[15] Chilton's final live performance was in New Orleans on January 24, 2010, where he participated in a benefit show for Haitian earthquake victims. Years ago, Chilton happened to hear Donado’s old band, Soupchain. They banged out a ragged 30 minute set of early rock ‘n’ roll and New Orleans rhythm & blues, including Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene” and Ernie K-Doe’s 1961 hit “Te Ta Te Ta Ta.” As 100 or so patrons looked on, Chilton called out songs and coached his impromptu backing band. A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, my wife Holly George-Warren‘s biography of Alex, hits bookshelves this week. [22], Alex Chilton was honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,[23] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue. And though he enjoyed recognition for his music, he did not crave fame. A local band recruited the teenaged Chilton in 1966 to be their lead singer after learning of the popularity of his vocal performance at a talent show at Memphis's Central High School.
He wanted a clean start.”.
“To Alex, his work with Panther Burns was as legitimate as anything else he did. [5] He resumed playing with Panther Burns in 1983. More than once, he appeared as an anonymous sideman at the annual Ponderosa Stomp revue. The Austin showcase morphed into a musical wake featuring Susan Cowsill, R.E.M. Vega suffered a stroke in 2012; his wife, Elizabeth Lamere, sits on the stairs to help him remember. Finally I understood what the big deal is about him.”. “He was incredible that night. In 1986 Chilton followed this with a second EP, No Sex, which contained three more originals, including the extended mood piece, "Wild Kingdom", a song highlighting Coman's jazz-oriented, improvisational bass interplay with Chilton. Photograph: Barney Britton/Redferns. During this period in his recordings Chilton began frequently to use a horn section consisting of Memphis veteran jazz performers Fred Ford, Jim Spake, and Nokie Taylor to imbue the soul-oriented pieces among his repertoire with a postmodern, minimalist jazz feel that distinguished his interpretative approach from that of a simple soul revivalist style.
Chilton hit the stage with Donado on drums and Trey Ledford as the last-minute replacement bassist. Hoping a chanwge of scenery would reinforce his decision to quit drinking, he resolved to start over in New Orleans. He was given a $21,000 recording budget by his European and U.S. record labels (New Rose and Big Time, respectively) which allowed him to augment his band on various songs with a three-piece horn section, backup singers, piano, keyboards, and rhythm guitar. His 1969-1970 recordings were released in the 1980s and 1990s on albums such as Lost Decade (New Rose Records), 1970 (Ardent Records), and Free Again: The "1970" Sessions" (Omnivore Recordings). Jovanovic, Rob. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)as Soundtrack, Kicking and Screaming (1995)as Soundtrack, Your email address will not be published.
Big Star: The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band. Dining out was a nightly ritual. In 1986, the Bangles released their second LP, Different Light, which contained a cover version of Chilton's Big Star song "September Gurls". Sherbert—which included backing work from such notable Memphis musicians as Rosebrough, drummer Ross Johnson, and Chilton's longtime on-again/off-again companion, Lesa Aldridge—has since been reissued several times.
“Some air was needed. [15] "Thanks to his low overhead, Chilton subsisted [during the 2000s] on periodic Big Star, Box Tops and solo gigs augmented by modest publishing income…He saw little reason to hustle more than was necessary to make ends meet and travel, a favorite pursuit," wrote New Orleans journalist Keith Spera in a profile published after Chilton's death. In the mid-’90s, Chilton booked the occasional gig at the Howlin’ Wolf; on Valentine’s Day 1998, he shared a bill with the late Snooks Eaglin.
[12] From then on, he added to his schedule concerts and recordings with the new version of Big Star. “And New Orleans was his oasis from his other life as the musician Alex Chilton. Beninati, a former member of the New Orleans rockabilly group the Blue Vipers.
The raised house did not flood, but high winds damaged an exterior wall. Big Star was not necessarily on the playlist. Influened by the performers in New York's CBGB scene, Chilton's late-1970s recordings abandoned the multi-layered pop production of his Big Star albums and utilized a more minimalist punk and psychobilly-influenced performance style. (You can keep up with events and enjoy videos and reviews at the Facebook page. The record was inspired by a short solo acoustic tour of the Netherlands in January, 1992. He was interested in money — he wanted enough to be comfortable and to travel.”.
Alex Chilton, the Box Tops and Big Star lead singer who served as an inspiration for generations of indie rock bands, has died. Rosebrough would occasionally work with Chilton on later recordings, including Big Star's Third album and Chilton's 1975 solo record Bach's Bottom. He was very reserved, and his sense of humor was very dry. “It took a long time to get to know him as a person,” Johnny J said. “He worked best under pressure,” Kersting said.
William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. as a druggy mess, this album is considered by many[who?] Big Star's October 29, 1994, performance, their only known show to be professionally filmed in its entirety, was released in November 2014 by Omnivore Recordings as Live in Memphis.
Rolling Stone listed all three in the Top 500 albums of all time. [16] In 2009, he remarried. Chilton took an enlarged edition of his band on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in July 1995 to promote the album, playing the song "Lies".
New Orleans, like the cottage in Treme, was his sanctuary.
“He identified with black people more than white people,” Kersting said. He tuned in to deejay Joe Hastings on classical station WWNO 89.9 FM and stayed up all night watching television.
London: Fourth Estate, 2004. “He loved this house more than he loved himself,” she said. Click here to read a Los Angeles Times article about Chilton. “The caliber of fans was much higher than the numbers.”. Given his casually elegant sartorial sense, he was occasionally mistaken for a college professor.
AKA William Alexander Chilton. Chilton's last studio projects included playing bass on Cristina Black's The Ditty Session,[17][18] and producing tracks by guitarist and singer "Johnny J." After Chilton's death, the Box Tops were to reform again in 2015 with guitarist Gary Talley as lead vocalist. He regaled Decatur Street gutter punks with impromptu astrological readings.
But Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) took time to memorialize Chilton from the floor of Congress.
They first met in the 1990s when Chilton produced a record by her then-husband’s band, retro-rockers the Royal Pendletons.
Required fields are marked *. In 1979, Chilton released the album Like Flies on Sherbert in a limited edition of 500 copies.
Alex Chilton, a mercurial rock musician whose work ranged from the soul songs of the Box Tops to the multiple incarnations of his pop band Big Star, and who left a … They met in the 1980s when Chilton sang “The Letter” with Johnny J and the Blue Vipers. The country band on stage called him up to sing “Alligator Man.”, That sort of informal setting “was where he was most comfortable,” Kersting said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come to your house.’ Alex laid on my couch, pressed ‘record,’ and said, ‘OK, boys, go.’”. A high school dropout, he was nonetheless well-read and well-spoken. “He liked music on the edge.”. “He wanted other people to have those slots at the clubs,” Kersting said. His most hazardous gig? More recently, his rare local performances consisted mostly of benefits. In Chilton’s garage apartment behind artist Bob Tannen’s rambling Esplanade Avenue mansion, he and Coman played along to 45s on a thrift-store record player.
Even as his legend grew and he flew off to Big Star and Box Tops reunions, Chilton lived anonymously in New Orleans for 28 years. “Alex said, ‘Freddy Cannon’s shows always worked because he moved through life with ease.’ That’s exactly what Alex was like. He was also able to continue the genre-mixing he had started with Like Flies on Sherbert by including soul, blues, gospel, and rock songs on the same record.
Chilton's laid-back lifestyle dovetailed nicely with a city nicknamed the Big Easy. He didn’t want anybody to know he was there.
Back at Chez Chilton, he smoked cigarettes and pot. The more raw, stripped-down, minimalist it was, the more he loved it.”. His songs during this period were often recorded in one take and featured few overdubs. Your email address will not be published. In 1995, Chilton purchased a 19th-century center-hall cottage in the Tremé neighborhood for $13,000, and he enjoyed working on his house and practicing Scott Joplin rags on his piano (an instrument he later lost in Hurricane Katrina).
[7], With 1987's High Priest, Chilton released his first full-length LP in eight years, for which he served as producer and wrote four new songs. She mourns them both. He was 59. He liked that his life in New Orleans was largely a mystery to his cult of fans around the world. [15] Chilton was present at his home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and evacuated by helicopter on September 4, 2005.
"American Idol" contestant Lee DeWyze recently covered it.