Alex Chilton RIP 2010

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

also, re: that gig -- he seemed in super good spirits, and the show went pretty smooth. I think Alex stopped the band and restarted them for one song. haha, that seemed like a good night from what I'd gathered! but yeah man, the guy just looked healthy and happy. he smiled a lot

On the basis of the photo above, Harry Dean Stanton could play him in a movie.

made plans this afternoon to go and see the william eggleston exhibit at the art institute of chicago gallery tomorrow - hopefully gonna get to see the original c-print used for the cover of radio city

i loved his gtr playing too, and i especially loved how he quickly moved beyond that who/beatles/kinks/etc stuff and started absorbing a wide variety of american roots music. he loved music so fucking much. that's the saddest thing of all to me, the thing i will miss the most. such a beautiful soul onstage, especially when he wasn't getting paid to rehash big star songs. and i love all those big star songs.

i'm feeling incoherent right now.

I remember kinda making fun of "Set" when it first came out, because it seemed so tossed off, but it quickly became a straight-up favorite. Such a good vibe, definitely a perfect record to play during a party.

xpost me too ;_;

wish i had a joint so bad, haha

whenever I get pretty drunk (fairly often, no surprise there), my first instinct these days is honestly not to reach for a Big Star record, but for this thing:

http://a31.idata.over-blog.com/280x280/0/24/04/68/album-11/Chilton1970.jpg

I just love it so much.

"Happy Song", "Something Deep Inside", "Just To See You" .. DAMN

hits the spot EVERY time

this sounds a bit like goodbye
in a way it is i guess

i just think that's why reading things like "he squandered his talent" kind of rankles

Well, just to address this point... His last 30 years of recording was almost all covers. That's fine, but in my mind, he was more than a great performer; he was a great songwriter. That, to me (in a selfish kind of way), was kind of a waste. Heck, even the liner notes to the reissued #1 Record/Radio City album basically says the same thing. But yet, I understand that we each have to live our own lives, and to his credit, he did follow his own path, so kudos to him for that.

yeah, i see where you're coming from -- and I've probably thought the same thing at one time or another. I guess that if he didn't feel the songwriting muse, I feel like that's OK -- he had already written some of the best songs of the last 50 or so years. He just did it in a short burst, rather than spreading it out over a career. In the end, all that matters is that he did it, you know?

15 months ago, Dec'09

Hmm.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor)

whoops -- fat-finger on my part. yep, it was actually '08. sorry about that, "ilxor", whoever the hell you are

I got into Big Star via Teenage Fanclub in the early '90s. Information and actual plays of Big Star were extremely hard to come by back then, and Teenage Fanclub either mentioned them in every interview or were relentlessly compared to them in reviews. I liked Teenage Fanclub, ergo I picked up a Big Star album without actually hearing it first at some record fair. I can't begin to fathom how many plays that copy of #1 record has had now, and naturally I hoovered up everything else whenever I could afterwards. I saw Big Star at the Reading Festival in '92 (I think it was?) and it left me pretty cold. Don't really want to think about that now. I can't go near Third yet. That's just way too much.

He just did it in a short burst, rather than spreading it out over a career. In the end, all that matters is that he did it, you know?

I guess now that you mention it, most great artists who keep writing for decades get worse and worse over time... in a way, he was able to preserve his legacy by not writing bad songs later in his career.

yeah, in a lot of ways, it seemed like he barely considered himself a songwriter -- I know he rarely had good things to say about his Big Star songs, saying that it was just him flailing around.

(obviously he was wrong!)

was about to post this ^^^^^

i mean for me the most depressing thing is the relaxing endgame that Alex has lost. Weird ass entertainment contracts notwithstanding, I have to believe he should have garnered enough money for a modest lifestyle to ride out with ... You know, the Bangles cover, sure, but also the 'That 70s Show' thing. Heck, some nice new royalties from that brand new box set!

Alex should have had many more years to waltz down to Coop's on Decatur, have a few Abitas and red beans and rice, walk back to his place in the Quarter, and enjoy himself spinning those R&B and Soul records that he loved so much. that is what is so depressing. he was owed that. he deserved to get that denouement and it's been taken away.