Alex Chilton RIP 2010

while working through this and talking to some friends, i came to the realization that he was one of the most gracious performers i have seen - he played the 7th street entry several (maybe many) years ago, and it was hardly a packed crowd, but he was so obviously and genuinely happy that people cared about him and the stuff he was doing. it was one of the most charming shows i've ever seen, and it's really sad to realize that i will never have another chance to share that moment with him and an audience ever again.

Oh wow - so sad - my friend was so anxious to see 'em at SXSW - havta give him a call ...

I saw Alex Chilton just once, in 1984, at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis, with the Replacements. It was a glorious, shitfaced drunk, inspired and beatific show. They played a bunch of covers. I bootlegged it on cassette and I think I still have the tape somewhere. Jesus Christ, I hope so.

A lesser songwriter wrote:

I'm in love!
What's that song?
I'm in love
with that song.

Rest in peace.

very sad. recently found myself getting more and more into big star (via the placemats).

Big Star has been my favorite band since I was in high school. Got to meet Alex at the bar in the basement of the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in November, and in spite of all the rumors of his rude demeanor he was about as nice to me as anyone's ever been. He sat and talked with me for a half hour about my horoscope and assured me that the next two years of my life would be really positive. Normally I wouldn't care what anybody said about astrology but coming from him it seemed so plausible. Totally devastated.

thank you for that link Alfred - a nice piece which mirrors, to some extent, my own experience of becoming a british big star fan in the 1980s - even then, when information was scarce, alex's music was championed by a number of uk rock critics, esp. Max Bell (he wrote the sleevenotes to LIVE IN LONDON, which for a long while was a much easier rec to acquire than SISTER LOVERS)- the version of 'kangaroo' by this mortal coil was another example of brit love for big star, and another portal to that sound and feeling

As I wrote upthread, I'm sure the Bangles cover got him some much-needed dough at the time -- maybe not Nick Lowe level, but six figures surely. Anyone know if he ever responded?

ok i freaked my daughter out a little
she's never seen her old man break down and sob like a little kid before

now the whisky

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. I usually count #1 Record and Radio City as my favorite Big Star album, but my first instinct was to reach for Third/Sister Lovers. It captures the mood of the moment with bitter, fractured perfection. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

Deepest condolences to Alex Chilton's wife Laura, son Timothy, and other family and loved ones.

I was about to post the same thing.

damnit, i feel like someone just punched me in the gut. RIP

Strange kind of pride in being a Chilton fan tonight

RIP guy, you friggin rocked.

this sucks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li4CDijYaR4

My small obit.

Good words, Alfred. My own attempt.

I hope he is jamming in the sky tonight with Willie Tee. RIP.

(Although he would probably take offense at my use of the word 'jamming' and freeze me with that withering smile)

Well I personally hope he's jamming in the sky with Chris Bell.

yeah, that's almost enough to make me hope for a heaven

i remember getting the ryko reissue of sisters lovers my senior year in high school and it felt like someone told me a secret.

(maybe a sad secret though)

fuck

Goddamn this makes me sad.

http://www.paulwesterberg.net/2010/03/17/children-by-the-million-mourn-for-alex-chilton/

nyt obit

funny you never know whose death will relly hit hard -- d boon, zappa, now chilton
who will do it next? no idea
meanwhile the whisky

my friend was so anxious to see 'em at SXSW

Me too. Was going to finally see Big Star in three days. Crushing, and unbelievably sad.

His death, that is... not me missing the show.

I saw him solo at the West End in Chicago in the summer of 1985. I was way too young for a fake ID to have worked, but a high school friend was the babysitter for the bar's owner, so we were in. It was a great night to see him perform. The Big Star revival era was just kicking in (between Game Theory, REM, and the dB's, if you liked certain flavors of pop you soon learned you liked musicians who loved Chilton). The club was packed, and Chilton was clearly touched by the rapturous response he got for everything. He dug back and gave us lots of treats, including The Letter (which I'd heard he'd long since disowned), Fields of Clover (maybe on a request?) and plenty of Big Star -- Holocaust was especially good. He wanted to play a song he'd just written but apologized that he couldn't make out the words at his feet; instantly a guy in the front row picked up Chilton's notebook and held it steady at Chilton's chest level for the duration; Chilton thanked him and made sure the crowd gave the guy a round of applause. Thank you, Alex Chilton, for providing that moment, that made me feel like we were all in it together. RIP.

got to see big star at the new daisy in memphs, saw alex (trio) at the overton park "save the shell" benefit -- very thankful now

god this is bumming me out

truly sad .
condolences to family,friends and anyone who is a fan.

listening to the first two big star records, don't know if i can take third

may have to jump to high priest

yeah i went straight to third

started more seriously exploring the box set. will download all of it asap.

i hope you mean buy it

download it on emusic, i meant.

48 "credits."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu_gB34pHLA

feeling sad that I never got to see him live -- one of the few big heroes I could say that about. But I always liked seeing him pop up in unexpected places -- there was a youtube video of his set w/ Yo La Tengo from a few years back and he looked/sounded as cool as ever.

dude was kind of an incredible guitar player, too -- not quite something he gets full credit for, but he had a great style. that live disc from the box set really shows it off nicely.

I admit to wondering how the news was being circulated in Austin, and how many cover versions were going to be heard by the end of the weekend.

Heading downtown now (later than expected, and saddened) -- I'll let you know.

Nice tributes, btw, Ned, Alfred...

saw Alex for the first (and now, sadly, only) time, 15 months ago, Dec'09. At the Old Town School for Folk Music in Chicago. What I have to believe is the most intimate venue for music in these United States. Alex was a gracious host, funny, engaging, and most importantly, it was totally enjoyable *as music*. Not some drunken shit show as some have reported his later career to be. It was, I gather, the typical emphasis on R&B/Soul tracks and a couple things he'd been involved with. Basically, the music that *HE* likes. I thought it was outstanding.

set list:

Everytime She Cha-Cha-Cha's
In The Street
Claim to Fame
Lipstick Traces
umm, something by "the King of Italian Rock and Roll!" haha, i dunno, that's what I wrote in my notes! so, uh, god bless you Alex for introducing me to the King of Italian Rock and Roll
Hook Me Up
The Letter
When My Baby's Beside Me
*some jazzy instrumental
*other track I couldn't identify
------------------------------------
Rock With You (MJ cover)
Too Late To Turn Back Now (Cornelius Brothers cover)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/03/18/blogs/18chilton_artsbeat/18chilton_artsbeat-blogSpan.jpg

15 months ago, Dec'09

Hmm.

Yeah, I loved his guitar playing, using the best parts of Townshend and McGuinn: slash and jangle.

*fusing

esp. like this from ned
The scale of our ambitions for our creativity varies, and whatever his struggles and losses, Chilton was blessed with the gift of not simply wanting to do one thing over and over again.
i just think that's why reading things like "he squandered his talent" kind of rankles -- I think that his talent was always in evidence, post Big Star, pre Big Star, whatever. Whether or not his music struck quite the chord it did as those classic albums is kind of beside the point ... I don't know, not really making sense.

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/images/boxtops_on_upbeat.jpg