Chris Bell: You And Your Sister
Chris Bell: You And Your Sister [country version]
[purchase]
The song has high potential as a sappy power ballad, as evidenced by the ultimate posthumous release of the so-called "country version" and the even cheesier "acoustic version" of the song. But the original offers raw redemption, with Chris Bell's broken delivery and slightly off-tune bass holding it together until the highly orchestral, swirling atmospheric bridge kicks in and all is lost to summery teen angst - just as the heavy-hearted homosexual, heroin addict, and struggling Christian himself was lost to a late night car crash in '78, the same year the song was first released as a non-album single.
Big Star fans note: that's fellow Big Star founder Alex Chilton on the harmonies, himself lost this past year to a March heart attack. And This Mortal Coil also does a stunning hushed harmony cover of You And Your Sister, which is still live at the March tribute to Chilton / Big Star I posted over at Cover Lay Down.
