Alex Chilton RIP 2010

Later in life, he turned his attention to classical guitar, and specifically Baroque music. His widow, a flutist with whom he frequently duetted, said it comprised most of his recent listening.

awesome.

I went into the Amtrak station in Memphis once on a Wednesday to see what time on the following Saturday I could get a train to St. Louis. Being European, I expected choices and baroque ticketing, and was puzzled when i couldn't find a timetable on the wall - eventually I asked: there are precisely two trains - one to New Orleans in the morning, and the same train going the other was to Chicago in the evening. That's it for train services in and out of Memphis.

― sonofstan, Friday, March 19, 2010 7:31 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yikes. that sucks.

cohen is a dick about some things, but on the whole he's one of the better congressmen. he's a jew who represents a district that's overwhelmingly black. IIRC he beat back some really tacky challenges from black challengers who basically used his jewiness against him.

kind of awesome that he was listening to some of chilton's 1980s stuff. by any standards, and particular by those of people holding elected office, that's pretty hardcore.

sorry for typos.

it's sad that it's taken his death to inspire me to listen to some of the alex chilton boots and other stuff from the 80s/90s. i have all the "big" records (he said w/ light irony) but haven't dived in much father, fearing i'd just be hearing a bunch of really broken-down shit. but some of it's real good. and even though he had about three different voices, all of them are pretty unmistakable and inimitable. really dig this dude, am very sad he's gone.

Took a bit of searching but I found this post from Will Rigby a couple of years back that Elvis Telecom had linked on the Chris Bell thread, along with a rebuttal concerning part of it via Terry Manning in the comments, worth keeping in mind given part of what Chilton told Rigby and those with him at the time back in 1978. Something all the more strange and moving about it all given that three of the principals in the recollection are now gone. To pull out one part of it:

Alex spent another afternoon with Mitch (Easter) and me (Peter (Holsapple) had to leave early) driving down into Mississippi and onto a levee and being effusive about the Delta blues, with some barbecue in there somewhere. He took us to 706 Union Avenue, what had been Sun Studio but at the time was an unoccupied storefront. He found a way in through a broken back door. It had most recently been an auto repair shop; in what had been the recording room was the abandoned shell of a car—no wheels, no windows, no doors, no engine. There wasn't anything left of what had been a fulcrum of musical change EXCEPT, as Alex pointed out, the acoustical tiles still on the ceiling. He climbed up on the car and liberated one for himself and one for Mitch. To my eternal regret, I declined. (A few years later the site was renovated and now is a tourist-magnet re-creation of the original studio, but I knew it when.)

Meantime Cheap Trick are playing some Chilton songs right now, it seems.

A clarification -- dedicating "Heaven Tonight" to him. A slightly disconcerting choice but it does suit.

when were the first three songs on dusted in memphis recorded? actually, when was all of that stuff recorded? i know next to nothing about that record, yet it's one of my favorites.

Alex's choices of covers were inspired. Can anyone recommend me some compilations of similar source material? I guess it's kinda like the Nuggets of soul, blues and r&b?

Paul Westerberg wrote a very nice NY Times piece about Chilton.

Just posted this in the SXSW 2010 thread. Any thoughts?

Really can't decide if attending (or even trying to get into) the Big Star tribute tonight at Antone's is a really good or a really really bad idea. Members of Big Star, Cheap Trick, the dB's, Mike Mills of R.E.M., rampant rumors of Paul Westerberg... would it be an enjoyable, fitting tribute with great music? or a shitstorm of poorly rehearsed covers, rubbing in Chilton's death when instead I could go see Death play down the street? To go or not to go? Hmmmmm...

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:53 PM (2 minutes ago)

SXSW 2010: the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas (March 17-21)

have seen mills play drunken covers shows before, man is enough of a pro to hold everyone together i'd reckon

if you can get in, go

if you can get in

Truer words ne'er spoken.

xpost to zingzing:

take me home, walking dead and lovely day: Memphis 75
can't seem to make you mine and shakin the world: Wallingford, CT 77
tennis bum: Memphis 80
baron of love: Memphis 78
the other four songs: NYC 78

Paul Westerberg speaks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/opinion/21westerberg.html?hp

Alfred, I really can't throw stones, but that was linked to about five posts ago.

No worries. Haven't kept up today.

if you can get in

Truer words ne'er spoken.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Saturday, March 20, 2010 8:41 PM (59 minutes ago)

Also, I think Mike Mills knows the three chords to "September Gurls" and has probably heard the record enough to play the correct bassline. Like the guy upthread said, he is a pro.

Well, there goes that idea. This was posted on Austin360.com about an hour and a half ago:

http://fwix.com/austin/share/8f582cbfa6/sxsw_scene_update_the_line_at_antones_for_big_star_tribute_already_down_the_block

SXSW scene update: The line at Antone’s for Big Star Tribute already down the block

By Music Source | Saturday, March 20, 2010, 07:23 PM

At 7:05 p.m., the line was already down the block (Lavaca) at Antone’s, presumably people lining up for the Big Star - Alex Chilton tribute, scheduled to being at 12:30 a.m. The show is badges only.

duh--did you think it wasn't going to be a popular show?

is this yr first sxsw? OF COURSE it'll be crazy oversubscribed

noble savages with their guitars and all that, all the revisionist young people attending to their Zombies or Gang of Four records, the neo-folkies.

But put 'em up there with some simple--seemingly simple--r&b song to play more or less the way it was intended to be played, hit it and make it work, without the apparatus of irony. Who among them has the wisdom to do that, or the professionalism to make it work? I mean, if Count Basie could play them old standards more or less in the way you'd expect, having paid your money, then tell me why it's an advance that a whole generation or two of musicians have rejected that outright, given their social/cultural advantages?

Just to say, that's -the whole lot, not just the excerpt - one of the best things I've read over the past few days.

yup. ed had some more great writing on another Big Star thread (thought it was a poll) that I kind fins via search.

CAN'T FIND

He posted plenty of stuff about Chilton, but it was under his previous login id.

Or maybe the one before that.

i think it reads snobby and dumb and old fogey-ish but i do love a good "lol indie rockers ain't got no soul" crack. i make lots of them. and i did walk out of a club once when mac superchunk broke into an excruciating cover of up on the the roof once. and i even paid money to get in and drink! couldn't take it.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/03/sxsw-2010-alex-chilton-big-star-tribute-concert.html

Yes, it was recorded. Jody Stephens has the tapes. I don't doubt there will be some kind of release.

nice to see andy hummel playing with them

duh--did you think it wasn't going to be a popular show?

― Mr. Que, Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:12 PM (Yesterday)

is this yr first sxsw? OF COURSE it'll be crazy oversubscribed

― Wat ho, goatee'd man? Thy skinnee jenes hath byrn'd my corneyas. (stevie), Sunday, March 21, 2010 5:34 AM (12 hours ago)

My eighth... thanks.

I wasn't surprised about the line down the block thing, I was surprised at the "badges only" comment. Usually that sort of judgment isn't made before a show even starts.

beautiful words from tav falco:

Let us raise our glasses to a fallen comrade. And ask ourselves did we celebrate this man in life as we do now in death? Ah yes, we embraced our comrade and drew him close to our hearts and minds... as close as he would allow. Sure he touched us literally and he touched us profoundly: as an artist with lyrical intensity, as a person with camaraderie granted and camaraderie rebuffed. Such are the complexities of the artist and of the person. We realize it's not so easy to be friends with an artist, especially a gifted one. His smile often twisted into a leer, even when he was amused by your bonhomie and by your adulation. Be careful of tendencies: OK we’ve created it; now let’s deconstruct it. Godhead on the one hand, destroying angel on the other… Lord help you if you were caught in between. His tones were golden, and he knew that... better than anyone. Was he resentful because he had given so much, and had received less than the key to the temple of abiding good fortune and fame immemorial? Was he content in his rickety 18th cottage on the edge of the French Quarter surrounded by his guitars and aquatints and a cognoscenti of musicians who celebrated him as we do now? Did he draw all that he could take from his talents? Did he quaff draughts of indolence? The answers mean little, and the questions even less. What matters is that those whom he touched, were touched immutably. His legacy is of the mind, of the soul, of earthly pleasure, and of just and lost causes. He left us that redeeming spark of wit and flame to keep us going when were hovering down in the foxhole of doubt and uncertainty and dodging the adverse missives of Lady Luck... comforted in thinking that Alex would have liked that, or he would have appreciated this, or he would have been elated by this or that, or let’s do it the way Alex does it. His opinion, his taste, his love is what matters in the end. The last time I saw Alex was in Paris visiting in his posh suite at Hotel George le Cinq. He was pleased with his rooms, and we stayed up late while he merrily tutored me with the unending music lesson that had been on-going since I met him some twenty-five years before... the lesson that never seemed to quite 'take', and which I understood little better than the first time he drilled me. He would say Tav, somebody's got to keep the rhythm. And now I wonder, as the last grain of sand has sped through the hourglass, who... will keep the rhythm? Raise our glasses to console the living for the loss of a comrade fallen in the snow, which in its chill and whiteness is purifying, rather than fallen in the desert, which is barren.

sitting not far above his obit for jim dickinson. sadtimes.

Wow.

i think i want tav falco to deliver my eulogy.

The answers mean little, and the questions even less.

Some interesting comments and stories on Bob Leftsetz' e-mail thing (his story about Chilton is not as interesting). Producer Richard Robinson, singer Eric Carmen, and John Fry of Ardent Music, among others, all offer their thoughts. I think it gets posted eventually on his archive--http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/

Lefsetz

Hm. His part is already there on the website, but nothing from Eric Carmen et al.

Cut and paste from Lefsetz e-mail:

From: Eric Carmen
Subject: Re: Re-Alex Chilton

I always liked Big Star, but never met Alex until the summer of 2005 when the Box Tops played on the same bill with the Raspberries in Denver and Chicago.

The Chicago show was an outdoor "rockfest" sort of deal, and I saw Alex walking around backstage (which meant outside the trailer/ dressing room). He looked like a rock'roll version of Tom Wolfe, dressed in a cream-colored linen suit as I approached him and introduced myself. We chatted for a few minutes until one of the backstage photographers saw the two of us together, and suddenly there were a bunch of photographers asking for a picture of Alex and me (two icons of power pop, etc.) Alex refused to do it, because he knew someone would sell the photo to a rock magazine and profit "in the crass, commercial, materialistic world," which he refused to be a part of. I thought that was pretty funny, but I wish I had the photo.

Eric

_________________________________________

My father, Si Siman, published "The Letter." It was written 100% by the incomparable Wayne Carson. In Springfield, Missouri that in years previous had battled Nashville for the country music capitol. That year ('67) Wayne had two #1's in two different formats. "The Letter" with the Boxtops and "Somebody Like Me" with Eddy Arnold. Not sure anyone else has done that...

It was my home's national anthem. We stood up and saluted when it came on the air. Put me through college ("Always on My Mind" through law school). Talk aboutshort, it has 30 seconds of jet airplane on the end. 1:26 of raw power.

Alex Chilton was an amazing singer. His voice will be missed. He was part of the Memphis music scene when it DOMINATED the charts. Chips Moman, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, American Studios, world class musicians (like Reggie Young and the Memphis horns), world class writers (like Mark James). It was a magical time for an impressionable kid.

Rest in peace.

_________________________________________

I engineered for Alex in the late 70s when he was in New York and it was a dark period for him. Heavy drug use, heroin apparantly.

But he had his vision, and he never acted like a rock star with a track record, just an artist doing his craft. I engineered Chris Stamey's record (which Alex produced) and several Alex songs (originals and covers) during that time. They were supposed to appear on ORK records but never did. Cassettes were made and some appeared here and there from the cassettes. The masters are still at the studio.

Alex was a lovable guy and was always polite. We talked about engineering and tech stuff. I loved his production methods. The songs he did included "Can't seem to make you mine" and "Shakin the World". There were others that I cant remember now.
Alex, RIP, you were great.

Cheers,

Richard Robinson

RIP Alex!

Another tribute here:

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/alex-chilton-remembered

Guess it's too late for an NME tribute thesedays.

Unless Bobby Gill's prompting it.

man what an absolute bummer. dude was younger than my father, and based on a brief spotting of him in NOLA a couple of years back looked to be fairly healthy and in good spirits. i was really getting excited about an upcoming Big Star homecoming performance at the recently refurbished and storied Levitt Shell (WPA-built, site of Elvis' 1st paid concert, and of course the second side of Nobody Can Dance).

listened to the Beale Street Green bootleg this morning, which features a wild version of Baron of Love w/ Jim Dickinson on vocals -- hopefully those two are fucking things up in the afterlife ...

This is one of those musician deaths where, though I didn't know him personally, it very much feels like a friend dying.

:-(

― Cunga

This. Instant choke up when I heard about it.

Nice Chilton overview/memorial on Pfork today written by Joe T., with an unfuckwithable playlist to accompany:

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7779-the-life-and-music-of-alex-chilton

just saw that the link for the Chilton/Jody Stephens 1975 radio broadcast is still active, if anyone's interested. http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/187210978/dusted-in-memphis-in-honor-of-yet-another
a very cool performance ...

^^
Radio City 'nearly as good' as #1 Record? Anyone else think that's fucked up?
I like the first one, but compared to the other two it's a very nice record in the company of works of genius.....or am I out on a limb here?

x-post -quote from P'fork piece

think it's just a matter of taste ... i like Radio City better, but I love #1 Record, too.

.....or am I out on a limb here?

Nope: Hey Hey Hey It's the Big Star #1 Record vs. Radio City Poll

The Billboard article on the SXSW tribute has a powerful memorial from his widow Laura:

Laura Chilton's complete statement:

"Even though Alex left this world way too soon, I feel so fortunate to have been his friend and wife. I would like to say a fewthings about his relationship with music and also speak of what he was about as a person. He was an individual who did what he pleased. However, he was also the most considerate and sincere person I've ever known. He loved life and people and usually befriended the underdogs. He saw beauty in what other people would just dismiss- old ricketyhouses about to fall down- he would say- "now that's a great house worth buying." He would spend 10 minutes chatting with ahomeless person on the street and always helped them out with some money. He was a good listener and was very compassionate. He was extremely generous- always giving time, energy and money to his friends with a no strings attached attitude.

There is one aspect to his personality that seemed to define how he approached and interpreted life and that is a consistenttendency to be absolutely clear in expression and communication. His mind worked analytically; he had a low tolerance level forvagueness and carelessness. His relationship with music was all about analysis. When listening and appreciating a piece of music,whether it be a Beach Boys tune or a Bach partita, he was able to pay attention to individual elements simultanously: harmony,rhythm, melody, meter, etc.

I believe this is why he loved working in the studio- producing records. He spoke a lot about John Frye teaching him how to do work in the studio and how he enjoyed playing around with the different elements. The one thing he was absolutely proud of was producing the Cramps records. He would play them at home and and just talk and talk about the experience. He was also quite proud of the Detroit garage band The Gories -- both his work with them and the band itself. He was very excited for them now that they are playing shows again.

At home in New Orleans Alex lived a simple and relaxed life. He watched a lot of TV while fooling around on the keyboard and guitar. We played music together- both classical and pop. He rode around town on his bike and loved to strike up conversation with whoever he came across. For the past few years, when I lived with him, he listened and played classical Baroque music, Scott Joplin rag tunes and 60's pop music. Names that often came up include the following: Carole King, Petula Clark, Brian Wilson, the Byrds, Frederic Knight, the band Free, George Frederic Handel, Georges Muffat, Haydn and the baroque performance group Musica Antiqua Koln. There are dozens more but these names come to mind as I'm writing this.

The final point I would like to draw attention to was he valued spontaneity. This would seem to contradict his insistence on analysis and accuracy but somehow he managed to be both at the same time. Honestly, this remains a mystery to me and is probably why he has been described as a genius and a musician's musician. I am only speculating on this but I am thinking it is probable. I will miss him forever and will honor him by maintaining and developing what I've learned from him: compassion, spontaneity, honesty, directness, generousity, an excellent listener and enthusiasm about what life has to offer. He had a blase attitude towards death- it didn't interest him. The same goes for sleep;,he just said the other day that he wished he could be awake 24/7- life was too interesting and he didn't want to waste it sleeping. I laughed at that but I knew he was serious.

On that note, I need to end this little essay and go take a nap- here's what Alex would say: "Night, sug."