Thank You, Friends: Omnivore Readies Live Big Star, Complete Works of Queen's Roger Taylor

Omnivore Recordings is greeting autumn with projects from a couple of, well, big artists. By big, we mean perhaps the biggest cult band of all time – Big Star – and if that’s not big enough, how about the drummer from one of the biggest rock bands in the world? As in, Roger Taylor of Queen? On October 27, Omnivore will issue the first-ever retrospective of Taylor’s solo work in anticipation of the November 11 U.S. release of his complete, all-encompassing solo box set, The Lot. On November 4, the label brings fans the only professionally-filmed complete concert from Memphis’ favorite power-poppers with Big Star – Live in Memphis.

Live in Memphis continues the Big Star story with the premiere on DVD, CD, DD, and 2-LP vinyl (with download card) of the band’s performance of October 29, 1994. That evening, Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens, and Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies ran through a packed set of Big Star classics and covers in front of an appreciative hometown audience. Filmed at the New Daisy Theatre, Live in Memphis includes Big Star favorites such as “Thank You Friends,” “September Gurls,” and “The Ballad of El Goodo,” plus the late Chris Bell’s “I Am The Cosmos,” and songs from T. Rex (“Baby Strange”), The Kinks (“Till the End of the Day”), Todd Rundgren (“Slut”) and even Antonio Carlos Jobim (“The Girl from Ipanema”). All told, the audio editions have 19 songs, and the DVD has 18, eliminating “Fire.”

Though the concert was billed as Big Star’s farewell, it was far from it – the band continued to tour together for another 16 years until Chilton’s untimely death in 2010. Big Star – Live in Memphis includes liner notes from filmmaker Danny Graflund, Ardent Studios’ producer John Fry, Jody Stephens, Jon Auer, and Ken Stringfellow in the CD, LP, and DVD packages. In addition, the first pressing of the LP will be pressed on colored vinyl, with standard black to follow. This once-in-a-lifetime chronicle of the one and only Big Star is due on November 4.

After the jump, Omnivore is going ga-ga with Queen’s Roger Taylor! Plus the full track listings and pre-order links for all titles!

With Queen, drummer Roger Taylor wrote or co-wrote hits like “Innuendo,” “Radio Ga Ga” and “Under Pressure,” but outside of the theatrical rock band, he’s recorded five critically-acclaimed if under-the-radar solo albums. Roger Taylor: Best, due in stores on October 27, is an introduction to Taylor the solo artist, drawing from those five releases with 18 tracks. These span the period from his first single, “I Wanna Testify” (recorded during the sessions for Queen’s sixth studio album, 1977’s News of the World) through his most recent offering, 2013’s Fun on Earth. In between, the anthology samples tracks from U.K. Top 20 release Fun in Space (1981), Strange Frontier (1984), Happiness? (1994), and Electric Fire (1998). This set will be available on both CD and as a double-LP vinyl set.

If you’d like to hear those five solo albums complete, Omnivore has something for you, too! In 2013 in the U.K., Taylor issued The Lot, a massive 12-CD/1-DVD limited edition box set including his entire solo discography – that means his five albums, of course, but also all three albums from his band The Cross (released between 1987 and 1991), every unique single version, non-LP single and remix, plus previously unreleased material and a DVD of live performances, videos and more. Omnivore is bringing The Lot to the U.S. on November 11 for the first time – and it’s staggering one-stop shopping from one of the driving forces behind one of the most beloved rock bands of all time.

Taylor’s Best arrives first on October 27. The week after, Big Star’s Live in Memphis drops, with The Lot due one week later on November 11. You can peruse the track listings to these Omnivore releases below! Pre-order links will be added for Amazon as soon as they become active; in the meantime, you can also place orders directly via Omnivore!

Big Star, Live in Memphis (Omnivore, 2014)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Vinyl with Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.