RIP Alex Chilton

Aw, fuck.

Just a month or so ago I ripped the Big Star box set for my nephew, and he's been eating it up, so the music lives on.

That Big Star box is amazing. I went to bed and work today listening to Third/Sister Lover.

Really sad. I know the guy lived hard (and had a reputation for being difficult to work with) but he died way too young. 59? Come on.

When Big Star played here in Minneapolis a decade or more ago now, Jody Stephens announced that Gary Louris' wife gave birth to a baby boy. Chilton commented, "Every child born this day is evil."

A friend I have from Memphis told me a story about how he poured a bottle of bourbon down a trumpet players instrument (while it was in his mouth) during a recording session, and then said, "there, now you'll play it the way I want it."

And I believe her.

I can't claim to have loved much of what he's put out in recent years (I even skipped his show when he came to town last year, hearing that he seldom played his own original material - confirmed later by a disappointed friend who attended), but what a legacy the guy carved out just from that original run of Big Star albums, those amazing Box Tops singles, and his early solo work.

I've been on a Big Star kick lately anyway, due to the box set and the Big Star bio I read a couple of months ago. I'm sure I'll be listening to it even more now.

My reaction's a little complicated, though, I have to admit. Chilton's a favorite artist of mine (and, as such, it's noteworthy that he died, and just generally sad that he died fairly young), but I wish I could say that I'll miss his ongoing contribution to music; the guy's career was frustrating to the very end.

Agreed.

How was that bio, Dave?

Most of the memorials I've been reading today have acknowledged that--the guy seemed to have no use for the material that most of his fans went apeshit for, and most of what he'd done since the Big Star days seemed designed to go against it. Still, so much of his early work is just untouchable. I got to see Big Star play at a festival a few years back, thankfully. The songs sounded great, even though his stage presence was kind of negligible.

Decent enough, given the difficulty the author probably had in researching a subject that wasn't all that well-documented in its own time. It takes a while before he gets to the actual formation of Big Star and ends up devoting a fair bit of time to the members' post-Big Star lives. There's also a surprising amount of content on auxiliary members of the band and musicians who played with Big Star members on other recordings.

So if you're interested in the actual goings-on during the writing of and making of #1 Record, Radio City, and Third, you'll learn a little, but maybe not as much as you'd want.

Weird. The first time I heard #1 Record I was at my aunt's house. I was just shy of 14, and my cousin, who I didn't know that well, was 17 or 18. My aunt got called into work on an emergency (she was a nurse), so I was left alone to play Nintendo until my cousin came home. When he came home he brought with him two things: The 'Mats Pleased to Meet Me on cassette and weed. He played the tape a few times and I asked him who Alex Chilton was, so we then listened to Big Star. It was the first times I got really high, and then we went to the movies.

And saw The Lost Boys. Now Chilton and Haim die within a few days of each other.

It probably bears mentioning that there's only a hint of that raggedness on the first two albums. There are more seasoned professionals deliberately making that racket on Third, whereas the relative youngsters in Big Star phases I (Chilton, Bell, Hummel, Stephens) and II (the same minus Bell) hold it together really well. Those harmony vocals are spot-on.

But you're right - there's still that spirit of spontaneity that runs through even their most beautifully recorded (I've never heard anyone else get the same chime-y guitar sound) and obviously rehearsed stuff.

Unless I'm mistaken, the #1 Record/Radio City reissue only has a couple of alternate versions, and the Third reissue doesn't really have any bonus tracks that you don't get on the original reissue that came out in the early 90s. To give you an idea of the extras on the box, I have the original CD versions of #1 Record/Radio City and Third on my iPod; when I put the box set on there, I didn't include any identical copies, and there were still 66 songs I moved (mostly alternate versions and demos, but also some early material, and an entire show by the post-Bell version of the band).

Well fuck. That's awful. I was just listening to Big Star the other day, and I just got word that the Chris Bell solo album that's been on order for over a year just came in at the record store. Spooky. I was just thinking "I hope I get a chance to see him live sometime". Guess I won't now.

EDIT: Weird thought. I'm on spring break right now, and on my first spring break from college, Brad Delp died. What is it with power pop singers kicking the bucket while I'm on break?

I remember being pretty disappointed in his show when I saw him open for the Jayhawks in 1997, but I had really built it up in my head, and it was a shitty venue (outdoors, Taste of Minnesota). All three Big Star records and his Box Tops stuff is as good as anyone has ever been, though, and it's depressing to see him go.

What are the thoughts on the Stringfellow/Auer Big Star record with Chilton? Despite being gay as hell for the Posies I never have gave it a listen.

Alex Chilton had to die for me to learn the genesis of the following:

Alex flew to Memphis
Smug in his ways, big in his day
Claimed all children evil
Scared that his best is all in his past

To me In Space is a solid record. It's not as good as the classic three Big Star albums, but you can put it safely above a lot of Chilton's weirder solo stuff. It's worth checking out, IMO.

The Posies and Big Star are two of my favorite bands ever, and I just fucking hate In Space. If you want to hear the reunion lineup in a far more flattering context, pick up the Columbia live album. It's loose, but fun, and Auer and Stringfellow do a more than adequate job subbing for Bell and Hummel.

Speaking of which, I hear that Chilton's death comes right before a scheduled Big Star acoustic appearance with Hummel and Stephens - the first time the three have played together since the 70s.

Other random note: I was listening to the box set today, and I think the most striking thing is hearing Chilton sing Chris Bell-penned songs that eventually ended up on I Am the Cosmos. And I feel in more confident in recommending the box for fans who already have the albums. The solo demos for Third are just gorgeous.

Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (producer, Del-Lord, former Blackheart and Duke for Steve Earle) posted a nice little appreciation for Chilton on his blog, along with a batshit insane cover/freakout of "Sugar Sugar" that Chilton did.

http://knuckleheadnyc.blogspot.com/2010/03/alex.html

Congressman Chilton (D-Tenn) commemorated Chilton on the floor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9LGwzGnx5w

Article here.

I saw Chilton live maybe 10 years ago, a total ignoramus on who he was/had done/been a part of. (I fixed that soon after.) Just an acoustic set, by himself, but great stuff (obviously) and he had a fantastic though low-key stage presence and sense of humor; his last encore, he said he was going to treat us with "the greatest pop song ever written or produced," and after a few more minutes of similar build-up he ripped into a loose-jointed "Boogie Shoes," and the crowd ate it up. So much fun, that night. I guess it's past time I actually started picking up his back catalog, instead of read up on it.