*JANUARY 26, 2008* Thanks to Alec Palao comes news on the next Ace/Big Beat garage release: "Memphis’ Ardent Studios is one of the most respected recording facilities in the world. Everyone from Led Zeppelin to ZZ Top to REM have journeyed to make music within its hallowed halls. But despite the studios many credentials, it is Ardent Records the label that inspires legendary awe amongst pop aficionados, as the imprint that begat pop cult heroes Big Star. Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story celebrates this singular imprint with a deluxe 2-CD anthology on Ace/Big Beat that ranges from the label’s earliest mid-'60s garage studio recordings to the halcyon days of the early 1970s, when a distribution deal with Stax established Ardent as a purveyor of the finest pop-rock. Studio owner John Fry had an eclectic yet completely professional approach to his facility, encouraging experiment but always resolutely focused on sonic quality.

The compilation’s contents are neatly divided between the two eras of the studio/label. Disc One (the 1960s) features a mind boggling range of rare garage singles and unissued psychedelic delights, with items by The Ole Miss Downbeats, Lawson & Four More, Avengers, Wallabies, Bitter Ind, 1st Century, Honey Jug, Goatdancers and Badgers, as well as the earliest studio experiments of Big Star’s Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, including several tracks by the legendary pre-Big Star groups Rock City and Icewater. Disc Two (the 1970s) examines the Stax era and beyond, with selections from Ardent acts Cargoe and The Hot Dogs, and no less than 14 rare or unissued Big Star cuts, most of which have not been on CD before.