatles so....
I love this song so much, yet I have no idea what it means. I was your Butch? WTF? Still, one of my favorite songs ever!
He was referring to “Butch”- the name of a pet dog. Not what you would think!
@@kookoothebirdgirl1 I like how you think, KooKoo 😏
@@dannymoulton4829 yeah, I do that sometimes.
Butch was a cartoon dog that would loyally tag along after his owner like the singer is tagging along after this girl.
Check out The Searchers version
Even more jangling Rickenbackers
Heaven
Alex Chilton influenced a lot of bands who came after The Box Tops and Big Star...
❤️