Six years earlier, in 1966, when their hometown of
Memphis, Tennessee, became a tour stop for
The Beatles, primary songwriters
Alex Chilton and
Chris Bell were 15 years old. Heavily influenced by the UK band, the pair—Bell in particular—wanted to model their songwriting on the
Lennon–McCartney partnership, with the result that they credited as many songs as possible on Big Star's debut album to "Bell/Chilton". In practice, they developed material incrementally in the studio, each making changes to the other's recordings. Drummer
Jody Stephens recalled, "Alex would come in and put down something rough and edgy and Chris would come in and add some sweet-sounding background vocals to it." On Chris Bell's unique vocal contributions, Chilton said: "Chris and I did all the harmony vocals, and he had a brilliant mind that worked in a sort of contrapuntal way. It wasn't based so much on 'Oh you're singing the root. I should be singing the 3rd above,' he would just sing along with the line I was singing. He was a brilliant, instinctual maker of counterpoint." "The India Song" was written and composed by Andy Hummel.
#1 Record is the only Big Star album on which group founder
Chris Bell is officially credited as a member. Bell had a major hand in the record through songwriting, vocals, guitar work, and the album's production. The polished sound of
#1 Record, in contrast to the more raw styles of the band's subsequent albums,
Radio City and
Third/Sister Lovers, is attributed by producer
John Fry to the presence of Bell: "When Chris Bell was still in the band, he took more interest than anybody in the production and technology end of things. He had a good production mind...the reason why the second album is rougher, with fewer harmonies, is due to the absence of Chris's influence in the studio." Bassist
Andy Hummel would also credit Bell with having a hand in the album's production: "Chris was in charge. I would pretty well credit him with recording and producing that LP [#1 Record]. Of course, he had a lot of artistic help from Alex [Chilton] but Chris was the technical brains behind it. He was the only one of us at that time who knew how to record." Alex Chilton would also acknowledge Bell's heavy role in the studio production: "Chris was really into recording. He didn't want the rest of us fooling around in the studio, that was his business." Chilton would also give producer John Fry credit for achieving the album's high level of production quality: "John Fry was a genius in his way of mixdowns. We didn't put things on tape much differently than was the standard method of doing things, but he just had such finesse and great ears, and he was just a great meticulous mixdown engineer and producer. [...] He's the one responsible for making those records sound so fucking great." ==Reception and legacy==