We’ll go back to the politics in the morning. Here’s some Big Star.
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Authors
Kaia Mursi (45)
Kirsten Boyd Johnson (801)
Jim Newell (5434)
Wonkette Jr. (628)
Liz Colville (97)
Blair Burke (171)
Garrett Quinn (13)
Ken Layne (6696)
Matt Langer (40)
Arielle Fleisher (385)
{ 32 comments }
goddamn. thanks for this, ken.
I am now sad.
I just saw this on true/slant and came over here wondering if anyone else had. How sad — what a great songwriter. What always struck me is how plain and simple his lyrics seemed — how he was able to convey great emotion without being sweeping or florid. That just sucks.
[re=532820]SayItWithWookies[/re]: the lyrics to “thirteen” are a great example. simple, direct and amazingly evocative.
As a former resident of Pdx and Mpls, I came to him through Elliott Smith & the Replacements… I think that instrumental break in “13″ was the sound the late Mr Smith was trying to get at his whole career…. and he was big enough to acknowledge his source…. He’d play spare acoustic covers of “13″ regularly. But what surprised me, hearing the original, was how much Chilton influenced Smith’s lusher side: the multitracked backing vox, the rich ’70s production which he saw as a way out of low-fi…. anyway… may [something]s of angels sing you to your rest, Mr Chilton. Fergot that one word there oh well
[re=532828]obfuscator[/re]: great song, just now thinking of it in the context of Chilton basically being a rock star when he was 17.
I was a fan of the Box Tops, but sadly never heard any of his later work. RIP, Alex.
Children by the millions sing for Alex Chilton.
[re=532828]obfuscator[/re]: One song I just listened to violates that observation completely — then I found out Chilton didn’t write it. This was one of the more entertaining songs I came across in the musical doldrums of high school — Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March — a paean to the many social benefits of prostitution.
[re=532831]kth[/re]: i bought the cd reissue of “#1 record/radio city” in my senior year of high school at a college record store… it was one of my first Significant Life-Changing albums.
Given that we could now produce a better quality video using our fucking phones, this is still worth a look-see and a listen…
When my band was playing bars in Seattle in the 80′s, it was always fun and gratifying when someone would come up after a set and say something like, like “Hey, I’m digging the Byrds-style harmonies,” or “Hey you got a cool kinda Kinks thing going there.”
But it was the guy who came up and said, “You guys sound like Big Star” that got invited to have a beer with us after the show.
[re=532833]Sparky McGruff[/re]: If he died in Memphis, then that’d be cool, babe.
I felt the same way when Canned Heat’s Alan Wilson died. But bitter. At least Chilton beat him by 40+ years.
“The Letter” on the juke, emotive, but impossible to dance to. College busboys going out with gaggle of summer waitresses to the municipal bar. After “The Letter” ended, we waited for The Land a Thousand Dances or 96 Tears to spin. Good times, but primarily very fucking bad. The girls never knew, I think. Life on the cusp of the draft. Too many teardrops.
http://tinyurl.com/yl28adk
Yet Joe Cocker is still there.
http://tinyurl.com/ylzpbn8
‘And I’ve been tryin hard against unbelievable odds”
Holocaust is just a hauntingly beautiful song. Only discovered Big Star after hearing “Alex Chilton” by the Replacements. Hard to believe it’s the same guy who sang “The Letter.” He was a real talent, and I’m truly bummed to hear he’s gone.
Tennessee is sad.
What I want to know is why do I only hear about fantastic musicians after they’re dead? Wake Up Americans. I deserve better music than Lady Gaga.
I had the pleasure of working with Alex in trying to set up a special Memphis Music collection at our local library. Such a great guy, and a huge loss for Memphis and for the music world.
The two Big Star albums are just amazing — all-time classics.
One of the best shows I ever went to was a Big Star tribute in Athens, GA… Michael Stipe and Peter Buck were there ’cause R.E.M. was heavily influenced by Big Star. Gone but not forgotten.
Well done Ken, thanks.
Grateful for his music and the fact that I saw him play numerous times.
Good links, thanks.
Here is another.
Thanks, Ken. As a former Memphian, it is sad year. First Jim Dickinson now Alex Chilton.
[re=532831]kth[/re]: Yep. Imagine making records with Dan Penn at that age. Penn’s influence served Alex very well.
The first 45 single I ever owned was “Give me a ticket for an aeroplane.” I liked the B-side even better, “Cry Like a Baby.” He was what, 17, when he made those? I was in love, with those songs, I have been in love with music since.
Learning of Chilton’s death really hit me. The video clips you have chosen -I want to watch but I know it will be too weep-making. Personally amazing that you choices included “Holocaust” and “Thank You Friends”; they are two of my favourite songs by anybody, anywhere, of ever. For whatever reason, I have been on an Alex Chilton kick for about 2 weeks now – adding his stuff ( and covers of his stuff) to mix CDs I’ve been doing for some friends; head-singing TYF and I actually did a playlist a couple of weekends ago that consisted of FIVE different versions of “Thank You Friends”.
Cool to learn how many people, from all over the plae were into him. Thanks for the tribute.
Alex Chilton is a genius among midgets and lepers. RIP.
Dear Lord Take him home and make him like it
RIP man
[re=532832]Jim89048[/re]: Really? – I thought all you str8 blokes loved Loose Shoes and Tight Pussy – was I wrong?
[re=532839]Lascauxcaveman[/re]: I think those folks were applying to be your groupies – so how’d they turn out?
[re=533172]Bearbloke[/re]: You may or may not be wrong. As a kid, I lived in San Francisco where I had access to some pretty good radio and the best live entertainment in the world. As soon as I could make such decisions on my own I moved to the sticks, where the music choices were far from diverse. From that point until the advent of streaming audio and satellite radio, I lived in a cultural wasteland. Well, I still do, but the world is a mere mouse-click away…
[re=533172]Bearbloke[/re]: IT was a swell record … somewhat obscure R&B tunes plus a song by the great hillbilly hellraiser Gary Stewart.
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