in New York after the book was published in 2012 and became good friends. There was such a commonality between us—our taste in photography, art, design, and especially music. One evening, we started discussing the music of Big Star and how much it meant to both of us, and he suggested collaborating on a monograph of the band.” There are probably dozens of bands that the two share a common bond over, but for some reason, Big Star just sang the loudest to them. “Why does some music embed itself in our lives, touch our souls, and connect us all?” Ranieri muses. “It’s always been rather mysterious to me. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia during the 1970s and still have my childhood 45 of the ‘The Letter’ by The Box Tops—that was my first introduction to Alex Chilton.” She continues, “Fabrice, over a decade younger than me, grew up in rural Burgundy in France. It’s certainly a testament to the fact that music has no geographical boundaries.” Sadly, by the time the duo got to work on the book, most of the members of Big Star’s 1970s lineup had passed on. Drummer Jody Stephens, however, is still alive and was very open to the idea of the book, helping to support their efforts along
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ig Star may have only put out three proper studio albums with their best-known lineup, but the band’s influence is still tremendous. Perennial favorites of musicians and critics for decades, the band are overly deserving and underserved when it comes to commercial success. So, it’s not surprising that a Paris-based graphic designer and New York-based photographer would pool their collective talents and resources to pull together a beautifully executed book of essays and photos that continues to push the legacy of the band.
70 NEW NOISE
On Oct. 14, First Third Books release a limited 1,000-unit run of the book, “Big Star – Isolated in the Light.” It boasts 200 images from photographers who chronicled the band from their beginnings in Memphis up through the solo projects of vocalists and guitarists Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. The book is credited to photographer Donna Ranieri and graphic designer Fabrice Couillerot. “Fabrice started his publishing company, First Third Books, in 2011,” Ranieri explains. “His first book, which included many of my photographs, was on an English band from the ‘80s called Felt. We finally met
the way. Ranieri initially met Stephens in the early ‘90s on her first trip to Memphis, the band’s hometown. “At the time, I worked for a record producer in New York and thought it might be a good idea to check out Ardent Studios in case we ever felt like booking studio time there,” she recalls. “I had made an appointment to meet him and remember ringing him from the payphone in the backyard at Graceland. Most of the old Memphis signs that are shown in the end pages of the book were photographed by me during this trip. I had also casually met Alex Chilton in New York on several occasions with David Godlis, whose photos of Alex are also in the book.” After gathering hundreds of photos of the band, Fabrice and Ranieri went about editing them down to give the book a natural flow. Their main objective was to highlight the photographers and present their personal stories through interviews. The additional essays came from family and friends of the band, like Tav Falco, Chris Stamey, Pat Rainer, Ken Stringfellow, and Jon Auer, among others. “We both feel so close to all the images in the book,” Ranieri says, before adding, “This is our little valentine to the band and all the Big Star fans out there.” .....