September Gurls Explained

September Gurls
Cover:Septembergurls.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Big Star
Album:Radio City
Released:August 1974[1]
Recorded:1973
Length:2:41
Label:Ardent
Producer:John Fry and Big Star
Prev Year:1974
Next Title:Kizza Me
Next Year:1978

"September Gurls" is a song written by Alex Chilton that was first released by Big Star on their second studio album Radio City in 1974. "September Gurls" was also released as a single.[2]

Background

The song was named in tribute to the Beach Boys' "California Girls".[3] It was inspired by three of the women in Chilton's life who he was thinking about at the time, including his ex-wife, having birthdays in September.[3] According to Big Star bassist Andy Hummel, Chilton "was going through a lot of different girls that he was having relationships with, kind of simultaneously, and a lot of what's in those songs [including "September Gurls"] is him really just telling of his experiences with them and how he felt about them."[3]

Producer John Fry recorded "September Gurls" on a six-track recording set. The instrumentation includes rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums, with some guitar fills and a guitar solo on a mando-guitar.

Reception

While "September Gurls" was never a big seller, it is considered a classic song by publications such as Rolling Stone and Allmusic, as well as by music journalist John M. Borack.[4] [5] [6] Borack wrote:

The track was rated #180 by Rolling Stone in the magazine's top 500 songs of all time, and is described as a "power pop classic".

In his contemporary review of Radio City, Rolling Stone critic Ken Barnes described the song as "a virtually perfect pop number."[7] In another contemporary review of Radio City, The Sun critic Daniel Cotter described it as an "irresistible cut."[8] The Commercial Appeal critic Walter Dawson considered it one of the "better cuts" on the album and particularly praised Jody Stephens' drumming.[9] The Sacramento Bee critic Gene Sculatti described it as being "achingly plaintive" and called it "the very essence of purest American pop, distilled of sentiments and riffs that could only have sprung from stateside music."[10]

Jason Ankeny of Allmusic described the song as "sweetly gorgeous sound that's both familiar and novel; poignantly ragged and breathlessly reckless..." and says it "reveals a surprising tenderness, tempering its venom with achingly lovely vocals and sun-kissed harmonies".

Chilton biographer Holly George-Warren called the song a "pop masterpiece" and "a three minute burst of euphoric, chiming guitars, kicked off with the mando-guitar, accompanied by yearning vocals singing lyrics both heartfelt and snide: 'I love you, well, nevermind / I've been crying all the time.'"[3]

Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Big Star's best song, saying that "The song's swing and swaying groove sounds so good and stands as that perfect late summer or early fall song" and that "It’s one of those songs you can’t get out of your head."[11] Novelist Michael Chabon called the song "the pocket history of power pop" and claims that it is "the greatest number-one song that never charted".[12] Far Out rated it as the 89th most underrated song of the 1970s, saying that it "bristles with much of the same simultaneous melodic pleasantries and yet paradoxical cutting edge that the Fab Four propagated before them."[13]

Chilton was less kind describing the song, saying:

Covers

The Bangles released a cover of this song on their 1986 album Different Light.[14] Kachejian called their version "great'.[11] Other bands who have recorded the song include Superdrag[15] and The Searchers.[16]

Tributes

The title of Katy Perry's 2010 number one hit "California Gurls" was spelled thus as a tribute to Chilton and Big Star. Perry's manager is a fan of the band, and asked her to spell "girls" with a "u".[17]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Big Star - September Gurls. April 16, 2019. www.45cat.com.
  2. Web site: CLASSIC TRACKS: Big Star: 'September Gurls'. Buskin. Richard. April 2006. Sound on Sound. January 1, 2009.
  3. Book: George-Warren, Holly . A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, from Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man . Viking . March 2014 . 978-0-670-02563-3. 142. registration.
  4. Web site: The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time . https://web.archive.org/web/20060820114448/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/2. dead. August 20, 2006. December 9, 2004 . Rolling Stone. January 1, 2009.
  5. Web site: [{{Allmusic|class=song|id=t781974|pure_url=yes}} September Gurls]. Ankeny. Jason. Allmusic. January 2, 2009.
  6. Book: Shake Some Action. Borack, John M.. 13, 38. 2007. Not Lame. 9780979771408.
  7. Rolling Stone. Radio City. Barnes, Ken. April 11, 1974.
  8. News: newspapers.com. 2024-01-31. The Sun. Cotter, Daniel. April 8, 1974. 14. Big Star Comes of Age with 'Radio City' Album.
  9. News: newspapers.com. 2024-01-31. The Commercial Appeal. Dawson, Walter. Big Star May Someday Be Just That. May 3, 1974. 4.
  10. News: newspapers.com. 2024-01-31. Sacramento Bee. Sculatti, Gene. Good Things Come out of Memphis and Ireland. May 25, 1974. A16.
  11. Web site: Top 10 Big Star Songs. Kachejian, Brian. 2024-01-29. Classic Rock History.
  12. Web site: Michael Chabon - Tragic Magic. https://archive.today/20130411092844/http://michaelchabon.com/uncollected/musical/tragic-magic/. dead. April 11, 2013. April 11, 2013. archive.is. April 16, 2019.
  13. Web site: Unlucky For Some: The 100 most underrated songs of the 1970s. Taylor, Tom. 2023-12-12. Far Out. April 30, 2022.
  14. Book: The Top 100 Rock "n" Roll Albums of All Time. Gambaccini, Paul. 1987. Harmony Books. 9780517565612.
  15. Web site: superdrag.com. January 2, 2009.
  16. Web site: [{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r48961|pure_url=yes}} allmusic (((Love's Melodies > Overview)))]. Eder. Bruce. Allmusic. January 2, 2009.
  17. Web site: Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' Is A Nod To ... Big Star? . https://web.archive.org/web/20100517035332/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1639184/20100513/perry_katy.jhtml . dead . May 17, 2010 . mtv.com . May 13, 2010. August 31, 2010.