Alex Chilton passed away on March 17, 2010 at the age of 59. If this name means nothing to you, well maybe you heard him sing "The Letter" sometime back in your younger years, or maybe more recently while geeking out to your favorite oldies station. If the oldies aren't your thing, then maybe you've heard of Big Star - the Memphis based pop band that has amassed a considerably large cult following over the last 25 years. Mr. Chilton was a member and leader of that outfit, probably most noted for his song "Thirteen," which has probably been covered in live shows by one of your favorite bands at one time or another.
I should probably give a lot more thought to writing this - the band Big Star in itself has had an influence on my musical listening habits over the last 19 years that rivals any other single entity out there. I just wanted to get some thoughts down. There's a pit growing in my stomach over Mr. Chilton's death right now that's just kind of left me dazed. If I could say thing to sum up what I'm feeling, it would simply be - "Damn," and that's really the feeling I've always had upon hearing the music. Cool and Smooth - that was always my take on Mr. Chilton's music persona.
So yeah, back in 1991, I was young and impressionable freshman in college with aspirations to be a DJ on a campus radio station. I got involved with WCBN, and one of the first people I met there was the then Music/Program Director, Andy Flynn. As a music director, one of your responsibilities is to host weekly record review meetings. I started going to those, as an easy way to fulfill my off-air volunteer commitments. It was through the suggestions of Mr. Flynn that I discovered TWO very impressionable artists - Gram Parsons & Big Star. The similarities between these two entities is pretty amazing. Both artists made signature music in the same era to limited mass acclaim. Both went to WLIR in Long Island, NY to perform on radio broadcasts which subsequently became live album releases. My starting point was "Third/Sister Lover" and the first song I checked out was "Jesus Christ." From there it was on to greater things... the LIVE record as well as "#1 Record" and "Radio City." For pop music, it is atypically unfinished and often times loose. Even on the more lushly arranged gems on "Third/Sister Lover", the raw, gaping soul of the music remains fully exposed.
You see, I never had the Beatles, and they never had me. As I grew older after high school, I became more & more picky about what I liked (or was willing to like) and I wasn't willing to make room for them. Although it seems slightly misguided - "The "American version of the Beatles" - Big Star was tagged that way sometimes by my peers. Having already developed an aversion to the Fab Four, I immediately went for it and latched on to Big Star. "They're my Beatles" - that's what I would tell unsuspecting folks when they asked who they were because, you now, I missed that other ship.
I got to see Alex Chilton perform once. I can't recall exactly when it was... maybe in 2000, in support of his new release at that time "Set" (The album was actually titled "Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy" for its European release a year before, but they renamed it for the US release). It was just him solo. The details of that night are pretty vague. I know I was with Doug Neal and one of his other friends, perhaps Brian or Keeghan. The show was in downtown Detroit, at St. Andrew's Hall (I think), and the snow that night was treacherous. It took us quite a while to get there and back. All night long, I was hoping for Alex to rip out a slew of Big Star gems, but that wasn't his game. He really just wanted to sing Italian songs that night - and I mean he wanted to sing them, in Italian. I thought he was being so selfish! Eventually, he scatted his way through "When My Baby's Beside Me" and "Back of a Car," and that was pretty much that. So many people wanted "Kangaroo," but he wasn't having it (or maybe that "so many people" was just me - it's so hard to recall such detail). Regardless, I went home satisfied.
Following are some notable clips, just to give a taste of the music and it's influence. Specifically, to the influence, here is Elliot Smith covering "Thirteen":
December Boys got it bad...
Young Alex in the Box Tops...
Lipstick Traces...
Thank you Friends...
In situations like these, I'd like to think there is an afterlife, and that somewhere, Alex Chilton and Chris Bell are sitting in some lounge among the clouds, trading notes, smokes, jokes, and playing records. It's not usually my thing, but I'm happy to make an exception to let this image live in my head for all of my days.
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