Van Duren Gets Another Chance to be a Big Star

Remember Van Duren? Eighty percent of you who answered yes are lying. The dude knocked around the same 1970s Memphis pop scene as Alex Chilton, and played with Big Star alums Chris Bell and Jody Stephens after their own star-crossed band dissolved. Duren managed to release a cult classic album in 1977, recording a second soon after that sat in purgatory until 1999. Even through the internet age, he somehow remains a tape trading treasure known only to pure pop zealots.

Two such fanatics, Australians with no video experience, were inspired to tackle an improbable documentary on the subject. The result, Waiting: The Van Duren Story, premiered in November at the Memphis Indie Film Festival. Omnivore Records follows in early February with a soundtrack featuring ostensible greatest hits as well as a few unearthed rarities. No word yet on further film distribution.