From their beginning in 1976, The Scenics—Andy Meyers and Ken Badger—were profoundly influenced by Big Star’s sound. They existed in the same 70s music world, absorbing the bittersweet edge found in Alex Chilton’s work.

This powerful version of ‘Take Care’ was recorded by the reformed Scenics in 2009. It features the band, plus producer Joby Baker’s string arrangement and Susheela Dawne’s vocals, capturing the song’s “wistful trepidation.”

Meyers views Chilton’s lyric as double edged: a loving goodbye that simultaneously feels like a sudden, unexpected blow. As Ken Badger puts it, this track is “inevitable melancholy.”

Enjoy the video, which combines their live encore performance at the El Mocambo with the studio audio.

“We always loved Big Star,” says Andy Meyers, co-founder of the band. “I remember [co-founder] Ken Badger absolutely blasting ‘O My Soul’ and ‘Back of a Car’ the first day we met. I’d never heard anything like them.” That pivotal meeting in 1976 led to the formation of one of Toronto’s most idiosyncratic and enduring early punk acts.

Best known for their 1970s recordings like the ‘In The Summer’ LP and the recently unearthed ‘New Part in Town 1976,’ The Scenics are now looking to the past by finally releasing a cherished cover from their vaults: Big Star’s mournful deep cut, “Take Care.”

The story of The Scenics’ enduring connection to Alex Chilton’s final Big Star album is a personal one for Meyers.

“Big Star ‘3rd’ was released in March 1978 and instantly became a personal touchstone for the way it walked the line between directness and dissolution. I’ve played ‘Take Care’ solo since the 90s and when the Scenics reformed in 2007 we recorded it for our ‘Dead Man Walks Down Bayview’ LP. I added piano to the Scenics tracks,- Ken Badger and I on guitar, Mike Young on bass and Mark Perkell on drums. Then ace producer Joby Baker arranged a string part, and chanteuse Susheela Dawne added wordless vocals. We ended up only including originals on the ‘Dead Man’ LP, ‘So Take Care’ has remained in the vaults. Till now.

“I’ve always pictured ‘Take Care’ like a parting goodbye on a street corner, so while editing the video I collaged a brief audio intro: street noise, a string quartet, and Joby and Susheela waltzing.

“Over time I’ve come to feel the bittersweet lyric is double edged; after all, it IS written by Alex Chilton. It can be taken as a loving goodbye, but at the same time it could be an underhanded swipe (“look, you’re too needy. Don’t need so much help”). It feels like a bomb has been dropped as opposed to the end of a slowly dying affair. His elaborate lyrical reassurances sound like the sorts of things you say to cushion an unexpected blow. The last line really brings that home for me. The way he sings “I’ve taken the air” feels more like he’s sucked the air out of the room with his sudden goodbye than that he is going out for a constitutional.”

Andy has one last Alex Chilton story for It’s Psychedelic Baby:
“Alex Chilton played The Edge in Toronto for two nights in 1979 with a four piece band. The first night was incredible. They played all the songs you wanted to hear and it was like seeing Big Star live. I spoke with Alex for 10 minutes after the show. First thing he asked me my sign. I told him “Libra”. He considered this for a few seconds, nodded crisply and we were off. Alex was friendly, responsive but watchful. Clearly very sharp. The next night I went back for the second show. A complete shambles. So it goes.”

While marinating on these Big Star stories, cue up the video premiere for ‘Take Care.’ It combines footage of The Scenics playing the song live for the first time, as an encore at Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo Tavern, with the 2009 studio audio, recorded a couple of weeks later. You can download ‘Take Care’ at thescenics.bandcamp.com/track/take-care.

Last word to Ken Badger:
“Melancholy became inevitable… I love this song.”

Headline photo: Th Scenics (Photo by Mark Tearle)

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