New Release: Big Star, Keep an Eye on the Sky

Hey, kids, remember a few days back when we told you about how we’d reissued the expanded version of Chris Bell’s I Am the Cosmos? Well, we’ve got more big news for you…or, rather, more Big Star news: we’ve reissued the band’s box set, Keep an Eye on the Sky!

Yep, this is a case where those of you who got in on the goodness when it first came out don’t have anything to do but consider what other great new Rhino release you’re going to spend your money on instead, but if you’ve been toying with the idea of bulking up the Big Star section of your collection, then here’s an easy way to do it with a single purchase.

Over the course of four discs, Keep an Eye on the Sky provides pretty much the best possible look into the life and times of Big Star, including brief forays into the band’s early incarnations – Icewater and Rock City – and even a track or two credited to Chris Bell and Alex Chilton as well. Now, keep in mind that this set is really best viewed as a companion piece to the proper Big Star albums, filled as it is with alternate mixes, demos, rehearsal versions, and a full disc dedicated to one of the band’s live shows from 1973. But whether you pick those up first and flesh out your collection with this or you grab this monster and then find your way back to the original albums, it hardly matters, just as long as the end result is that you end up being a big fan of Big Star. And either way, one thing’s for certain: Keep an Eye on the Sky is going to be a pretty awesome listening experience whenever you pick it up.

Disc one
1. "Psychedelic Stuff" (original mix) – Chris Bell
2. "All I See Is You" – Icewater
3. "Every Day as We Grow Closer" (original mix) – Alex Chilton
4. "Try Again" (early version) – Rock City
5. "Feel"
6. "The Ballad of El Goodo"
7. "In the Street" (alternate mix)
8. "Thirteen" (alternate mix)
9. "Don't Lie to Me"
10. "The India Song" (alternate mix)
11. "When My Baby's Beside Me" (alternate mix)
12. "My Life Is Right" (alternate mix)
13. "Give Me Another Chance" (alternate mix)
14. "Try Again"
15. "Gone with the Light"
16. "Watch the Sunrise" (single version)
17. "ST 100/6" (alternate mix)
18. "The Preacher" (Excerpt) – Rock City
19. "In the Street" (alternate single mix)
20. "Feel" (alternate mix)
21. "The Ballad of El Goodo" (alternate lyrics)
22. "The India Song" (alternate version)
23. "Country Morn"
24. "I Got Kinda Lost" (demo)
25. "Back of a Car" (demo)
26. "Motel Blues" (demo)

Disc two
1. "There Was a Light" (demo)
2. "Life Is White" (demo)
3. "What's Going Ahn" (demo)
4. "O My Soul"
5. "Life Is White"
6. "Way Out West"
7. "What's Going Ahn"
8. "You Get What You Deserve"
9. "Mod Lang" (alternate mix)
10. "Back of a Car" (alternate mix)
11. "Daisy Glaze"
12. "She's a Mover"
13. "September Gurls"
14. "Morpha Too" (alternate mix)
15. "I'm in Love with a Girl"
16. "O My Soul" (alternate version)
17. "She's a Mover" (alternate version)
18. "Daisy Glaze" (rehearsal version)
19. "I Am the Cosmos" – Chris Bell
20. "You and Your Sister" – Chris Bell
21. "Blue Moon" (demo)
22. "Femme Fatale" (demo)
23. "Thank You Friends" (demo)
24. "Nightime" (demo)
25. "Take Care" (demo)b
26. "You Get What You Deserve" (demo)

Disc three
1. "Lovely Day" (demo)
2. "Downs" (demo)
3. "Jesus Christ" (demo)
4. "Holocaust" (demo)
5. "Big Black Car" (alternate demo)
6. "Manana"
7. "Jesus Christ"
8. "Femme Fatale"
9. "O, Dana"
10. "Kizza Me"
11. "You Can't Have Me"
12. "Nightime"
13. "Dream Lover"
14. "Big Black Car"
15. "Blue Moon"
16. "Holocaust"
17. "Stroke It Noel"
18. "For You"
19. "Downs"
20. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
21. "Kanga Roo"
22. "Thank You Friends"
23. "Take Care"
24. "Lovely Day"
25. "Till the End of the Day" (alternate mix)
26. "Nature Boy” (alternate mix)

Disc four
Live at Lafayette's Music Room, Memphis, TN, January 1973
1. "When My Baby's Beside Me"
2. "My Life Is Right"
3. "She's a Mover"
4. "Way Out West"
5. "The Ballad of El Goodo"
6. "In the Street"
7. "Back of a Car"
8. "Thirteen"
9. "The India Song"
10. "Try Again"
11. "Watch the Sunrise"
12. "Don't Lie to Me"
13. "Hot Burrito"
14. "I Got Kinda Lost"
15. "Baby Strange"
16. "Slut"
17. "There Was a Light"
18. "ST 100/6"
19. "Come On Now"
20. "O My Soul"