I wonder if Chilton ever listened to Zeppelin. House of the Holy, musically, sounds an awful lot like bits of Big Star.
― If you tolerate Bis, then Kenickie will be next (ithappens), Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:14 (ten years ago) link
"I made [Big Star] to be as big a success as possible, but I did it my own way. … I’m not gonna start letting what’s current in the taste of the music business dictate what I do," he told Gordon. With a marked tendency to opt for obscurity or infamy rather than conformity, he admitted, "I’d be happier doing anything in this world— delivering papers, I don’t care—than if in 1971 I’d tried to sound like Ten Years After or Led Zeppelin."
― Number None, Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:19 (ten years ago) link
i remember playing "feel" for someone who had no idea who big star was and when the vocals kicked in he said it sounded like led zep. and it kinda does!
― tylerw, Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:22 (ten years ago) link
i thought the same thing the first time i heard them!! didn't tell anyone because it felt like a ludicrous thing to think but i clearly remember thinking it.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link
xpost To be fair, Chilton was the model of an unreliable witness to his own life …
― If you tolerate Bis, then Kenickie will be next (ithappens), Saturday, 27 July 2013 16:52 (ten years ago) link
Feel is def a weird "first song" for Big Star -- at least it was not what I was expecting, having read about them before hearing them.
― tylerw, Saturday, 27 July 2013 20:06 (ten years ago) link
Chilton hated Zeppelin.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 27 July 2013 21:07 (ten years ago) link
Bell was more of the mainstream rocker--"Feel" and "Don't Lie To Me" were his songs.
― Uncle Cyril O'Boogie (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 27 July 2013 21:15 (ten years ago) link
^^^ this. was very relieved to hear el goodo after feel, the very first time i listened to #1 record - was much more what i wanted to hear.
― There shouldn't be a thread for Dennis Perrin tweets. (stevie), Sunday, 28 July 2013 08:35 (ten years ago) link
"September Gurls" guitar tone is like being insanely high.
― MatthewK, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 12:23 (ten years ago) link
That sound's not a guitar – it's a Fender MandoGuitar. You can perhaps guess what two instruments it combined.
― Wantaway Striker (ithappens), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 12:25 (ten years ago) link
Dog and manduitar?
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 12:46 (ten years ago) link
Ha
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 13:11 (ten years ago) link
I found recently that I could get nearly that exact tone with a compression pedal cranked up all the way.
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 13:45 (ten years ago) link
(with a Fender Jaguar, if it matters)
I bought a JangleBox compressor on the strength of some gear nut forum threads that specifically discussed the recording of "September Gurls."
― fields of salmon, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
I used a Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone.
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 14:53 (ten years ago) link
Second from treble pickup on a strat
― PaulTMA, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 15:42 (ten years ago) link
i've said it before, but chilton is an amazing guitar player -- some of the stuff he pulls off on live recordings is astonishing.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
Think I've probably said this before as well, but in that respect he is like Jonathan Richman, a guy known as a songwriter, performer and "personality" but who obviously works to keep his guitar chops up.
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 18:29 (ten years ago) link
Does anyone know, specifically, what Chilton's problem was? He seemed to become spectacularly spacey and incompetent almost at the same time he was producing some of his strongest work... Hallucinogens? Booze? Doesn't have the telltale signs of coke or heroin, although Bell obviously went down to horse so hard drugs were obviously on the scene...
― fields of salmon, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 22:18 (ten years ago) link
incompetent???
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 22:30 (ten years ago) link
though if there was a problem, it may have stemmed from his inadvertent discovery that children by the millions were not, in fact, singing for alex chilton.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 10 September 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link
I thought it was just a capo-ed Strat put through the same kind of massive tube compressor that the Beatles favored on stuff like the "Nowhere Man" solo.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 02:01 (ten years ago) link
http://jazzmando.com/new/images/MandoStrat.png
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 11 September 2013 03:00 (ten years ago) link
That appears to be the very rare "bass" guitar.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 04:10 (ten years ago) link
B-b-but what kind of amp was it played through?
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 11 September 2013 04:16 (ten years ago) link
Ha - after writing that post I put a Tele through a dialed-out compressor and felt like I was insanely high. Didn't realise Big Star played Mandocasters - even the bridge pickup on my Tele was pretty close.Dunno if you're having a dig, Naive Teen Idol, but that is indeed an electric mandolin - they are only about 2 feet long overall, as opposed to the 34" scale of a bass.
― MatthewK, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 05:21 (ten years ago) link
overrated Grandpappy Indie (VU notwithstanding); not worthless, but nor are Wishbone Ash, for goodness sake― mark s, Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:00 PM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Cool Internet discourseA+ poptimist excreta
― velko, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 05:43 (ten years ago) link
Ry Cooder on the Mandoguitar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2FrFBceLuY
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 11 September 2013 14:01 (ten years ago) link
Digging Nothing Can Hurt Me, which is alternative takes and re-mixes, as seen in the movie of the same name apparently.
― I Am the Cosimo Code (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 12 September 2013 14:22 (ten years ago) link
Maybe it is, maybe it's not-- but like I said, you can get a sound that is pretty damn close without a Mandocaster (which I'd never even heard of).
― Poliopolice, Thursday, 12 September 2013 15:35 (ten years ago) link
Went through the vinyl section of the one remaining centre of town record/cd shop today and found they had both #1 Record and Radio City in there. Not sure if I should be as surprised as I was. Good to see, but does leave me wondering how well known they are these days. Are they something every semi aware indie kid has known about since Teenage Fanclub were popular?
There are some odd semi obscure cd titles that appear in that record shop on a regular basis . That is to say odd titles appear regularly not individual titles reappear I don't think. Not sure if there's one semi informed cd buyer in the place or if there is a directive of what to buy from elsewhere. Somehow still not got around to really ask after several years.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 12 September 2013 19:24 (ten years ago) link
You can get new audiophile pressings of the first two fairly cheaply ($25-30 for the pair).
― A Made Man In The Mellow Mafia (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 12 September 2013 19:32 (ten years ago) link
And the SACD twofer if you are into niche digital formats. Plays on ordinary players too. It sounds BRIGHT but I think those controls were turned up at Ardent Studios rather than at the mastering plant.
― MatthewK, Friday, 13 September 2013 05:29 (ten years ago) link
I'm a wasted face, I'm a sad-eyed lie, I'm a holocaust.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 03:59 (ten years ago) link
Documentary is on Netflix now.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, 1 January 2014 06:26 (ten years ago) link
Watching now. Really well done. "When I said Ardent, people thought I had said Argent!"
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 January 2014 18:56 (ten years ago) link
TGIFs?
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 January 2014 19:09 (ten years ago) link
great documentary. wish it discussed the making of third a little bit more but can't really complain
― akm, Sunday, 5 January 2014 19:30 (ten years ago) link
Looks like Stranded In Canton is on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1eDzz5fKio&list=PL0FEC235144290819
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 January 2014 20:21 (ten years ago) link
And just in case you've never heard Elliott Smith sing "Thirteen"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZZWtLch1g0
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 January 2014 20:24 (ten years ago) link
was posted over in the netflix thread but this panther burns clip is a must watch, so goodhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U-k32L0KCc
― tylerw, Sunday, 5 January 2014 21:39 (ten years ago) link
Really enjoyed the movie, and not just as a band bio -- along the way it hits on interesting things about Memphis, the music biz, the weird world of rock crit, how pop culture myths are made and sustained, and the central mystery of how art happens. I almost think it's better that they didn't get to interview Alex. It lets the film revolve around the absence of him and Chris.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 5 January 2014 21:51 (ten years ago) link
otm, every word.
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 January 2014 22:23 (ten years ago) link
thanks JR for Stranded in Canton, that was fucking great
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 21:39 (ten years ago) link
I like how TGI Friday's was THE place to be. How times have changed.
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 22:09 (ten years ago) link
lol "Axel Chitlin"
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 22:09 (ten years ago) link
Totally agree. It took such a huge mental leap for me to see TGI Fridays as anything other than what it is now.
― Non-Stop Erotic Calculus (bmus), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 22:53 (ten years ago) link
was it the first TGI Fridays?
― akm, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 23:05 (ten years ago) link